By Arial Starks
Kimberly Pace
As a leader, it is important to know how to communicate with your team in a way that yields the best results. You will need a strong communication strategy in place to motivate your team to carry out everyday tasks and projects. Kimberly Pace, Professor for the Practice of Communication at Vanderbilt Business, shares some strategic communication tips for leaders.
Figure out your team’s preferred style of communication and adapt
Every person on your team is different; it is important to learn what style of communication is most effective for each person and be able to adapt to those different styles to ensure the best results.
“We have a tendency to just want to communicate in the style, format, and voice that we prefer, when we should be communicating in the way that our audience prefers and how our audience needs to hear it,” said Pace.
Coach your team members
Just as in sports, a team at work thrives when it has a good coach. Pace says people are more motivated to work for a leader who cares about their development and long-term success.
“It’s not just about coaching once a year when you’re doing some sort of feedback session, but always being a coach for your team just as you would with sports or nutrition, etc., with a goal of helping them be their very best person,” she said.
Plan for and prepare your team for crisis situations
Leaders need to know what to do when a crisis strikes their organization. While a crisis may be inevitable, you can avoid disaster by having plans in place to get through the challenging times. Pace says by using a more direct style of communication and setting clear expectations for your team, “everybody feels like everybody knows their role and what they do in that situation”.
Be authentic and genuine
One sure way to gain the respect of your team as the leader is by being genuine and authentic. Recognizing that your employees have lives outside of work and that those lives don’t pause just because they are in the office is key. Pace says that especially for the later generations, knowing who your team members are as real people is vital for employee morale.
“They want to know your strengths, your weaknesses, your failures, and what your values are, but they also expect you as a leader to know their dog’s name and their kids’ names and what’s happening in their life,” she said. “So, as leaders, we have to have that relatability.”
Listen more than you speak
A great way to effectively communicate with your team is by learning what motivates them and what areas they want to grow in. Pace says you should be listening to your team about 80% of the time and talking about 20% of the time.
“A lot of the job as a leader is to ask really insightful questions to help your team to become great problem solvers,” Pace said. “And when you do talk, it’s all about giving feedback, asking questions, or offering advice to help them think about another way to approach a scenario.”
Your communication strategy needs to support the company’s overall strategy
In order for someone to grow and thrive as a member of your team, they not only have to achieve the goals you set for them, but those goals also have to align with the overall goals of the company. The strategy you have in place to communicate with your team needs to support the company’s overall strategy.
“You can be a great communicator or build a great culture within an organization, but it’s not necessarily going to bring the success and the growth that your company needs,” said Pace. “You always have to go back to the strategy of the company, and then make sure that all communication from you to your team is supporting that information.”
As you move up the ladder, your communication should become more visionary
Once you reach a certain level of leadership within an organization, most of your time will be spent communicating with others, whether it be down the chain or to people in positions above you. You will experience more conflict and will have to learn to alleviate these challenges by consistently communicating with the people around you.
“You can’t really work behind the scenes as a leader, because everyone is looking for your voice and guidance from you,” said Pace. “Leaders should also keep in mind that every email you send and every conversation that you’re having, represents the company’s brand. You cannot separate what the company’s brand is and how you communicate.”
To learn more about Kimberly Pace’s short program, Strategic Communication for Leaders, click here.
