Communication: A Life Skill
Day 3 of Evergreen was centered around the notion of stakeholders and how best to communicate with them. We often overlook the simple yet complex act of ‘communicating’ but it is something ongoing in life that we must master if we want to get anything done. Especially as policy professionals, communicating is among the most important skills to have as we strive for bettering the lives of people.
We delved further into the idea of communication with the concept of negotiation. Negotiation is encountered in a lot of different ways: Substance vs Relationship Tension, Interest vs Position, and Intent vs. Impact. It often boils down to strategy and preparedness. What are we willing to accept and to not accept? Do we have a best alternative in case the negotiation doesn’t go as planned? How do we navigate through the complexity of life including relationships, various interest groups, organizations and competing demands? A lot of things are not in our control, but it is important to focus on what we can control and that is our behavior and response to others.
Gill, who is the Communications Director for Munk School also emphasized the importance of framing. The language used during communication is critical. In Gill’s professional work, she demonstrated how never showing satisfaction will raise the bar each time with your stakeholders. Find a way to own the conversation and for people to speak on your terms. This also requires one to be relentless and sow multiple seeds at once.
The Laneway Housing project also embodies the importance of framing as many objections were made on the initial idea until the term suites was given; making the concept more palatable. The conversation about communication and negotiation ties back to the importance of relationship building in policy. Someone is bound to be upset sometime, somewhere, but how do you learn to build good relationships? Evergreen utilized people’s stories as a powerhouse for laneway suites and that made all the difference in its progress.
