I just read a good article by Georgia Everse in the Harvard Business Review. In it she talks about eight communication approaches to help you effectively reach employees in ways that change behaviors.
I only take issue with this part of her third point: "Messages that inspire are particularly important when you are sharing a significant accomplishment or introducing a new initiative that relates to your strategy. The content should demonstrate progress against goals, showcase benefits to customers, and be presented in a way that gets attention and signals importance. The medium is less important than the impression that you want to leave with employees about the company. Whether you're looking to build optimism, change focus, instill curiosity, or prepare them for future decisions, you'll have more impact if you stir some emotion and create a lasting memory."
I think the medium is vitally important - and that the optimal way to build optimism and stir emotion is face-to-face. And that has everything to do with the power of body language.
Nonverbal communication plays a critical role in making sure the work force truly receives and understands key messages. This is because in face-to-face encounters, our brains process a continual cascade of nonverbal cues that we use as the basis for building trust and professional intimacy -- both of which are critical to high-level communication and persuasion.
If you are going to talk about new initiatives, major change, or strategic opportunities, my advice is to do so in person.
In my work with organizational change leaders, I've learned that face-to-face is also the employees' choice for receiving this kind of information. And, if they can't see you in person, employees want to view the next best thing. Consider the case with one Fortune 25 company, where teleconferences provided an ongoing opportunity for small groups of employees to get up close and personal with the CEO. Time after time, employees would ask about pending organizational changes that had already been communicated in various company publications and through dozens of email announcements.
After the meetings, the beleaguered CEO would ask his communication manager, "How many times have we told them about that? Why don't they know that?"
"Oh, they know it," the communications manager would reply. "They just want to hear it from you. More importantly, they want to be able to look at you when you say it."
Technology may be a great facilitator for factual information, but when your communication has any emotional charge, a face-to-face meeting is still your best choice. It’s the only way that others can note the alignment of your verbal and nonverbal messages and be convinced that your motives match your rhetoric.
