Course Title Making Every Word Count Course Title

Course Title

Making Every Word Count Course Title Colleen Billings, PHR Employee Communication That Gets Results!

Elements of Effective Information Flow • Open and Honest Exchanges • Distribution Before Information is Stale • Feedback in All Directions • Accessible and Visible Leaders • Consistent Messages Source: Towers Perrin Study

ROI: Show Me the Money! • 19. 4% Higher Stock Price • 57% Higher Shareholder Return • 4. 5 x More Likely to Have Highly Engaged Workforce • 20% More Likely to Have Low Employee Turnover Source: Watson Wyatt

Adopt a ‘Customer Service’ Mentality Employees as Internal Customers

You Do a Lot for Your Customers! • Think About Things from Their Perspective • Give the Benefit of the Doubt • Listen! • Offer Multiple Options/Solutions • SMILE!

4 Basic Communication Tools • Reading • Writing • Speaking • Listening

Prepare to Listen • Seek First to Understand, Then Be Understood • Avoid Assumptions of Thought • Be Aware of Autobiographical Listening ØEvaluate-Probe-Advise-Interpret

Listen Between the Lines • Gather Information; Focus on Facts • Suspend Judgment • Acknowledge Emotion ØBut, don’t get “hooked in” by it • Ask Questions to Clarify

What do you see? Woman’s Face or Jazz Musician?

Build Relationships with Empathy “I can see why you would think that…” “That must be exciting upsetting surprising interesting. ” “That must have been frustrating!”

Methods to the Madness In the absence of reliable information, people will make things up.

Written Message • Handbooks/Memos – Policies – Routine Announcements – Hang up on Wall/Cube – Reminders

Written Message • Email – Specific Information – Updates to Previously Shared Information – Recognition – Follow Up/Document a Verbal Conversation – Newsletters

Power of the Spoken Word • Face to Face – Difficult Conversations/ Sensitive Feedback – Discipline – Periodic Personal Touch

Power of the Spoken Word • Phone – If Face to Face is Not Possible – Email is Not Working • Rule of 3 – Quick Response – Follow Up to Email with No Response

Other Communication Channels • 1: 1 Meetings – Key Employees or Leaders • Leader Roundtable • Video – Fun or Instructional

Choose Words with Impact Words to Use • • • Will you… It works well when… What will work best? Let me find out for you. How may I help you? I apologize for the misinformation. Words to Avoid • • You have to… You can’t… It’s not our policy. It’s required. You should have… I don’t know. We have a problem.

Tune in for best reception! • How do you like to be communicated to? • How do you like to receive feedback? • How do you like to be recognized? • Survey Employees – Survey Monkey is FREE!

“When dealing with people, remember that you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but creatures of emotions. ” -Dale Carnegie We’re Only Human

Make Every Word Count! Colleen Billings, PHR billings. [email protected] com Questions? ?