How to Effectively Improve Your Team's Communication in a VUCA World

At the best of times business is a very rapidly changing environment. This year, more than any other, has seen unprecedented levels of rapid change, leaving some in shell shock at the speed of that change. This change is not over. As we settle into this new still rapidly evolving workplace environment all levels of employees competencies around communication will need to be improved.

In this article I will look at what is meant by a VUCA world, reference the Core Competencies that research shows are needed to be developed in a VUCA world and then provide details of one available solution that can help you understand each team members communication style in order to improve communication to and within your team.

VUCA = Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.

VUCA originates from the US Army War college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. It was developed as a means of describing the world as it now is and is increasingly relevant for how we describe our work and social environment. Given the world in which we now live, it is appropriate that we revisit this theory and in so doing you realise just how relevant it is to the environment the world now finds itself in.

Innovation People (2013) outline the key definitions of VUCA in their article "Leading in Complex and Uncertain Times: The Implications of a VUCA World."

Here is how they describe each one:

Volatility: the rate and speed of change we are experiencing in our business and market environments demands accelerated decision making and immediate responses. The pace of change will continue to accelerate. The challenge for leaders is to move from knee-jerk responses to proactive, well conceived, yet fast responses to the changing environment.

Key to managing volatility is clarity of vision. Focus on the destination, and clear alignment across an organisation that enables people to make decisions that help navigate through turbulent times whilst heading in the right direction.

Uncertainty: Uncertainty is all around us and is increasing. In these times it is difficult to be clear on the present let alone accurately predict future outcomes. Our ability to be comfortable with uncertainty and form behaviours that allow us to navigate through it is fundamental.

Leaders need to maintain differing viewpoints on the world in order to gain new understanding, spot patterns, opportunities and hazards.

Complexity: With changing and uncertain times comes more complexity. We have to consider multiple, interconnected factors in our decision making. Making sense of the chaos is a fundamental skill. As leaders we need to let go of seeking the one perfect and permanent solution and seek out collaboration, reflect on complexities and connect the dots of opportunity.

Ambiguity: The effect of ever changing, complex environments leads to a good deal of ambiguity making it difficult to understand the impact and meaning of events. Individuals need to accept that ambiguity is a part of the rapidly changing world and we are unlikely to ever have enough information informing our decisions.

Our ability to manage risk and develop resilient behaviours in the face of ambiguity is key. Leaders need to be able to think divergently, communicate across organisations instantly and be responsive in decision making and applying solutions.

Can you relate?

No doubt as an executive you can relate to this, given what has happened around COVID-19 this year.

Governments announcing public health orders that literally shut down some businesses overnight. Staff were ordered to no longer come to work, but to work from home. IT systems, if set up correctly, worked for some, for others suddenly you were required to upgrade your systems just so staff could work.

For some, almost 100% of their sales disappeared overnight. For others, sales increased dramatically as clients needed new products/services quickly in order to cope with the change being forced upon them. Both of these are at the extremes, then there is a whole mixture of situations in between.

In some countries, governments have kicked in incredible amounts of funding never dreamed of before to help individuals and businesses to survive. Other countries have left people and businesses high and dry.

And, it is not over yet. There seems to be a second and third wave of COVID cases in some countries. Others may have settled down, however, one result has been that many businesses are now surveying their staff to see how they would like to work moving forward.

McKinsey & Co in their June 2020 article: "Reimagining the office and work life after COVID-19" share that "leaders will use the lessons from this large-scale work-from-home experiment to reimagine how work is done - and who role offices should play - in creative and bold ways."

They go on to outline four steps to reimagine work and workplaces:

1. Reconstruct how work is done - identifying the most important processes for each major business, geography, and function and re-envision them completely, often with involvement by employees.
2. Decide 'people to work' or 'work to people' - decisions need to be made around which roles must be carried out in person and to what degree.
3. Redesign the workplace to support organisational priorities - to maintain productivity, collaboration, and learning and to preserve the corporate culture, the boundaries between being physically in the office and out of the office must collapse.
4. Resize the footprint creatively - companies need to take a fresh look at how much and were space is required and how it fosters desired outcomes for collaboration, productivity, culture and the work experience.

The Key Workplace Competencies Staff Need

Given the VUCA world, what then are the key workplace competencies that executives need to be looking for in new staff and developing in their current employees?

Cripe (2002) summarised the 31 Core Competencies that Workitect, Inc developed in their Competency Dictionary. While these were developed close to 20 years ago, they are still extremely relevant today.

The key clusters Cripe categorised the competencies into are:

1. Competencies Dealing with People: Establishing Focus, Providing Motivational Support, Fostering Teamwork, Empowering Others, Managing Change, Developing Others, Managing Performance, Attention to Communication, Oral Communication, Written Communication, Persuasive Communication, Interpersonal Awareness, Influencing Others, Building Collaborative Relationships and Customer Orientation.
2. Competencies Dealing with Business: Diagnostic Information Gathering, Analytical Thinking, Conceptual Thinking, Strategic Thinking, Technical Expertise, Initiative, Entrepreneurial Orientation, Fostering Innovation, Results Orientation, Thoroughness and Decisiveness.
3. Self-Management Competencies: Self-confidence, Stress Management, Personal Credibility and Flexibility.

In reading through the list of competencies you will no doubt see the value of developing these within your staff.

It's time to Increase our Focus on Human Skills

Robert Katz back in 1955 identified three leadership skills: technical skills, human skills and conceptual skills as the three basic person skills essential for leadership.

Technofunc.com have developed this great infographic outlining these three skill areas:

Technical skills are extremely important as they play an essential role in producing the actual products and/or services of the business. However as a person grows within the organisation the Human skills and Conceptual skills play a key role in not only growing and developing the business as a whole but also the staff within the business.

How then do we develop staff's effective communication skills and their interpersonal relationships?

The Life Languages Profile Provides a Solution

"It's not the problem that's the problem. It's how you communicate about the problem that is the problem."

Ain't that the truth. The old saying goes that you need to "Communicate, Communicate, Communicate." and then communicate some more. You cannot over communicate.

The key though is to communicate in a way that your staff, your customers and suppliers will understand you. Because the reality is we all have different communication styles. Based upon that style will determine have effectively that communication takes place.

Peter Drucker claimed that 80% of all management problems are a result of faulty communication. Good communication, though, just doesn't happen. For many people, it's a skill that is learned over time.

This is why Life Languages was developed by Fred and Anna Kendall back in 1985. Since that time over 225,000 people have used the profile to revolutionise their communication and relationships.

Why? Because we all want to be seen, heard and understood, not only at work but also at home. The solution lies with us first understanding ourselves and others and learn to bridge the gaps. Life Languages is the only communication tool on that market that reveals how you process all incoming and outgoing communication.

It unlocks how to identify and speak the languages of the people around you. This proven system helps anyone, anywhere, restore, strengthen, and build on their relationships at home and at work and create a positive and productive environment where people can grow and prosper.

What is a Life Language? It is a preferred communication style. While everyone has a preferred style, all people speak all 7 languages. Life Languages does not put people in a box but gives a foundation to stand on by raising awareness of self and others and cracking the code to effective communication.

For your information the Life Languages are:

The key to successful communication is to answer the filter, to meet the need, to encourage the passion and validate their character.

The Financial Cost of Not Knowing Yours or Your Staff's Life Language

Getting communication wrong can lead to significant cost in your organisation, here are but four examples:

a) Turnover - Sheila Wellington, President of Catalysts Corporation states that "Turnover costs run 95% to 150% of a persons annual salary. Companies that institute family friendly programs find turnover costs plummet." Life Languages services are uniquely family-friendly and creative positive corporate and family cultures.

b) Management - I quoted Peter Drucker above saying that "80% of management problems are the result of faulty communications." Communication is the heart of everything that managers do. Studies show that managers spend as much time as 80% of their workday communicating. You spend your day talking, listening, presenting, and sharing information with people. Imagine being more effective with 80% of your workload?

c) Marital Problems - marriage counsellors maintain that approximately 90% of marital problems and divorces result from ineffective communication. Managers know that what happens at home affects what happens at work. Helping your employees understand how they communicate with their partners will improve their personal relationships with the flow on benefits to their productivity at work.

d) Helping to Solve the Issue of Violence in the Workplace - sadly violence has become the second leading cause of death in the workplace. On-the-job violence has grown to become a serious financial threat to employers costs up to $4.2 billion per year in the areas of income losses, public relations expenses, victims medical expenses, lost wages and the cost of temporary replacement employees. Life Languages offers the best defence to this dangerous trend and is a means to creating a harmonious, productive and fulfilling workplace. Life Languages offers a straightforward program of success in improving communication. They are cutting edge and provide a paradigm shift that is life changing.

Next Step

How do you start?

You start by finding out what your own Life Language is. Here is a link (https://bit.ly/LLIFreeProfileLinkedin) to a free profile that will tell you your top Life Language.

Or if you would like to hop straight in and purchase the full report for US$49 choose this link https://bit.ly/LLIPersonalProfileLinkedin

Or feel free to contact the author of this article to discuss your specific options further.

Conclusion

We are truly living in a VUCA world. One of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. They key is not only to be on top of our technical skills, but also to grow and develop our human and conceptual skills. Understanding the 31 Workplace Competencies is key and putting in place training programs to develop these with staff at all levels in your organisation.

I believe that key to it all is developing your communication skills. The Life Languages program helps you to understand how you communicate and how your team communicates. Not only will workplace relationships and productivity improve, but it will also have a flow on effect to your staff's personals lives.

Therefore I strongly encourage you to complete the Life Languages Profile today. Imagine the possibilities.

Sources referred to in this article:

Cripe, Edward (2002). 31 Core Competencies Explained. Retrieved from: https://www.workforce.com/uk/news/31-core-competencies-explained

Innovation People. (2013). Leading in complex and uncertain times: the implications of a VUCA world. You can download the pdf of their report here: Leading In Uncertain Times

Katz's Three Skill Approach. Retrieved from: https://www.technofunc.com/index.php/leadership-skills-2/leadership-theories/item/katz-s-three-skill-approach

McKinsey & Company (2020) Reimagining the Office and work life after COVID-19. Retrieved from: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/organization/our-insights/reimagining-the-office-and-work-life-after-covid-19

Wes Leake is a People Builder. He grows people and their businesses through programs such as Life Languages and the Co.starters program that helps communities build vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystems by equipping them with the best tools and resources needed to support starters of all types. He also lecturers in Entrepreneurship.