Effective Workplace Communication
By Kris Macomber, PhD, Lead Equity Consultant
Effective communication plays a critical role in engaging your workforce internally and growing your company’s impact externally. Being intentional about what you communicate, how you communicate it, and who communicates it will enhance its effectiveness.
Regarding internal communication, here are some questions you should consider:
What are your communication processes? Reflecting on this will lead you to question 2.
Where are your communication pathways? That is, how is information communicated within and across your business/organization?
Who are your key communicators? Is there consensus about this? (Hint: There should be.)
What are the “big ideas” that everyone in your workplace should know? Is there common and unified messaging across and within your business/organization?
Have you assessed how your workers/employees experience communication?
Remember, communication is not just an outcome--it is an interactional process--so paying attention to how your workers experience DEI communication is important.
Regarding external communication, the communication work you do should meet the “Three C’s: Clear, Concise, and Compelling. Using our own Work 4 Change (W4C) external communication as examples we define and highlight each one:
Clear: Your message should only mean one thing to the audience; avoid ambiguity. At W4C, we value dignity and equity.
Concise: Your message should be brief. At W4C, we Humanizing the Workplace.
Compelling: Explain that the stakes are high- because they are. At W4C, we work to make the world of work better.
Work 4 Change works side-by-side with you to assess your current internal and external communication strategies, and will develop a comprehensive communication plan to ensure that your organizational communication is effective, engaging, and impactful from the inside-out.
Kris@work4changellc.com
