Managers play a key role in organizational performance and employee productivity. This document outlines techniques for establishing a "Spectator-Free Workplace" where managers are actively communicating and engaging with employees. It provides tools and best practices for coaching managers to be better communicators, including establishing clear communication standards, leveraging multiple channels, providing context, soliciting feedback, and continuously measuring effectiveness. Regular calibration activities like informal polling, feedback forms, and data debriefs can help ensure managers are held accountable for their communication responsibilities.

1. Cut Costs, Boost Performance Help Managers Free Your Organization's Good Ideas IABC 2010 World Conference June 8, 2010

4. Employee engagement

5. 2-Way workplace communications

6. Effectiveness measurement2010 2009 2008

7. Client-Tested Techniques

8. Also Tested with New and Future Hires

10. Practical tools and tested techniques to build a strategy and execute a program that helps managers communicate more effectively

11. Practices for holding managers accountable

12. Opportunities to give feedbackPortable tools to build a successful Manager-as-Communicator Program.

13. Resources at Your Fingertips Special IABC Conference Toolkit at: dulye.com/IABC

14. Why Help Managers? Your company’s performance!

15. A Strategy Galvanizes. But It Needs to Be Executed. Operational Requirements Organizational Requirements

16. Execution Depends on People Poor Average/Good Great Performance comes from an informed and involved workforce. Managers inspire or deflate. Employee population Employee productivity (organizational performance) The biggest influencer on performance is a manager.

17. Inflate: Managers Who Communicate, Motivate Survey of 212,000 US government employees Spectator managers negatively impact morale and productivity.

18. Deflate: Managers Who Don’t Communicate “When messages got tough, many leaders became invisible”

20. Don’t fear (your internal customer’s) self-sufficiency and competency. It’s a career enhancer, not ender, for YOU.

21. 1+1=3. You get a huge staff!

23. Elements of a Spectator-Free™ Strategy

24. Advance Feedback “I’d like to know what you think is the biggest challenge facing managers today?”

25. Grounding Rods - Clear view -Specs and standards

26. Advance Feedback “We don’t have any standard process. We just assume that managers will do want we wish.”

27. A Game Plan with a Clear View Whatis effective communication? Whyis it valuable? Whodoes it? When/Where is it done? Howis it done?

28. What is Effective Communications? 2-Way Dialogue 1-Way Delivery O U T G O I N G OUTGOING Message INCOMING Feedback

29. Who Owns it? It takes a team! This really is ultimate engagement.

30. How Does it Happen? Provide a road map with defined roles, responsibilities, standards …build a system.

32. Provide context for change / decisions

33. Facilitate open dialogue within and between work groups

34. Listen to / learn from the voices and views of the workforce

35. Respond to / act on direct feedback

36. Model the message: words + actions Put specificity into position descriptions that give managers a REAL communication job.

37. Establish Standards on What to Do Set minimum standards with measurable performance requirements for every level

38. And How To Do It: Staff Meeting Example Minimize variation, maximize consistency & effectiveness.

39. Connectors Channels Messages Feedback Follow-up

40. People-Driven Processes Over Products Channel Research: Most preferred source for information (about xdepartment/company) Dulye& Co. Research (>5,000 employees of client firms) Performance Rating Poor Average High

42. Web

43. Portals

44. Executive Memo

45. Video

46. Podcast

47. PosterFully leverage the importance and value of manager-led channels.

48. Remix High Touch and High Tech Ease electronic overload! Less send, more speak and see.

49. Nail the Message: Content Planning Tool Avoid rambling, data dumps. Plan, package, prioritize information. Use this practice at exec. staff meetings. (Start when you return from Toronto!) What 3 things do you want people to remember? Understand?

50. Create a Connection: Context Building Tool Information to Communicate What business goal does this support? Why is this important to the company? Why is this important to our team/ dept.? Why is this important to our customers? Localize and personalize by explaining why. Connect people to the business, watch employee knowledge and engagement grow.

51. Soak Up Feedback Make time, take time—to listen, learn and share information.

52. Got Feedback? Dulye & Co. Research: Rate the effectiveness of…

54. Evaluate balance

55. Adjust for greater feedbackForm an employee action team to support this audit.

57. Invite unfiltered feedback that stimulate discussion

59. Can help wrap up discussion or quickly calibrate

62. Questions / Comments

63. Ideas

64. Negative feedback / discussing mistakes

65. Requests for helpActions (do) vs. Words (say) Is there a conflicting message? Only 1 in 10 employees strongly agree that leaders show consistency between words and actions. —2010 Maritz Research poll

66. Adopt Project Management Techniques Work responsiveness! Inject note taking, time management and action planning into communication practices

67. Add Recognition to Response Practices Low-tech, low-cost communication practices are powerful recognition tools— and help open 2-way channels! 4/12/10 issue Make it real. Cite a specific action that made a difference.

68. Reinforcement Systems -Coaching -Calibration

69. Ready to Communicate? Dulye & Co. Manager-as-Communicator Research of Fortune 500 executives, managers, supervisors.

70. 5 Things to Do to Help Managers Succeed Strike up partnerships (HR, Corp Comm., Quality/CI, Marketing, Action Teams) Identify development needs Source solutions (in house / import) Introduce and integrate tools / training Evaluate effectiveness and use results Influence the content and delivery of management development and performance measurement programs.

71. Learning & Measuring: Practices that Work Continuous Learning: Manager Coaching and Development Continuous Improvement: Calibration and Checks Best Practice: Integrate development and measurement in existing forums, channels and practices.

72. Coaching: The Boyle Factor

73. Coaching: “Boyle” 3V Training Impression Impact VISUALAppearance50% (Facial expressions, Eye contact, Body language, Clothing) VOCAL Voice and tone40% (Inflection, Pace, Tone, Audibility) VERBAL Message10% (Words/message) IABC research Seeing influences believing!

75. Communicate change / tough news

76. Active listening

77. How to discuss mistakes and losses

78. How to make small talk

79. Communicate with remote employees

80. Read body language--yours and others

81. Give and receive constructive feedback

82. Lead an effective Town HallDon’t presume title = communication competency.

83. Discussion Starters Coaching: Just-in-Time Learning Provide message guides Tie to periodic business performance debriefs “Communication guides help our management team speak with a level of confidence about difficult topics.” —VP, Lockheed Martin Dulye & Co. Client Highly effective for communicating change, initiatives, strategy.

84. Coaching: All-Access Walkarounds Test Cell 17 2 7 4 10 6 8 12 1 11 3 9 5 13 14 15 16 Ramp up presence, not presentations Mobilize leaders beyond their functional areas Tool: Facility map with department coordinates Don’t leave them standing! Help managers know where to go and what to do when they arrive.

85. Calibration

86. Calibration: Pulse Quad Check Use the Quad Check Tool to get 360-feedback on specific communication practices.

88. What ‘s 1 thing that got you excited today?

89. What takes too much time to do?

90. What costs too much?

91. What gets wasted?

92. What’s working well?

93. What is too complicated?

94. What is just plain stupid?

95. What can we do better?These questions unlock ideas and inspire innovation.Mobilize managers with 1 per week—ask and share feedback.

97. 1-2 open-ended

98. 1-2 demographicAlign questions with manager-as-communicator responsibilities Non-intrusive, just-in-time assessment gets high returns—and eliminates data droughts. Supplements baseline surveys.

99. Calibration Tips Go beyond functional departments.Address the performance managers and employees. Go beyond evaluating activities. Design metrics and questions that assess the impact of communication and engagement processes, practices, tools on workforce performance. Leverage demographic comparisons. Use simple visuals to track trends. Measure from an operational perspective, not functional perspective.

100. Make Data Debriefs Simple, Direct Data reports are powerful communication and improvement tools. Make them clear, visual, and instantly portable for coaching managers.

102. Help leaders see reality—as it is. Not as they would like it to be. Or, think it is.

103. Use data to:

104. hold people accountable

105. sustain practices

107. Summary: Manager Conversion Kit Coach not control. Manager self-sufficiency and competency are a good thing.

108. Resources at Your Fingertips Special IABC Conference Toolkit at: dulye.com/IABC

109. Resources at Your Figertips White paper with tips and techniques for going viral in organizations where email and instant messaging, are used more than social media behind the firewall

110. Resources At Your Fingertips Spectator-Free Workplace ™ Coaching resources: training, podcasts, e-mail newsletter, iPhone app. Go to Dulye.com/blog to subscribe

111. Thank You Linda Dulye Dulye & Co. ldulye@dulye.com845-987-7744