Communication has taken on a new significance in the past year. We’ve learned it’s not just what you communicate but how and when. Messaging that is transparent, accurate, and consistence is a must. To effectively move their teams into the post-pandemic world, leaders need these communication habits:
- Make sure the team knows their deliverables. Too often, your employees don’t really know what is expected of them at work or believe that expectations change without their knowledge.
- Don’t create log-jams in productivity. Avoid directives that stop staff in their tracks. These include instructing them to put a project on hold until you have more time to be involved or saying that you want to shelf something or start over. Such directives set your team up for disappointment, cause frustration, and hurt morale.
- Guide with strategic questions. Ask leading questions to advance or facilitate discussions.
- Become a coach, not a critic. Avoid dismissing ideas outright or offering criticism without constructive guidance or support.
- Be accountable for bad decisions. Don’t play the blame game. Admit mistakes and move on.
- Respond promptly. Let your teams know the standard response time for questions or requests and live by this. If there will be a delayed response for any reason, say so, explain why, and stick to the new deadline you set.
- Have an agenda for meetings and stick to it. Let participants know in advance what role they will play and what they need to bring to the table.
- Be brief. Don’t turn a quick email into a 30-minute Zoom meeting.
