Have you ever worked for an organization where gossip ran rampant? Have you ever felt like the leadership team was not sharing what they know? Do your employees feel like they are working in a vacuum? Wonder what is wrong and how you might begin to solve the problem?
Did you know what the number one challenge in organizations is today? It is communication or should I say lack thereof.
As a leader would you like to address the challenge and begin to change the culture in a simple and profound way? One of my great leaders and mentors shared this simple strategy with me about twenty years ago. It works! Every Monday morning of the workweek, an email was written and sent out to the whole organization. The subject line is Monday Morning News each week.
The email is to be brief. The email always starts with a positive statement or quote. The email message might include results from the last week, events coming up for this week, a special mention of an employee’s or team accomplishments, possibly a picture included and a call to action is appropriate. So the format might be:
- Motivational quote
- Results from last week
- Events for the week
- Special mention of a person or team
- Call to Action (if applicable)
Depending on your organization, you might end with a reinforcing statement about the company or reinforce one of the core values. Then the email was signed by the leader.
The secret is to be consistent, positive, and informative. Information is power. Once I started doing this, each week became a quest to find a quote or picture or book to tie back to my message. Example from Forbes: “You become what you think. Don’t think of yourself as a victim or failure. Think of yourself as a winner” – Mykelti Williamson
It was fun and challenging. In addition, I began listening throughout the week for positive things happening. Just that alone will change your perspective. Over time, I asked other managers to contribute to me for the upcoming email on what they would like shared.
What are the immediate results? Reduce gossip, employees feel informed, respected, and cared for. Over time, the employees shared they looked forward to the simple and brief email message from me. (About 250 words or less). With all the email messages everyone receives today, this was personally gratifying. The employees shared it set the mood and expectations for the week. Some employees said they actually kept the email for the week so if they felt down and something did not go their way, they would read it again. Depending on your audience you can use the concept for a weekly email, YouTube video channel, and link, podcast, or voice mail blast.
Try this approach and share with me the results.
Have a great week! Kim