Management Speak; When Too Much Is Too Bad

There will come a time for every leadership when an official statement is necessitated by unfortunate market events. Typically, the chronology of utterances have been at the beginning of the calamity (what’s changing), in the middle of the calamity (reassurances) and then welcome back (we have overcome the worst, we did a fantastic job through the crisis etc. etc)

No problem with that. Except most of them don’t stick to the script.

It is absolutely important to have an eye on your audience. And their perception.

Perception

In any crisis, the workforce views every message that is top-down with suspicion. When all is distilled, the workforce is not bothered about the crisis. They are bothered about their jobs. They approach every crisis as being bodily immune from it. They are only bothered about their pay checks, their EMIs, the family’s support system, their lifestyle etc. In management speak, they view their receivables against their payables. And what a disruption to that cash flow can do to them.

As a far shot, they know they will survive as they see some light at the end of the tunnel. What they don’t know is whether it’s a light coming from the sunlight outside or is it an oncoming truck. This is where management can make the difference.

The first message is the most important. Stop being formal. Empathise, Elucidate and Ensure that you mean every word. And don’t ape another organisation’s leader. Because your company is yours’. The people, their lives, their fibre, the emotions, their process, the business; it’s all yours. You are not just the owner. And they are not looking for answers. Nobody has them.

They are looking at assurances. Period.

Be a better version of yourself

Your company has heard you speak. In good times and in bad. Now is the time to up the good quotient. Start with the first E; Empathise. They need to know that you feel their pain. Explain clearly that the company and they, are on good footing. That, right now, it is important that everybody stays safe; and so is their job. And finally, assure them that we will overcome.

It’s not the grammar that matters. It’s the language. Speak your language. Speak their issues.

Conversely speaking, stop business baiting.

So, who should talk

Let’s start right at the top.

In the past few days of the nCovid lockdown, we are being treated to several permutations of the above by several managers. While a good number of them are well-intentioned, a majority of them come across as blatant advertising of their services. Either for their services on offer or packaged as CSR activities. Except that outside of the fan-club of the CXOs, nobody bothers about them at times like these.

Ideally, only the Chief Manager should do the talking. Because he has the pulse of what’s going on the ground. Because he interacts face-to-face with most of the people. Because he knows them beyond just their names. Importantly, he is the bridge between them and the market.

And how often…

The other big mistake Chief Managers commit, and this is a cardinal one, talk too much, too often. Your people are looking for assurance. And you have to give it to them. But if you keep repeating that assurance in different colours, you will only sound like a tape running in loop. In order to maintain the aura of the office, it is necessary that you leave them a breather. Its not everyday that the Chief Manager speaks to the foot soldier. And he/she should not. Unless you have something good to add (think Cognizant), don’t repeat yourself.

Your subsequent messaging should always add value to them first, the company next and the market last. Not the other way around.

Remember, in a calamity, every man to himself.

Never bait business

There have been instances in the current lockdown of companies advertising their mergers or acquisitions. This is not the time. Period.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s a good, infact a very good message. Agreed. Except that the timing is wrong. The best time would be when your people are back at the desk or there is a semblance of restarting business. They would be able to digest this message as an acceptance of their company having the resilience to pull through, and importantly buy into parallel strengths.

And lastly

Should every Senior Manager speak? Definitely not.

Speak only if the audience is limited to their scope of operations. Else, people tend to add their colour to the picture. And speak only what adds value to the operations or its continuance, if in any other form. A platform like Linkedin is not appropriate to speak Business Continuity Process of the company. Keep that for the direct messaging to affected clients. Good will and appropriation spreads; in good measure.

A good number of managers will read this and might differ with my understanding. Remember, a good number of your workforce will also read this. Who should benefit is entirely in your hands. And words.