Communicate with clarity

Communication is a two-way street. Leaders can get “communicating” confused with “informing.” Informing is one-way. Informing has its place, for sure, but please know that two-way interaction is the best way to get buy-in and commitment.?

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place” – George Bernard Shaw

One-way interaction is best reserved for benign information. “I was informed about our new format for vacation tracking.” Not much controversy there. But, if the statement is “I was informed about the hiring freeze,” you can imagine there might be a lot of unanswered questions. If part of a leader’s job is to provide clarity, it’s much better to communicate about the hiring freeze and address questions and concerns in real time. Of course, the vacation tracker can also need communicating if it follows a policy change or controversy of some sort. So, the bottom line is leaders need to use their judgment and over index on communicating versus informing.?

Action: Ask your team for feedback about the level of communication across the team.?