Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Communicating Your Organization's Vision to Your Team

Kelly and Ben Decker have published a terrific Harvard Business Review blog post about communicating your organization's vision to your team.  They argue that middle managers should follow four basic steps when translating the overall company vision for their direct reports. 

1.  Know your audience:  What do these particular people care about most?   What are their primary goals and objectives?  What is their passion?

2.  Tailor the message:  Hone the communication of the vision to this particular audience.  Having learned about their passions, needs, and wants, you can shape the message in a way that is most appealing to them.

3.  Be specific:  Ok, if that is the vision, what do we do next?  How specifically do we act in ways that advance the vision?  Be specific and concrete.

4.  What's in it for them?   Sure, they care about the organization as a whole.  In the end, though, they are also self-interested.  How will these actions enable them to meet their personal goals?  Why will they benefit from the pursuit of this organizational vision? 

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