A polite way to tell leaders they're bad at communication
Mon 28 May 2012
, LEAP redaktie, CEC Insiders
It’s not polite to tell your CEO, “Hey, you’re a terrible communicator.” What is more polite (and, ultimately more pragmatic) is to benchmark existing leader communication effectiveness in order to prioritize the type of support the Communications function provides, says Kayleigh O’Keefe in a blog on CEC Insiders.
Leader communication is the composite of what leaders believe about the importance of communication, say in order to drive stakeholder action, and do to model open communication across their teams. If you only measure the quality of a leader’s speech, you’ll only be capturing a superficial snapshot into the leader’s presentation skills, not necessarily the impact of his message or the environment in which that message is inserted.
To measure the effectiveness of leaders’ communication, then, you’ll want to ask questions of employees that test their ability to take action as a result of the leader communication.
Questions to Ask
Communication for Employee Action
How effective are leaders at linking what you (the respondent/employee) do to the company’s strategic priorities?
This question tests whether employees derive meaning from the work that they do on a day-to-day basis in support of company strategy.
How effective are leaders at sharing trends in the business environment that are impacting the decisions or trade offs the company needs to make?
This question tests whether employees are exposed to the same information that leaders use to quickly adjust decisions based on changes in the external environment.
To what extent does formal communication from leaders help you meet your objectives?
A version of this question can give you a baseline of employee perceptions of the value of leader communication to begin with!
Behaviors that Support Communication
These questions would be best to ask managers or even the direct reports or team of a given leader.
How effective is the leader at involving and influencing key business stakeholders?
This question tests whether the leader models behaviors that include multiple perspectives before taking action.
How effective is the leader at facilitating dialogues among stakeholders?
This question tests whether the leader can demonstrate his intelligence not by being the smartest guy in the room, but by asking questions that help others to share what they know.
How effective is the leader at working across silos in the organization?
This question tests whether the leader uses his communication and influence skills to break down barriers in organizations.
Decisions that Support Communication
When you have a question, how easy is it to find an answer from colleagues across your organization?
This question tests whether employees believe there is sufficient infrastructure (usually in the form of a technology platform) to find peers who can answer questions to get their job done more efficiently. See an example of a smart peer learning communication platform from MITRE.
How effective is our company’s communication skill building training and development resources?
This question tests whether employees know about, have attended, and have found valuable communication skill development at the organization.
How do you learn about what our external stakeholders think of our company?
This question tests how “close” employees are to customers and other external stakeholders. Do employees get their information from the general news, from targeted communication that your company shares on competitors or customers’ changing needs.
Read the original blog: http://cecinsider.exbdblogs.com/2012/05/21/the-polite-way-to-tell-leaders-theyre-bad-at-communication/?goback=.gde_63978_member_118285652
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