How can you establish trust through communication in your organization?

Clarifying communication goals is the compass directing your interaction towards intended outcomes in organizational settings. While aligning content, tone, and style with communication intentions is vital, it is also essential to ensure that the chosen communication channels are appropriate and effective for the message being conveyed, optimizing the reach and impact of the communication within the organization.

I am a huge fan of defining communication goals right at the start of a campaign. Imagine you're a team leader announcing a significant organisational change. Before communicating with your team, clarifying your communication goals is crucial for success: to inform about change, inspire confidence in the transition, and encourage a positive mindset. You want your team to feel assured, think positively and act collaboratively during the transition. You can then tailor your message more easily, choosing a reassuring tone, providing detailed information, and incorporating elements that inspire confidence. This approach ensures that your communication aligns with your goals and fosters trust among your team during the period of change.

The right channel for transparency is always through email. I am always transparent, so I tend to be communicating openly and preferably in written because there will be evidence. Avoid people who do not communicate in email and rather meet or talk over the phone because they are not transparent enough to discuss something with evidence.

From my experience, make sure you listen with your eyes. I know that sounds wrong but observe your audience. Are they busy multi-tasking? Do they look bored? Are the doodling? Checking their phones? OR Are they making eye contact? Looking interested? Writing notes? Nodding their heads or shaking their heads in disagreement? Body language will provide real-time feedback and direct you where to go next: ask a question, summarize, etc.

As someone who presents research about effective professional communication strategies around the United States and Europe and within the contexts of client engagement for the last 7+ years, I know that conversation is key in follow up and follow through. Make sure your communication is not one-sided. Ideally, you want to create an open and steady stream of dialogue. Additionally, make sure you avoid hypercommunication in your follow ups, or excess inbound and outbound communication. Depending on the preferences of your intended audience, choose a clear channel and path for follow up.

My background in Social Cognition has taught me. 2. It is as important to actively listen (active listening allows us to hear what is NOT being said), as it is to choose your words carefully. Words are powerful & can make or break communication. Avoid using words of judgement &, instead, remain curious (You refused vs. Sounds like you struggled with that; You're wrong vs. Your perspective gave me and idea. What if...). Sometimes you will need to be direct, but quality communication requires people feel safe & comfortable being themselves, and we can achieve that through the words we choose. Actively listening & our words, allow us to make our communication partners feel seen, heard & valued. That creates trust & trust builds relationships.

One of the most important factors in building trust through communication is transparency. Transparency means providing the "why" behind the information or requests you share with others. While people understand the importance of clear goals, empathetic listening, and respect, they also need to understand the reasons behind certain actions. Providing these explanations fosters a sense of belonging inside the business, making everyone aware that they are working toward a common, important goal.

From my experience, to develop trust through communication, there needs to be a culture of effective communication across all business functions and teams. To create a culture of communication, communicating should be simple. For myself, I always listen actively but, simple communication is not mutually exclusive with easy communication. To determine what was effective and supportive, I T.H.I.N.K before I speak. I'm grateful to whoever introduced me to this acronym! To use T.H.I.N.K., I ask myself these five questions: T - Is this true? Factual? Accurate? H - Is this helpful? I - Is it inspiring? N - Is it necessary? K - Is it kind? I make an effort to ensure that whatever I say includes T, H, and N. If I can include everything ??