3 Cs of Communication
Courageous, Consistent, Compassionate
Very few (in my opinion) want to be poor communicators in our world today. However, with the myriad of communication channels (think: in person, various video and calling platforms, texting, instant messaging, the seemingly endless social media options) it’s getting tougher to stay on top of it all. Good communication requires intentionality, awareness, and ongoing effort.
To be a truly effective communicator takes strong self-awareness, emotional intelligence, a willingness to face difficult or unknown circumstances and the ability to put others ahead of yourself. Below are 3 C’s of effective communication that we believe strong communicators need to demonstrate.
Courageous: Sharing the good, the bad and the ugly. Embrace vulnerability. Explore the uncertainty.
Consistent: Be someone others can count on. Don’t hold back; be a source of truth and honesty.
Compassionate: Remember the human. Anticipate and recognize the impact of your words.
It’s not about making everyone happy all the time and only sharing stories of rainbows and unicorns; leaders who are effective communicators are trusted to know what they are talking about and to Tell. The. Truth. This behavior generates loyalty and can garner giving the benefit of the doubt when those difficult situations full of uncertainty arise. Below are a few scenarios where the 3Cs come into play.
During Difficult Times
While we may have been facing some particularly unusual and challenging times that forced many organizations to make tough decisions recently, difficult conversations are not new. Whether it be around the need to share unpleasant news, like a furlough or layoff, or to provide a less than stellar performance review, difficult conversations will continue to be required of leaders.
Courageous: Be upfront. Don’t dance around the issue and use halfhearted words to soften the facts to make it feel easier for you. If appropriate, be optimistic and supportive, and engage with them to develop a plan such as for performance improvement.
Consistent: Deliver information transparently. If you’ve established through past conduct that you have best interests at heart in all your decisions, others will see you as trusted and understand that this wasn’t a flippant decision nor careless.
Compassionate: Respect the listener. Don’t say I know how you must feel (because you don’t). Be thoughtful in how the message is shared and anticipate questions.
During Virtual Meetings (and really all meetings)
At this point, we’re probably all familiar with conference call bingo. Those things we’ve gotten so used to hearing on our Zoom, Skype, WebEx or other video platforms which can lead us to wonder why we haven’t gotten our bingo prize yet. “Hi, who just joined?” “If everyone could please mute your line,” “Woof! (c’mon Mary Puppins, don’t you see I’m on a call?)” and “Jerry, I think you’re on mute…” just to name a few.
If I may be so bold, I would like to propose that these don’t all have to be part of the accepted “new normal.” While I personally love, and will always love, when a dog or kitten pops onto the video, as we get more familiar and used to using such technology, some of these snags begin to take care of themselves. But there are also proactive communication tactics that can be employed to make it even more effective!
Courageous: Use a designated facilitator or point person to lead the meeting. This person is empowered to address any issues that may come up and hold others accountable for participating.
Consistent: Advise who you are going to ask for input from prior to asking about the specific topic or question. This gives them a chance to collect their thoughts (especially if they spaced out) and respects everyone’s time by reinforcing thoughtful answers without causing unnecessary frustration.
Compassionate: Remember, we are all figuring this out together. No one is perfect (and neither are our kids or pets). It’s everyone’s role to respect others in the virtual meeting, so help them come prepared by providing an agenda and being clear on expectations. And don’t intentionally embarrass anyone who might be struggling with the technology or even if they’re caught distractedly multi-tasking – use that as an opportunity for an “off-line” discussion one-on-one.
During Organizational Change
When you have the chance to plan for a big organizational change rather than it simply befalling upon you like a raging waterfall, that’s obviously preferable. Organizational changes can run the gamut from big to small, including mergers, system transitions, process efficiencies, new products/markets, etc. No matter the change, in order to be successful, it requires effective communication with all the impacted stakeholders. And it's not just communicating on the change itself, it’s managing the transition around it – the psychological realignment that is needed to get people onboard with the new way or new world.
Courageous: Share early successes, but also hurdles or failures (the bad and the ugly). It’s easy to try to hide these or wait for a solution before sharing, but others typically find out anyways and it's better to build from a foundation of trust rather than half-truths or overcome a sense of manipulation.
Consistent: Be transparent. Research finds that open and transparent communication about transformations can result in 8x greater success rates! Share bite-sized, digestible bits of information on a regular cadence, rather than waiting for “big” announcements that may seem exciting to you but can simply become overwhelming to those getting trickle down information.
Compassionate: People often aren’t resisting a change as much as they resist “letting go.” Recognize that any change requires a loss first, which is often rather personal. Show patience and understanding for the “in between” time as the old fades away and the new comes into focus and provide guidance on the “how.”
Customize Communication & Commit
Effective communication does not use a cookie-cutter approach. Every situation will have its own nuances but building from a foundation of trust, taking a wide perspective and leading with heart will guide effective decisions and bring people along with you. I’ll leave you with this reminder:
“The difference between mere management and leadership is communication.”
