Talking the Talk – For Learning & Performance (Part 2)

 

My last post was the start of my comments after reading an article about a book. Sounds a bit removed from the source, but it serves our purpose to find the latest best information out there to help us manage the workforce better. This particular article was written by Harvard Business School staff to promote a Harvard Business School book that helps explain the importance of effective corporate communications. I'm taking learnings from that book and applying them to effective project communications, including fixing a problem with enterprise social media not working well.

Basically, the recommendation of the book is to use a conversational approach to up, down and across sharing of information. Away with command and control messages and learning. Bring on the organizational conversation. I'm applying this concept to project communications.

I covered one of four key factors to manage in the first post: Intimacy. After establishing this factor, you are ready to move on to Interactivity where you enable the avenues of communication and get everyone involved.

•  Make sure everyone has a chance to speak in the conversation. This is where social media can help you. Use  highly interactive social media sites to interact with project workers regularly.

• If you have an internal blog make sure others can comment. If you established the first factor, then they should already feel free to comment. Start using open-ended questions to persuade others to join in the conversation.

• When you do get feedback in comments, show appreciation to those who posted, even if they disagreed. Positively reinforce those who build on ideas to create better solutions. This will get everyone to see that they can add value in these particular conversations.

• When you post in social media, make it more informal than like a directive. If you have difficulty, imagine yourself in a hallway talk or in a meeting in a small room where everyone is working together toward a single objective.

• Use this technique for continuous improvement, asking everyone where the project can be doing better to meet its objectives and company goals. Be ready to accept criticism. How you handle that will go a great way to setting you up as a successful enterprise leader.
  Do:  Show your appreciation for all feedback and state that it will be assessed and reported later (into the conversation!).
  Don't:  Become defensive and explain immediately why the undesirable situation exists.

• Keep the conversation moving. Have team leads, for example, monitor relevant conversations and post in useful areas that have slowed down in order to recharge the conversation the interaction.

• When you use ideas from interactions, publicize that fact and praise all who participated in the conversation. This goes for improvement ideas, solutions to project obstacles, just about any positive outcome.

• Build upon the conversations because participation builds ownership. Use the language of ownership in your conversations, such as "our project," and "your new solution".

And consider this:  If there is a dispersed group of business stakeholders without a single clear concept of requirements, would it be better to take what you can get documented and later continue making changes in the project or would it be better to let them build a consensus in a social media setting?

More on improving information flow and learning in your project as this series continues. Until then, keep the conversation flowing.