The Magic of Effective Communication
Shownotes
Welcome to this week’s episode of the Future-Proof your Business podcast where I’m exploring a topic that is fundamental to my work and teachings: The Magic of Effective Communication.
I delve into my belief that everything comes down to the way you communicate and having the ability to put yourself in other people’s shoes and imagine what another person is thinking or feeling is the key to success. It can literally transform every single situation, improve relations, build trust and achieve an overall more positive outcome.
Key Takeaways:
Communication in Leadership
Clarity and direction, roles and responsibilities.
Engaging and getting the buy-in from your team by sharing the vision and purpose behind it.
Building stronger relationships and trust.
Resolving conflicts and creating win-win scenarios.
Self-awareness and understanding others
Getting curious about your own behaviour and reactions.
Putting yourself in others' shoes and see things from other perspectives.
The importance of empathy and compassion.
Identifying Key Stakeholders and their needs
Mapping out and prioritising the key stakeholders for your business
Getting under the skin of each stakeholder category
Understanding what is important to them and what they need from you.
Mapping out your Communication Plan
Tailoring communication to each stakeholders' needs.
The importance of two-way communication
Implementing a feedback loop
Embracing the ability to adapt and change strategies.
Scenario and contingency planning.
Lucy Rennie Resources:
https://www.iamlucyrennie.com - free downloadable resources, other episodes and more information about how to work with Lucy.
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Future Proof Your Business EP55
[00:00:00] Lucy Rennie: Hi, and welcome to this week's episode of the Future Proof Your Business Podcast. I'm Lucy Rennie and this week I wanted to share with you a topic that genuinely is at the heart of everything that I do, that I teach, that I coach, that I get on my soapbox about every day, every minute, every hour. And it's something that really is genuinely deeply ingrained, within me and it is probably sometimes too much, but it's the fact that communication is key, is everything.
[00:00:26] Lucy Rennie: And that, particularly in business, I believe that, everything really does come down to communication. And that if you can communicate effectively in, in your different projects, in the heart of your business with all your different stakeholders, then I genuinely believe that you're onto a winner.
[00:00:41] Lucy Rennie: That you can create something that's successful, that's sustainable and ultimately be that magnet that's going to attract the right kind of people again and again and keep them with you, retain them and increase that lifetime value for, the future and for a long time to come.
[00:00:55] Lucy Rennie: And so What is the key to effective communication? And today in this podcast, I want to introduce you to it in terms of really being about the ability to imagine how somebody else is thinking or feeling and to put yourself in their shoes. It's a topic I know I go on about a lot.
[00:01:13] Lucy Rennie: I think even just in episode 51, which was, all about that. I was introducing you to the idea of thinking about, involving other people and what they might think and what they want to get out of something. And so really today I want to go a little bit deeper into that and take you through how to create a communications plan, how to approach any project really within your business, whether that's a new product or service, whether it's a marketing plan, whether it's about recruiting new staff, whether it's about building a new um, Outbuilding, whether it's about whatever it might be communication is really at the heart of it and being able to see things from other people's perspectives.
[00:01:49] Lucy Rennie: And it's the theory of mind. And to be honest, it's something that I've always done. It's something that I've always taken for granted and assumed that everybody else does too. It's something that I think ever since I can remember, I've been able to do with that's walking into a room and feeling the energy and kind of.
[00:02:07] Lucy Rennie: Yeah. Knowing, feeling the emotion, seeing how people are either, how they're feeling about something, but then also just having that automatic response that's thinking about why are they thinking like that? Why are they getting frustrated or why are they happy about that? Or what is it that makes them see or want to have a different outcome to maybe me or a different group of people?
[00:02:27] Lucy Rennie: And so it's something that's just been ingrained in me. And it's only really by working with different clients and I having conversations with my children or family and friends, I realized that actually it's not a given and that actually this is something that I can help you with, I can share.
[00:02:44] Lucy Rennie: And that actually. Yeah is something that isn't ingrained in everybody. And so it's put me on a bit of a mission because I just think it's so important and the impact can be so huge that, yeah, I want to encourage everybody, especially within business to embrace this and to learn the skills and to think differently about things.
[00:03:06] Lucy Rennie: And in fact, just last week I was at an evening meal with some clients who had just launched a new brand refresh. And so we'd all gone to a curry house and I was sitting with these guys who are engineers and spend most of the day welding and creating these different hand controls for specially adapted vehicles.
[00:03:24] Lucy Rennie: And one of the guys, Pete, he was saying to me, do you know, We were having a great conversation about different things and he said, you're, I can tell you, you really good with people, aren't you? You can really I imagine you can get them to do what you want them to, what you want them to do, or you can get them to tell you things maybe that they might not share with other people.
[00:03:42] Lucy Rennie: And it really got me thinking because I think I am. I think that's true. And it was interesting that he could see that, but actually trying to unpick what is it that he could say? Or what is it that I do that allows me to create those relationships and build that trust, which is ultimately at the heart of people then sharing with me how they're feeling or being a bit more vulnerable and open about what they want or what's important to them.
[00:04:05] Lucy Rennie: So that leads me quite nicely into why am I here today? And why am I talking to you about this? And why do I think it's important? And for me, I genuinely believe that, magic happens when you can communicate effectively. And I wanted to delve into what that means, communicating effectively.
[00:04:23] Lucy Rennie: And. It sounds quite textbooky, doesn't it? And so I'm going to delve into a bit more of that touchy feely emotional side of things today in the episode. But ultimately, if you can embrace this, if you can get really good at this, if you can yeah, make this a part of who you are then.
[00:04:39] Lucy Rennie: The impact is huge. You're going to have much more clarity and direction, whether that's for yourself, but also for your team, for your customers, for your family, for your fellow members of your local football team, whatever that might be, by communicating effectively, it's going to avoid confusion, but it's also ultimately going to, allow people to.
[00:05:01] Lucy Rennie: Know where they're going, which is key, but also know the role that they play, the part that they're going to play within that journey or within that project or within that team. So giving clarity, giving direction allows people to. tick off those boxes and we can go back to Maslow if we need to, but we need to feel valued.
[00:05:22] Lucy Rennie: We need to know the role that we're playing. We need to know what our purpose is and we need to know that we've been accounted for within the bigger picture. And so being able to communicate that and take that into account and make sure that we have Engaged with everybody, just the impact in that, just in that simple thing is huge.
[00:05:39] Lucy Rennie: But also if we can communicate the vision and where we want to go and ultimately why we want to get there and why it's important, again, like Simon said, but people don't necessarily buy your products or services. They're buying why you're doing what you're doing. So they buying what they're buying from you because they believe in the same thing.
[00:05:56] Lucy Rennie: And. It's important to be able to share and think about allowing, communicating what that why is, whether that's with your kids. Why is it important that they clean their teeth? Or it's about, like in Whaley Bridge here, we had the dam that nearly fell down and now they're rebuilding it and that it's taken ages and there's all sorts of things going on.
[00:06:17] Lucy Rennie: Makes such a difference if they actually share with us, the reasons behind why something's maybe taking a little bit longer or why they've made that decision or why they've decided to invest, in this area and not that area. We're not going to please everybody, but actually just knowing that, even just simply knowing that there's been some research and actually they've thought things through, allows us to look differently at a topic or a project.
[00:06:38] Lucy Rennie: And so it. Impacts the way that we react or behave within that current, within that situation. It can ultimately as well, I'll help you to build stronger relationships and ultimately build that trust and that goodwill, which is what we want to be doing within, with all our different stakeholders, with all the different people that are involved in our business.
[00:06:55] Lucy Rennie: And, trust for me is key. And it comes down to people. So the more that we can actually communicate in a way that's authentic and real and that he's coming from a good place that's believable and honest and all those good things, then obviously that's going to lead and feed into that trust and that that, yeah, that sustainable relationship.
[00:07:13] Lucy Rennie: It can, of course, resolve conflict or ultimately, ideally, what we want to do is avoid conflict, don't we? By doing all this. This research and all this preparation in advance, but being able to communicate effectively allows us to yes, build relationships, but also maybe fix or mend or repair relationships or avoid future conflicts because we have ultimately been able to put ourselves in other people's shoes and understand what's important to them and how they're feeling.
[00:07:40] Lucy Rennie: So that means that then we can take that into account. It also allows us to, like I was talking about before, in terms of your business, so if you can communicate effectively, it's going to allow you to engage more with your teams, it's going to allow you to get the buy in because you're going to tap into exactly what you know the desires or the needs and the sensitivities or the the specific areas that each different team member or stakeholder has and is looking for with your business.
[00:08:05] Lucy Rennie: Being able to create win scenarios where it's, the best outcome for everybody is ultimately a no brainer, is it not? We ultimately want to make sure that as many people as possible feel accomplished or feel satisfied or fulfilled with the topic, the project the outcome that's coming.
[00:08:22] Lucy Rennie: I suppose that feeds in then, doesn't it? To ensuring that or helping you become that, that good, that great leader, that, inspiring leader, that leader that does, , have a vested interest in their team. And that does lead by example and does get the team and get the business to where you want it to be.
[00:08:39] Lucy Rennie: And finally, I think as well, just for a little bit of fun, really, but don't forget that communicating effectively and learning these skills isn't just about business. These are life skills that are going to help you in all areas of your life, whether it's at the airport, cause the flight's been delayed and you want to, make sure you get on that next flight or you want someone to help you find a hotel or a taxi, whatever that might be, but it could be on the motorway Bye.
[00:09:01] Lucy Rennie: Just, avoiding you having either a crash or having road rage fighting match with somebody who's cut you off or is chasing you behind, because by just taking two seconds to think about why they're doing that and maybe what's happened in their life and their day to day and understanding it and being a bit compassionate about it allows us to just soften it and step back from the emotion and Yeah, deal with things differently.
[00:09:24] Lucy Rennie: So really what I'm trying to say is whether you're a leader, whether you are in business, whether you are just wanting to improve things with your family, with your mother in law, with the neighbors, being able to communicate effectively and being able to interact differently with people. Is going to make a massive difference and ultimately this is what I do.
[00:09:44] Lucy Rennie: This is the whole concept between behind my business, behind the consultancy LR comms. It's, yes, it's business communications, but ultimately it's about people and relationships and helping people to communicate, in a effective and efficient and powerful, positive way. And so it's, again, it's whether that's on an individual basis or it's on a project or a business wide plan.
[00:10:07] Lucy Rennie: Creating, the foundations of an effective communication plan, come down to that stakeholder mapping. So working out who are the key people that are going to be, influenced, impacted, or have an interest in what you're doing. And thinking about that in terms of, what's important to them and how can you get the best.
[00:10:25] Lucy Rennie: outcome for as many people as possible. And so if we're going to, I want to take you through a few steps today just to get you thinking about this and to start applying things and making some tweaks in the way that you do things. But ultimately I believe that, if we're going to be able to do this and it's going to be something that you can then learn to do quite naturally and take on and get better at, it starts with self awareness.
[00:10:47] Lucy Rennie: So it starts actually with you. It's about noticing your own behavior. It's about understanding yourself in terms of why you're reacting like you do. Or, why do you believe in such a thing? Or why have you decided that's the best direction to take? Or, why are you feeling what you're feeling?
[00:11:03] Lucy Rennie: And it's interesting because Again, I take this for granted and I'm constantly thinking, Oh, why did I say that? Or what does that mean? Or what's, could I have done that better? Or maybe I could have said things differently and then they would have reacted differently, et cetera. So I'm in this constant sort of conversation with myself but actually being able to notice yourself.
[00:11:23] Lucy Rennie: If you can't if you're not aware of yourself and how you're behaving or how you're reacting to things or what you're looking for from a topic or, what you're believing, then how, it's not, I don't believe it's possible that you can start to do that for somebody else. So it has to start with you.
[00:11:37] Lucy Rennie: It has to start with noticing who you are and what that means. And one of those good things, a good question to ask yourself. And this was something that I use with my clients quite a lot. And it comes from my coaching training is just checking in and asking yourself, is this a fact? Do I know this?
[00:11:52] Lucy Rennie: Whatever it is that you might be thinking about, or talking about, or planning, or having an argument about, do I know, and am I convinced, am I 100 percent sure that what I am believing is fact, or actually is this an assumption, or is it something that I've just always been told, or am I assuming something, or am I making up stories in my head, whether that's, I'm thinking that this person's reacting because it's something I've done, whereas actually, I don't know that, I'm assuming that, Actually, what might be the case is they've had a really shit day in the office and they're already frustrated by something, which means that actually they haven't got the tolerance to be able to deal with the situation.
[00:12:27] Lucy Rennie: So, yeah, it starts with you and it starts with that self awareness so that we can then start to think about other people. And then ultimately, once we've got to that stage and we are starting to think about creating our communications plans, thinking about how we're going to effectively communicate, the key thing to remember is actually it's not about you.
[00:12:44] Lucy Rennie: It's about everybody else and the more that we can put ourselves in other people's shoes and take that into consideration, the more effective we're going to be. So I've got lots of examples really of where I will work behind the scenes with clients, whether that's, creating A plan for a specific topic, whether it's about talking through and, discussing certain topics as I manage a a senior leadership management team.
[00:13:08] Lucy Rennie: As an, I do a lot of work as a non exec for, businesses so that I can facilitate and help 'em to put in place the structure and have those conversations and think differently about things because sometimes it's good, isn't it, to have that neutral and external view again, because there can be a lot of emotional, a lot of different dynamics and context that can happen within that environment.
[00:13:26] Lucy Rennie: And if we've not, we're not used to having those kind of discussions in that way, then it's always useful to have somebody external to come in and help with that. And. Interestingly, a lot of the time it's with a lot of my clients could be husband and wife teams or there's a family dynamic or there's different things that are going on behind the scenes and just having somebody who can notice that and challenge that and just question and allowing us to think differently about.
[00:13:52] Lucy Rennie: Why we're reacting in that way. And probably it might be because actually, it's to do with who didn't take the bins out or whatever at home, we can then start to think differently about the way that we approach the business. So as we're starting to think about pulling together our communications plan, it's always great, I believe, to have a holistic plan anyway for your business.
[00:14:11] Lucy Rennie: So just really going through these next steps. Regardless of if you've got a project or not, but just to be aware of them and have that mapping ready so that we've done the groundwork, which takes a long time and it's an ongoing an ever evolving tool and resource, but taking the time out to do that, I promise any way in itself is going to change the way that you behave as a business and the impact that you're going to be having with your different stakeholders.
[00:14:36] Lucy Rennie: And I suppose really, I keep saying this word stakeholders, and I'm presuming that everybody knows what a stakeholder is, but just for this, just so that we're clear, a stakeholder is a person or a group or an organization that has a vested interest in your business. Either a vested interest in the sense of that.
[00:14:51] Lucy Rennie: It might be financial. So if the business does well, then they're going to get a financial reward. It might be as a customer because they're going to be buying a product or service. It could be a supplier in the sense that there's an agreement there and they're relying on the, your business for work.
[00:15:04] Lucy Rennie: It could be a partnership. It could be collaboration. It could be the local community that you are investing in the local football. pitch, I don't know, for the local school. It could be future employees. It could be government bodies, trade associations. There's all sorts of different types of stakeholders.
[00:15:21] Lucy Rennie: And again, if you want any resources on this or you want to chat through and help with some mapping for your business, then please let me know and get in touch. But just start by identifying who those key stakeholders are for you, map them down on a piece of paper and just identify them.
[00:15:34] Lucy Rennie: And again the more that you can actually identify and capture the better. It doesn't mean we have to take all of them into account all the time, but just making sure that we have got them. It means that next time when we are starting to pull together a plan or we're thinking about something, we're not going to miss anybody because actually we can go through and check, are they going to be impacted by this? Do they need to be involved in this topic or this subject or this project or not, et cetera. And again, this might grow. So it's an ever evolving dynamic document. So keep it handy and. I encourage you to revisit it and revise it and add to it as you're going along.
[00:16:06] Lucy Rennie: So once we've identified all these different stakeholders. Regardless of this product or the topic, it's something that I would genuinely advise you to do right now as a business owner and with regards to your business. And then obviously revise it, use it, tweak it as you then pull in the different projects and topics that you might have, whether that's a marketing plan, whether it's a crisis communications plan, whether it's a new topic to do with a product or a service or a launch, like a brand launch that we did last week, or whether it's about communicating on social media or.
[00:16:36] Lucy Rennie: The stories that you're going to be telling or it's an awards that you're going into, or it's about an investment or whatever it might be. This is the fundamentals and the foundations of the communication plan for any of those topics. And actually it's yeah, the essence. What we're talking about here.
[00:16:51] Lucy Rennie: So identify who they are and then what we're going to do is create I use, I just use, encourage clients to use like an Excel sheet or a Google sheet and just make a big table, a big list of them all, and then we're going to capture the data behind them. And a great way to do this is to encourage your teams to get involved.
[00:17:07] Lucy Rennie: So get people around the table and get them, actually taking on the role of that stakeholder, putting themselves in that place and really getting into the feels of it. to start to answer these questions. And these questions are, so first of all, just the simple things like, who are they?
[00:17:21] Lucy Rennie: So describe them, build that avatar, that profile. How old are they? Where do they live? What was their educational background? Have they got children? Are they married? All the inclusive questions. So we want to know, as much information as we can about them. What do they like?
[00:17:34] Lucy Rennie: What are their hobbies? What are their interests? What do they spend their money on? All those different things, as much information as possible. There might be key people in there that you know. So again, this could be on an individual basis or group. basis. There might be one person in this stakeholder group, or there might be a million depending on the situation.
[00:17:52] Lucy Rennie: And again, we can adapt that to each of the projects, but really start to build the picture up with with them in terms of ethnicity, depending in language, in all sorts of different, everything that you can, all the information that you've got, facts. Okay. Not assumptions, facts. This is where it starts.
[00:18:08] Lucy Rennie: And then we're going to start to think and ask questions. So if we're speaking about a specific topic or project, so whether it's a new product launch or whatever we've just talked about, then we're going to ask ourselves, how do they see, how are they going to view this project? If we're doing it generically about the business, then we'd ask themselves, we'd ask ourselves, how do they perceive the business?
[00:18:29] Lucy Rennie: What do they, what's their impression of the business? How are they going to look at or view? What we're doing, whether that's in terms of the production, the manufacturing, or whether it's in terms of, the usefulness of it, the value of it, or anything else that might be in that. And we're going to ask them, how they feel about it.
[00:18:45] Lucy Rennie: But then from that, once we started to think about these, and again, we can't have everything facts here. So this is about making some informed assumptions. We're then going to think about, so if they're feeling like that, why is that? What is it that's behind that? What's the context behind that?
[00:19:01] Lucy Rennie: So maybe, they're hostile to a new extension that our manufacturing site is going to be building because actually previous to that the owner here actually took over there and closed down their kids playground or football field and so actually it's just another thing that's coming along that's impacting this local community.
[00:19:21] Lucy Rennie: Or actually, it's a new extension that we're Is it about the context behind it is actually that we've always invested in the local community and we've always, provided and sponsored the local football team, or we've always invested in work experience for the kids, or we've always put up the Christmas tree at Christmas, whatever that might be, there's going to be a context behind it.
[00:19:38] Lucy Rennie: And that might be as a group. As a community, or it might be on an individual basis. So it might be that actually, within a business environment, if you've just come out of COVID and you've seen lots of redundancies and it's been really worrying and a really testing time, then you might not be a hundred percent open to a new product or service launch or a new risky venture that people are taking on because you might just be either really exhausted and tired, or actually this.
[00:20:05] Lucy Rennie: category of stakeholders might be a bit more risk averse because actually they've, they've just been through the crappy few years with COVID and they just want to have that peace and peace of mind that actually they've got a job and a, and stability of income for the next few years. So really understanding what the context and the background is for each of these stakeholders is really important.
[00:20:26] Lucy Rennie: And again, as much fact as you can, but again, we can start by building up a picture and maybe from different perspectives and different people we can really unpick what that might be. And then we want to identify what's important to them. If it is the local community, then we might be thinking, okay, so actually what's important to them is a football field or is a safe space or maybe it's, If it's the team, then it is job security.
[00:20:49] Lucy Rennie: If it's customers, then it's about quality or it's about a guarantee or whatever that might be. So what's important to them and what do they what do they need from you and your business? And then we want to go a little bit more into the emotional side of things. So we want to know what gets them excited?
[00:21:04] Lucy Rennie: What is it that would actually make them go, Whoa, this is amazing. Or the other side of it is what other things that they worry about or what their concerns or what might actually be the thing that's really, undermines everything that you could put in place because that's the one thing that actually they really don't want to have happen.
[00:21:18] Lucy Rennie: So taking some time out to get under the skin of all these different stakeholder groups is key. And then from that, we can also start to think about, particularly in terms of communication, how do they want to be communicated with? And this is relevant to everybody, because the more we can delve into this and the more we can understand it and actually get clear on it, They're better, obviously it's going to be, because if we know that somebody is not very literate and actually has struggles to read a big, four page letter that's full of, I don't know, key big words, et cetera then we can avoid that and we can do things differently.
[00:21:53] Lucy Rennie: So we might actually have a town hall meeting where we bring people face to face, or we might make a video or an audio Podcast episode, or we might make it visual and into a cartoon, et cetera. Yeah. Or the opposite. We might find that somebody actually prefers to have that detailed knowledge and all those facts and all the background information to actually allow them to make an informed decision and to trust in the data.
[00:22:14] Lucy Rennie: So really understanding that. And it might be that. You don't know, and it might be, even just starting with your team. Actually, if you don't know, go and ask them, because it might be that each member of your team prefers a different way of being communicated with. And if we follow like for the VARC example, the VARC model, for example, then actually a lot of people like a mix of different things.
[00:22:33] Lucy Rennie: So it might be that we use different ways of communicating to reinforce the message and make sure that actually we've And ensure that everybody is properly understood or has properly understood the messages or is properly completely or comprehensively has got the bigger picture.
[00:22:48] Lucy Rennie: And it might be, again, with all of this, it might be that at certain times of the year or certain situations, one method of communication. It's more preferential than another or more effective, et cetera. So again, I'm going to talk about feedback loops afterwards, but again, this isn't a given, so this is always going to be a constant evolving project.
[00:23:07] Lucy Rennie: And again, I've noted down here, but yeah, if you don't know the answers to these things, so as much as possible, go find out, go and ask. Your people go and ask the stakeholders, whether that's face to face, whether it's a survey, whether it's a conversation, a focus group, whether it's on your social medias and engagement and asking questions there, but the more that you can engage properly and actually get the facts from them the more you're going to be able to do it more effectively because it's going to actually meet with what they're looking for and what they need.
[00:23:32] Lucy Rennie: But secondly, It also allows them to feel valued and considered and taken into account, heard and seen. So once you've got all that data, this is where then depending on the different projects that you've got, you can come into the planning. So depending on the project, you're going to then start to think about and take each of the key stakeholders that you've identified that are relevant and appropriate for that project.
[00:23:53] Lucy Rennie: You're going to start to think about them. So what do they need to know? But also, what do you want them to know? And those things aren't necessarily the same. For example, with we've just looked at a brand refresh for a client. One of the things that we were looking at as we made their communications plan was that for certain category of stakeholders They need to know that, yes, we've reduced the name of the company and we've, we've updated a little bit of the brand and there's some new documents and things that are going to be there for them, but actually they don't necessarily need to know all the ins and outs of why we're doing it and what that means for the business and all those things.
[00:24:25] Lucy Rennie: So it's being really mindful of. Yes. What do they need to know? But actually as a business, we can still be in control and maybe control that message or control that communication and think strategically about what we want to be communicating, because what we don't want to be doing is just broadcasting one size fits for all.
[00:24:42] Lucy Rennie: And just saying, yeah, we'll just say the same thing, or we'll communicate the same way to everybody. Across the board, no matter what, because that defies the whole point of actually showing that we care and taking into account everybody's different points of view and perspective. So the more we can customize this and the more that actually we can make it bespoke to those different people, the more value we're going to add and the more effective we're going to be.
[00:25:02] Lucy Rennie: Okay. But that doesn't mean we can't be strategic about it. So we, it might be that if, there's something to do with a project or an investment and we know that actually some certain people might take this as a risk. We don't want to then give them undue concerns about it that aren't necessarily right at this stage, because we don't want to worry them.
[00:25:24] Lucy Rennie: So actually if there's no need for them to know certain things at that time, that's okay too. However, on the flip side of that very often what I see is that a lot of my clients don't like to share. Bad news or negative stats, data or share with, when there are challenges in the business. And actually for me, that's just as dangerous because I think, being able to empower our teams or being able to empower our people and show that we are, Being honest actually makes it more authentic and actually creates that trust.
[00:25:55] Lucy Rennie: So just be aware and think about each different stage and different stakeholder depending on the project and the context. What else do I want to say? Yeah. So it talks about not just broadcasting to everybody, but also thinking about it being two ways. So again, we don't want to be broadcasting and just broadcasting.
[00:26:14] Lucy Rennie: That's not effective communication. That's just broadcasting and telling. That's like being a parent and going, go put your shoes on and clean your teeth, but not allowing that discussion. So really it's about creating and thinking of being intentional about. Encouraging that two way communication. So that's when we can engage and we can actually allow that space to have feedback, to listen to different opinions, different voices, to be open to suggestions, to improvements, to making it a really effective and inclusive space and inclusive channel and inclusive way of communicating.
[00:26:47] Lucy Rennie: And again, this might be through different channels and different tools and activities. So don't assume that just because you've decided that for this one, it's going to be this channel, that actually they wouldn't benefit from seeing it across two channels or three channels, et cetera. And so once we've done all that research and we've got that plan and we know what they're looking for, what they need to know, and how we can actually engage with them, what the best way.
[00:27:10] Lucy Rennie: Again, that feeds into our big plan, then we're going to start to think about, okay, so actually with all that in mind how are we going to actually map it out and create the timeline and think about actually planning in the detail in terms of what, where, when, how, why, and how and it. From there, because we've done all this groundwork, we can actually, I promise you, starts to become really easy because we know okay, this is the project, this is what's going to be happening, so this particular stakeholder group needs to know this, and actually it's beneficial for them to know this before This date, or because this is happening at this date, so we need to make sure that beforehand they're aware of this, and this, to make sure that we've anticipated that we've taken, their opinions into account, or that we've made sure that they feel cared and cared for and valued because we've let them know.
[00:27:55] Lucy Rennie: For example, the team know before we've actually communicated it externally to the press or to the external stakeholders. So little things like that allow us then to map out and start to plan in an order of priority and timelines in terms of then mapping out the different channels and tools. And again, from this, I think it's really important to recognize, and this goes for every, anything, whether that's marketing, whether it's internal or to do with safety or whatever it is, don't be afraid to repeat.
[00:28:26] Lucy Rennie: To repeat and to repeat. Okay. If anything, I would rather you said one thing and say it every day for the whole year than coming up thinking you have to come up with a different way of saying things in a different concept and a different message every day of the year, because all we're going to do is dilute it, confuse and overwhelm people.
[00:28:43] Lucy Rennie: So the more that we can start to say, this is what I'm going to tell you. I'm going to tell you and then I'm going to tell you what I've told you and repeat and repeat that message the more it's going to sink in and the more that actually we're going to be taken seriously, the more that actually people are going to start to go, yeah, okay, that's that feels good.
[00:29:00] Lucy Rennie: That's right. I'm on it now. And I'm going to, I'm going to embrace that and it will take time and. We can't assume that people are seeing the information or listening or taking it in, or we have to make sure that we are continually repeating what we're doing and tweaking it and testing it and checking in.
[00:29:20] Lucy Rennie: And again this feedback loop of sense checking it and Not taking any assumptions, not taking anything for granted, not making assumptions, sorry, that, people have actually understood and that they are on board and they do know what's happening. We need to make sure that we're checking in, that we're sense checking, that we're testing, that we are ensuring that actually we have done everything that we can do and that the message has been understood.
[00:29:43] Lucy Rennie: What else do I want to tell you? So yeah, with the communications plan, again, this could be to do with any typical scenario, whether it's a crisis communications plan, whether it's a product launch, whether it's about Christmas or whether it's a social media plan, whether it's about whatever it might be and depending on the project, you might have just like three rows.
[00:30:01] Lucy Rennie: of stakeholders, or you might have 3, 000. Okay. I've seen projects where in the corporate world where these projects are huge and that we know it's like a three year project and we can, every single stakeholder has been taken into account and we know exactly what, what they're looking for, what they need, and who's responsible for it, and how we're going to make sure that it's tested and that we've checked in and that we've built that relationship which is why, stakeholder management is a full time job, but ultimately that's what communications is and that's what being a leader or a business owner, effective business owner is.
[00:30:34] Lucy Rennie: comes down to is all about how you're communicating. So remember that feedback loop, remember to revise and check in, but also don't be afraid to ask how you're doing because we're all human and actually nobody is expecting you to get this 100 percent but the more that actually you can create that trust, build that that relationship and, Actually, sometimes, taking away the pressure for yourself and for everybody else that you're going to get this perfect in the first time by saying, look, we're learning, this is new to us.
[00:31:01] Lucy Rennie: We've not worked in this project before. It's a whole new concept, a new way of doing things. So we're going to tweak it as we go and really like your feedback. And we'd like to know how we're getting on and we'll work on this together. Actually is the essence to everything and takes away that pressure.
[00:31:14] Lucy Rennie: And. Almost encourages people to be kinder, more compassionate because you're being open, you're taking them into account and you're trying, it's a bit like when we say it's not about things going wrong, but it's about actually how you manage the things when they do go wrong. That's what's important.
[00:31:30] Lucy Rennie: So actually you're going to. It's, in other words, it's how you're communicating. And so just to come right back to the very beginning, when I was talking about the fact that, I believe that comms communi effective communication is the key to everything. It's when the magic happens. And ultimately, for that to happen, it's about putting yourself in other people's shoes.
[00:31:48] Lucy Rennie: I genuinely think that's the key to unlocking the magic and can be used at every single tool in every single situation to improve relationships, to build trust and to achieve a more positive outcome for whatever it is that you are Looking to achieve. And so as a subtle tool for you personally, you can use this to help you navigate any situation or any conversation it's a tool that you can bring to the table with your team.
[00:32:10] Lucy Rennie: It's a tool that you can, use as you approach a challenge, a new project or just start to plan ahead. It's the essence of communication. It's the essence of planning of creating that yeah, that communications plan. And it's the essence, it's about putting yourself in somebody else's shoes and imagining how they might be feeling or what they're looking for from the project or what it, why it is that they're thinking like that, why they're reacting or behaving in that way.
[00:32:36] Lucy Rennie: And you can use this even at home. You can even think about it with your pet dog. Why has he just barked at you in the middle of the, in the middle of the night? Oh, maybe he needs to go out for a wee or, again, that, that whole way of doing things. I promise that it's life changing because once you can't unknow it.
[00:32:54] Lucy Rennie: And so it allows you to dig deeper and delve into your relationships and Do it more sustainably and more effectively. So as each week I like to give you a challenge. My challenge this week is to have a go at this. So have a go at actually mapping out who your key stakeholders are for your business and have a go at getting under their skin and thinking about, what's important to them, how are they feeling, what they want from you and any other things that might be in that context, that background that's going to allow you to better.
[00:33:26] Lucy Rennie: Communicate with them and engage with them in the future. I would love to know how you get on with this. So please, reach out, send me your, my map of your different stakeholders, if you want, so I can have a look, if you've got any questions, please let me know, or if you are interested and you'd like to delve a little bit deeper into seeing how we can work together, maybe even if it's, simply I do a great workshop.
[00:33:46] Lucy Rennie: I know it's always the results are always amazing is when we look at different people and different. Teams within an organization and help them understand each other from a stakeholder perspective. So for example, like how to help the sales team get on better with the production team or the supply chain or finance, et cetera.
[00:34:05] Lucy Rennie: So they're understanding, the different complexities and the different what's important to each department. And why, so why are sales constantly, throwing in big orders at last minute or. That's to keep the customer happy. And so in that sense, it's not just because they want to piss off the production team, et cetera, so that we can do good things just by creating that awareness within the teams.
[00:34:27] Lucy Rennie: And again, this can be also then applied to safety, to culture, to whatever project it is that we are looking at. So yeah, if you'd like to have a chat about that, please let me know. And if there's anything that you want in terms of tools or resources with regards to this, then let me know, I've got different templates that you can have a go at or use to build your stakeholder mapping.
[00:34:45] Lucy Rennie: But also if you have enjoyed this episode and you found it useful, I would really appreciate it if you could click subscribe or And ideally leave me a five star review. And of course, it helps me reach more people too, especially if you share or copy the link with your friends, family, colleagues, et cetera.
[00:35:01] Lucy Rennie: So on that note, I'm going to leave you, let me know how you get on, if you've got any questions and I will see you next week for another episode of the Future Proof Your Business Podcast. Thanks for listening. Take care.