Getting People Onside
Resolving miscommunications
Note: The following notes were written by a couple dozen people in four brainstorming sessions at the "Getting People Onside" workshop at LIANZA09 - I'm merely the scribe.
- Face to face
- eye contact
- listening
- ask for help
- who not happy - put in situation they have to discuss
- informal
- lay low and wait
- communicate before taking it to boss
- challenge injunction not to communicate
- bring in different perspectives
personal responsibility
- force discussion with relevant people, maybe informal - eg float ideas
- collaboration builds success; secrecy can lead to exclusion
- Face-to-face is important. Email has great capacity for misunderstanding
- Be open to different views
- Listen to the other person
- Kanohi ki te kanohi
- Be brave
- To be open to different views
- Using your email appropriately - font, size of font, language
- Using eye contact, actively listening
- Being mindful of others' preconceptions
- personal visits
- showcase
- request feedback
- don't overestimate others' understanding
- use different media / can make it fun / creative in delivery new ideas
- get understanding from comms managers
- clarify issues
- clarify behavioural traits / with responsibility - in miscommunication
- common sense - service
- staff culture
- Ask the customer "what is the problem".
- Then check that I/we have understood the problem.
- Does the miscommunication arise from a service or policy issue?
- You need to know both your staffs' and customers' barriers / skills in communications
- Staff need to feel they can accept responsibilities and be involved in the solution
- ask/clarify
- feedback and check
- acknowledge the problem
- take responsibility for behaviour/actions
- float the idea first to key people - intentions
- new service - people not happy - talk directly, informally
- lay low and wait. Let resistence pass - open to comment
- supervision reason for not say? - need collaboration, network.
- Special programme
- go direct to the source of the problem
- keep informal lines of communication open and share
- float the idea
- don't narrow to your own field
- clarify the problem - ask customer what is the problem
- feed back
- keep working on communication skills
- don't use blaming tactics
- don't make assumptions
- open communicate from the beginnings
- take the time to do it well
- pre-approval for public communication -> meet with the communications people - advocate
except where noted
except where noted