by Chuck Garcia, Climb Leadership Consulting
“We reorganizing”
“We’re restructuring”
“We’ve hired consultants to conduct a people, process, and technology redesign.”
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How often have you heard those terms provoke knee jerk reactions heard in the hallways?
- What are THEY doing now?
- Who will be in charge?
- How do these changes apply to me?
Add mergers, acquisitions, and a new boss (which can feel like a new job), and it’s fair to conclude that our competitive business landscape is in a constant state of flux. Change is hard, messy, and can wreak havoc on those caught unprepared. But not changing is fatal.
According to Business Works, “84% of companies have experienced significant change in the last two years. Multiple changes, from management moves, employee layoffs and significant senior leadership overhauls are common in today’s work environment.” In a quest to improve the organization, the disruption causes uncertainty and a great deal of anxiety long after the change has taken place.
When ready to communicate those changes, many initiatives fall below expectations, only to be brought back later in different forms … to fail again. While poor planning and inability to get buy-in are two reasons for falling short, there is a bigger culprit; ineffective communication.
Far too often the message of change gets buried in metrics, spreadsheets, and charts. This approach leads to mismatched expectations and a colossal waste of time and human capital. Often it’s the HR professionals charged with the responsibility to communicate why, when, how, what, and where of the change initiatives. The importance of the message lies their ability to comprehend how those changes matter personally to each employee.
The challenge: Big changes are often delivered in presentation form accompanied by a PowerPoint® deck 10 times bigger than it needs to be. Whether in a town hall style meeting or in small teams, there is certain to be a core message … and a call to action.
Ask someone to list the key take aways. Often the response is “I don’t know. I’m sure it’s in there buried in the details. To be honest, I stopped paying attention 15 seconds into the presentation.”
Many presentations offer a steady monotonous beat, with no emphasis … anywhere. Every word and PowerPoint slide is treated equally, making it even more difficult to determine the highlights.
Instead, rely on the Primacy and Recency Effect to insure they leave the meeting with your key points. The Primacy Effects demonstrates people remember the first thing they hear. The Recency Effect asserts people recall the last. Everything in the middle? They won’t retain nearly as much as they do the start and finish.
Some of the strongest evidence to appreciate the importance of this phenomenon comes from a German psychologist named Herbert Ebbinghaus. He pioneered the experimental study of memory. One conclusion, known as the serial position effect, demonstrates that when participants are presented with a list of words, they tend to remember the first few and last few. They are more likely to forget those in the middle.
Consequently, begin with the end in mind. It’s why movies start and end with a bang, why commercials begin with a hook and leave you with a price, and why concerts open and close with a band’s best songs.
No matter the closing strategy, leave the audience with a strong call to action. What do you want them to think, feel, or do when the meeting is over? Everything you said up to that point leads to your close.
Help them see their own potential, and remind them of what you are asking them to do while fresh in their minds. If you struggle to bring structure to your presentation, consider this format:
- Awareness—Explain the situation. PRIMACY EFFECT.
- Conflict—The problem and its implications. For instance, business is lackluster and we need to make changes in response to market demand. THIS IS WHERE ATTENTION SPANS DIP.
- Resolution—We need greater transparency, more effective communication skills, and accountability for our actions. STRONG CALL TO ACTION. RECENCY EFFECT.
Try your next presentation in this form. Keep in mind the power of the Primacy and Recency Effect, and the retention rate of your audience will significantly improve. Change is hard, but when communicated powerfully and effectively, it can be an opportunity to deliver a message that will make a personal connection with each listener.
When you find yourself with an enormous responsibility to communicate change initiatives, resist the impulse to do too much. Focus on the first and last things. Begin with the end in mind and you’ll find everyone leaves the meeting with clear expectations and key take aways.
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Chuck Garcia is the author of A CLIMB TO THE TOP: Communication & Leadership Tactics to Take Your Career to New Heights. He is the founder of Climb Leadership Consulting and a Professor of Organizational Leadership at Mercy College. |