Communicating in a Crisis

Now is the time to double-down on the core principles of effective communication, embrace vulnerability, and be human.

Last week I heard an impassioned group of colleagues discussing motivation, decision-making, and yearning for us to do better. It reminded me how hungry the team is for excellence and how open, and vulnerable, we are with each other. We agreed that it all starts with communication. Below, I’ve provided some quick wins, hard truths, and shared learnings, so that all of us can continue to communicate effectively.

“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” — George Bernard Shaw

Find the truth.

We have more slack channels than ever, no longer overhear conversations from the lunch tables, and our priorities have shifted. Trying to keep track of what’s been agreed and the latest info is tough! It is really difficult to know what you don’t know.

Even more so, without body language in meetings, and struggling to hear over the sound of kids or the neighbours music, really understanding what’s been decided on even if you’re in the meeting is hard. We must all leave our egos at the door, speak up if things aren’t clear, ask questions, and seek help. You’re never the only one thinking that question, so don’t be afraid to ask it, and then document the answers. Having an agreed-on place to store the latest information, add comments and questions, and clarifying next-steps will help.

• Agree on a single source of truth for the latest information. (Notion)
• Use TLDR (Too Long, Didn’t Read) summaries to reiterate the takeaways.
• Write down in a shared space actions and what has been agreed to. (Chat on Meet, GDocs)

Buy a megaphone.

It cannot be said enough: overcommunicate! Figure out what is most relevant, highlight the most important aspects, and overcommunicate them again and again. When there’s an update, and you’ve shared it in slack, think about all of us that aren’t in the channel. So you’ve sent a team email? What about those that aren’t great on emails? You mentioned it in the team meeting? Not everyone was at the meeting. Even those that did hear or read the update, might not have digested it. Sometimes it can take hearing the same thing over five times before you really get it.

When in an office it’s easy to hear what teams are working on, see that individuals are making calls, observe small things and iterate on them. That’s really hard when we’re all working miles away from each other. Using a shared collaborative project management tool can really help.

Be extra diligent with your Hubspot and Zendesk logs. Try working on a Google Sheet together to keep track of who’s pitched what to which customers. Create a Monday project that syncs with Slack so that everyone can see who’s doing what and where the blockers are. Be creative with your solutions to keep everyone updated and share your ideas, both the ones that work and the ones that don’t, with other teams.

• Say it loudly, email it again, clarify in Slack, follow-up, and repeat.
• Book in frequent but short standups with your working groups.
• Use collaborative tools like Monday and Google Sheets to stay updated and inform others.

Trust each other.

“Culture eats strategy for breakfast” — Peter Drucker

We’re much more effective when we trust each other. We trust each other more when we’re vulnerable with each other. Our work-selves are more vulnerable than ever right now with our peers seeing right into our homes. Embrace the vulnerability, share your ups and downs, communicate your feelings, and remember: we’re all human. Now is the time for personalism over professionalism, and effectiveness over efficiency. (credit: Patrick Lencioni)

In order to do this we need to have difficult conversations, share our feelings, and not be afraid to engage in conflict too. Make sure you’re having 1:1s with your teams and your managers, and ask for them to be more frequent if you’d like. In conversations, keep your video on, use tile-view on video-chats, and observe body language. Create an environment that encourages people to share their opinions and promotes healthy discussion so that everyone has an opportunity to speak as well as be heard. Look for who isn’t participating and reach out. If someone seems unengaged, raise it; maybe they disagree with what’s being discussed, or perhaps they’re having a difficult day and sharing that is important.

Communication is hard. It’s not a once-and-done. We’re all figuring it out and we can all gain from giving each other the benefit of the doubt. Someone may not yet have gathered all the information, or fully understood the idea. Now is the time for patience and kindness.

• Be authentic to yourself, and to others.
• See body language and connect with others using tile-view and video.
• Always, practice forgiveness and grace.

Give a gift.

“We all need people who will give us feedback. That’s how we improve” — Bill Gates

Every one of us is learning, unsure of this new situation thrust upon us, making mistakes, and iterating our approach. There’s endless distractions at home to make us forget about a meeting or we forget to invite a particular team because they’re not in sight across the room.

No-one’s perfect, so let’s not pretend that we are, or hold others to that unattainable standard. Help your teammates and give the gift of feedback to your managers too.

Giving feedback can be uncomfortable; you’re scared of coming across as insensitive, you’re worried how it might impact your own position, you don’t want to annoy someone. Lean in to the discomfort. It will benefit everyone.

When giving feedback, don’t wait. Hearing some tips on a meeting from four days ago is difficult if you don’t remember the details and nuances of the conversation. Give feedback right after the moment. Drop someone a message straight after the presentation. Don’t forget: always ask if you may provide them some feedback first. Even if it’s a gift, people don’t like things to be thrown at them.

Feedback is advice, intended to grow and develop each of us. It is given because we believe in each other’s ability for improvement, and is a commitment to our success. Don’t wait for it, be selfish and ask for it too! Try starting with a vulnerability: “I’m struggling to prioritise. What ideas do you have?” and follow up with “Can you hold me accountable and remind me of this commitment I’ve made?”. Be specific: rather than “How am I doing?”, try “How could yesterday’s presentation be better?” or “What can I do to be more persuasive?”. Listen without judgement, ask clarifying questions if needed, and write it down. You don’t have to agree with it — it is a gift that you can wrap back up and put in the drawer if you want to.

• Seek out the gift of feedback regularly.
• Gift quickly, and don’t wait.
• Feedback on the positive, the successes, and the wins, too.

Be human.

A particular sentence in a webinar by Patrick Lencioni rang true to me the other day: “Now is the time for personalism over professionalism”. It reminded me of that famous talk by Brene Brown on vulnerability. I was encouraged to put my thoughts out there and write my first article. I’m excited, and nervous, to receive your feedback, and that’s exactly why I look forward to it.

Every day is an opportunity to learn about ourselves, to learn about our peers, to learn how to communicate better, be more effective, provide and receive helpful feedback, and grow, as colleagues, as managers, and as people. In order to do so, to grow, we must ultimately remember that we’re all only human. I’m only human. And so are you.