04/16/10
Eden Expands to UK
Eden Communication Strategies is pleased to announce they are expanding their corporate communication practice with the addition of a London office.
“It’s a natural next step,” explains Coni Judge, Eden’s founder. “Communication is a significant priority for most companies right now who are struggling to communicate priorities, manage restructuring, and cope with change. When you factor in the impact of social media and the extreme speed at which messages replicate and spread, it’s critical to align internal and external communication strategies to keep trust with audiences.”
Eden’s UK office will be based in Kingston-upon-Thames and serve clients throughout the UK and Europe. Eden specializes in change communication, particularly in engaging employees and internal stakeholders. They have over 20 years experience in communication, and have expertise communicating across cultures and countries. Ms. Judge was based in the UK from 1999 – 2004 as a director of communication for BP.
02/12/09
Coni’s Rules:
Sane Communication Strategies for Crazy Times
“In times of chaos and uncertainty, even the most off-handed remark or benign action is analyzed, scrutinized, examined, subjected to tea-leaf readings, and reinterpreted by employees and other audiences.” |
How Smart Executives Can Use Communication During a Downturn to Make
Their Companies Better and Stronger
by Coni Judge, Eden Communication Strategies
It’s unprecedented how many times I’ve heard the word ‘unprecedented’ since the current economic crisis began filtering through the corporate world. In working with clients in industries across the board – healthcare, finance, energy, AEC, and service – it’s clear that sensible, effective Change Communication is more critical than ever before.
Communicating ‘bad news’ isn’t easy and as the situation becomes more uncertain, companies are finding themselves in communication conundrums they’ve never before encountered. While “Change Communication” must always be approached thoughtfully and strategically sticky situations such as layoffs, budget cuts, pay cuts, projection adjustments, restructuring, leadership transitions, and more require a more thoughtful approach. These are all considered “Change Communication” – but when handled badly they become “Crisis Communication.”
While the most critical—and highest priority—audience is the employee, our world is so intertwined that it is impossible to isolate audiences. So expect all communication to be immediately shared with customers, boards of trustees, community leaders, and other stakeholders.
First, what NOT to do... In times of crisis, it’s easy for organizations and leaders to make one of two critical mistakes:
1 – Shut Down; or
2 – Say Something Stupid.
Mistake 1: Shut Down – Means you just stop, say nothing. Usually because you feel you have nothing to say or you’re ‘waiting until things get settled.’ Well, guess what: things aren’t settling and the longer you remain quiet the more dissonance is created amongst your employees and other stakeholders. By the time things ‘settle down’ trust has been eroded completely, your key people are disengaged and disenfranchised, and the rumor mill is in hyperdrive—which means productivity is in the tank.
If you’ve ever SCUBA dived, you know that rule number one is ‘Don’t Stop Breathing.’ It would seem obvious, but it feels unnatural to breathe underwater, even though you’re geared up to dive. Yet, if you hold your breath, very, very bad things will happen as you descend into the blue and you must force yourself to breathe. Similarly, while it may feel unnatural to communicate in times of chaos – force yourself anyway.
Mistake 2: Say Something Stupid – Means just that. I am astounded at the messages I’ve heard being conveyed to audiences in the last few weeks. These thoughtless messages are like planting tiny land mines that you’re going to be cleaning up and tripping over for years to come after things stabilize. This is NOT the time for leadership to send mass messages to employees such as ‘Watch what you spend for Christmas because you might not have a job after the New Year’ or ‘Well, at least you have a job, for now.’
Employees and stakeholders are listening with hyper-sensitive ears these days – even the most off-handed remark or benign action is analyzed, scrutinized, examined, subjected to tea-leaf readings, and reinterpreted. This doesn’t mean you need to become disingenuous or engage in Pollyanna-speak – but it does mean you need to be very thoughtful about what you say and how you say it, keeping the audience and your ultimate objective in mind.
What TO Do—10 Antidotes to Survive the Current Crisis:
- Communicate Non-Stop. It’s actually impossible to NOT communicate – your silence speaks volumes. So keep the flow going even if you’re only saying “I have nothing to say right now, but I’ll tell you when I do.”
- Think Long Range. What is your objective, really? What do you want the audience to do, really? Don’t just ‘go gut’ with this one – take the time to think it through because every communication has a behavioral consequence, intended or unintended.
- Speak the Emotional Truth. People sniff out lies and deception, especially when their radar is already up. Balancing the truth with being overly honest is a challenge. Always ask yourself, “Is this the truth – or enough of the truth for now – that it will resonate with employees and I can face them tomorrow?” Being judiciously honest is okay – sometimes you need to withhold information for many reasons. But that doesn’t mean you can’t speak the truth, too.
- Leaders Front and Center. This is the time for lock-step communication. Employees want to hear from the CEO to feel like someone is at the helm. The CEO inspires confidence. They also want to hear consistent messages from their front-line leaders – this inspires trust. An effective communication strategy includes messages directly from the CEO to the employee with corroborating messages from managers to staff. Key speaking points and a Q&A will help keep everyone on the same page.
- Face to Face is Best. All the emails, web sites, videos, and newsletters in the world don’t add up to one face to face communication. Large ‘town halls’, informal brown-bags with small groups of employees, or even virtual ‘chats’ are useful activities during change. Depending on how widely your organization is dispersed, you may need to be creative. But this isn’t the time to shoot out emails from the top and have the CEO hide out in a bunker. All of your leaders should be making time to communicate face to face as much as possible.
- Stick to Your Brand, Mission and Values. You’ve invested countless hours establishing a brand and communicating your mission. This is the time to prove it. As you communicate, make sure you’re reinforcing your brand, values and mission. If there is a disconnect – or the possibility that employees will see a behavior or action as a disconnect – you have to recognize it and talk about it clearly. Otherwise, when it’s all said and done, they will never believe your talk about mission or values again… and employees have loooong memories.
- Expect Paranoia. It’s human nature; when we’re under pressure we always expect the worst. I’ve never witnessed an environment so rife with paranoia as we’re seeing today. Therefore it is critical to ensure your informational and symbolic communication are aligned. I can’t say it enough: every leadership action is viewed as a subliminal signal of impending doom. As people make assumptions – almost always assuming the worst – they begin climbing what organizational experts call “The Ladder of Inference.” They climb one rung after the next, all based on what they THINK is happening. Then they start making decisions about what to do and how to behave, all from the top of this ladder they’ve built in their minds. So do everything you can to present fact and address these imaginary ‘ladders’ before they get too tall.
- Manage Communication Viruses. Employees believe what they see rather than what they hear. But, even more importantly, they tend to believe what they hear from the grapevine over what they hear from leadership. Therefore, it’s essential to keep your finger on the pulse of the ‘viral’ messages – those that are spreading and multiplying throughout your organization. If left unaddressed, they become accepted as truth. So know what’s being said at the water cooler and address it up front to set the record straight.
- Listen, Listen, Listen. You should be finding every opportunity to listen to your audiences. Formal surveying, focus groups, viral monitoring, etc. When you notice trends in thinking that could negatively impact your audience – by distracting them or otherwise diminishing productivity – respond decisively and through multiple channels. A ‘living Q&A’ is a great way to keep audiences in the know. It allows you to update messaging frequently and makes it easy for the reader to scan and find relevant information. It also makes the communication more personable, less formal, and can position the leadership as approachable and in touch.
- Be Agile. In a crisis, “Agile Communication” is the best way to keep communication fast and responsive. Based on a model created by software developers, Agile Communication Strategies are based on face-to-face communication. Messaging is simple, constant, and continually adapted. The Agile approach can be taught to teams and leaders as a way to keep communication flowing and fresh.
A thoughtful communication strategy will see your company through the current crisis, poised to take charge, outcompete, and perform when the time comes.
For more information, contact Coni Judge at coni.eden@gmail.com or 801.458.2000.
