Communicating Like A Boss – Leading your Teams Through Change

As a leader of people, one of the most crucial skills you need to continually hone is communicating with your teams. This might sound obvious, but it can have truly catastrophic consequences if you get it wrong.

I’ve been part of teams where our manager has been an excellent communicator, treated us all like adults, gave us enough information to do our jobs effectively and used their experience to coach/guide us in the right direction to help us grow. I’ve also been part of teams which have been complete opposites of this and ended up feeling like naughty children who felt like they were being punished, yet expecting to know how to fix things themselves without any avenue for support.

How Should You Communicate With Your Team?

I pride myself on being able to communicate well with my teams and have always tried to follow the following key principles:

• Build Rapport and Remember They are Humans Outside of Work – I always try to invest time getting to know everyone in my teams. This involves learning about them, finding out what their passions are and what makes them tick outside of the office. Maybe you share a common interest or find some common ground to have a joke about.
• Ensure You’re Available When Needed – I have always tried to ensure a people first approach to leadership. This means my stance is always to try and be available wherever possible when any of my team need me. I’ll often prioritise them over my own workload. But the value of this is that this often means they are willing to help when you need to delegate.
• Bring Them on the Journey – There will be lots of occasions where you need to share decisions with your team and while it is important to share what the decision is, it is also really effective if you can share context and the “why” too. Giving as much of the story is key and also try and do it in a positive way to ensure you show no signs of nervousness yourself.
• Motivate and Recognise – Encouraging your team members in their work, and recognising successes or a positive change is key. Empowering them to do their best job and ensuring all blockers are removed from their end goal, is a key task for you as their manager. A happy and motivated team will run through walls for you.
• Adapt Your Style for Each Member of the Team – Every team member will need for you to meet them in a different place. You may need a more direct style with some, others may need you to add fluff to difficult discussions for them to digest it effectively. Take time to understand what works for everyone
• Regular Cadence and Predictability – Find a pattern of regular meetings and comms that you send out to your teams. Everything from consistent 1-1s, team meetings or regular email comms. Try, where possible to keep to it and you will find the team will look to you in times of challenge.

If you can follow these points and build a strong bond with your team. You should be able to withstand most challenges coming your way.

What About During Times of Uncertainty or Change?

In times of uncertainty, your communication approach may need to adapt to address the specific challenges and concerns that arise. Here are some things I’ve found that need focus. While some things stay the same, they may need dialling up somewhat…

• Increased Frequency and Transparency – It’s important to communicate more frequently to keep everyone informed and to prevent the spread of rumours. Transparency is crucial, even if the news is not positive, as it helps to build trust and credibility.
• Reassurance and Support – Employees may feel anxious or uncertain about the future, so it’s important for you to provide reassurance and support, acknowledging the difficulties while focusing on what the team can control and the steps they are taking to navigate the situation.
• Clear Direction and Focus – Providing clear direction and maintaining focus can help to stabilise the team. It’s important to set short-term goals and adjust plans as necessary, which can give team members a sense of purpose and progress amidst uncertainty.
• Empathy and Understanding – Demonstrating empathy and understanding for personal and professional challenges that team members might be facing. This involves listening to their concerns and being considerate in responses and actions. Sometimes you will need to take your time over your responses, as “shooting from the hip” with your answers can cause more uncertainty.
• Encouraging Open Dialogue – Creating an environment where team members feel safe to express their concerns, ask questions, and share ideas. This can involve more frequent team meetings or 1-1s.
• Scenario Planning – Discussing various scenarios and potential impacts with the team can help prepare everyone for possible changes and make the uncertainty a bit more manageable. Having a team prepared for lots of eventualities can ensure there are less things to shock them.
• Maintaining Positivity and Motivation – While being realistic, it’s also important for you to lead with a positive outlook, highlighting achievements and celebrating small wins to keep morale high. Trying hard not to add to any rumour mills by being negative or expressing too much personal opinion when it could impact the overall perception.

In times of uncertainty, the key is to be present, communicative, and proactive in addressing both the needs of the business and the concerns of the team.

What would you add to the lists above, how do you ensure strong communications with your teams?