January 23, 2012

Give town halls new energy

Here’s a key reason your recent employee town hall meeting may not have been successful: It was a downer.

I don’t mean all the content was depressing (I’m hoping it wasn’t!); I mean that the way the session was structured brought employees’ energy level down, rather than pumping it up.

As I’ll explain in tomorrow’s web workshop, the problem is the way town hall agendas are usually set up:

• Opening: Leader welcomes employees (creating a lift in energy).
  
• Expectations: Leader tells what he/she will be talking about (neutral).
  
• Body: Leader shares point 1, point 2, point 3, point 4, point 5, etc. (Energy falls to a quiet resting state and stays there.)
  
• Q&A: Leader asks if employees have any questions. Silence (which lowers the energy), followed by first a few, then hopefully more questions, which are answered by the leader. (Depending on how many questions and how they’re answered, the energy level can increase or stay the same.)
  
• Closing: Leader thanks employees for coming, ends the meeting. (Energy level increases dramatically, because employees rise and leave.)

This type of town hall exists to provide information on a variety of topics (which is, in terms of energy level, a downer) rather than engage employees in a compelling topic. Plus, the way the leader’s content is constructed is flat (as in flat line) rather than built like a story, with a dramatic arc.

A “story arc” is a term that fiction writers, Broadway playwrights and Hollywood screenwriters use to describe the ups and downs of a narrative. For a quick overview about story arcs, read this Daily Writing Tips blog by Ali Hale.

The story arc idea can be applied to any type of session in which the objective is to involve and motivate people, and encourage them to take action. Think about a campaign rally, for instance. If the speech is well-constructed and enthusiastically delivered, participants will cheer and leave determined to help their candidate succeed. If the session is dull and factual, without drama or energy, participants will clap politely and leave without being committed to take action.

A town hall isn’t an information-delivery channel; it’s a key tool in the campaign to win the hearts and minds of employees. So you need to think differently about the way you create your agenda and help the leader develop his/her content. Ask yourself: How can you put this town hall together to raise employees’ energy and leave them feeling more motivated than when they came in?

Posted by Alison Davis at 07:40 AM | Comments (0)

January 12, 2012

Town hall tip: change the chairs

The town hall should have been a stunning success. The CEO was warm, funny and engaging. He spoke in a relaxed way—no PowerPoint!—focusing on a few topics employees cared about: company performance, key initiatives, the competition.

Yet when it came time for Q&A, an eerie stillness filled the room. Employees didn’t speak. They didn’t even move. And they certainly didn’t make eye contact with the CEO. Finally, the employee communicator stood up and asked a question that had been secretly written by the head of HR. That broke the ice a little bit and eventually a few more questions were asked, but the Q&A never really caught fire. In fact, the town hall meeting ended 30 minutes early.

What went wrong? Actually, a lot of things. (Sign up for my January 24 town hall workshop to learn more). For now, I’d like to focus on the simplest one: The way the room was arranged discouraged employee participation.

Those responsible for organizing this town hall asked the hotel to arrange the room in theater style: semicircular rows of chairs facing a stage.

Here’s the problem: A theater-style set up sends a signal to people that their role is to observe and listen. We think of concerts, plays, movies, sporting events—all experiences where we’re not participants, but audience members.

Theater-style seating is one of the two worst room arrangements for participation. The other terrible setup is classroom style, where employees sit facing the stage behind a desk-like table. Classroom-style seating reminds us of being third-graders: We’re there to absorb information, and all power is at the front of the room (where the leader/teacher stands).

So, back to our original town hall scenario. What advice did I give about changing the room arrangement? I suggested that the room be set up with round tables, with employees sitting in a semi-circle around one side of each table, facing the CEO.

Changing the chairs (and using a few other techniques to encourage participation) dramatically improved the dynamic of the session. Employees interacted with each other more before the CEO began speaking. More importantly, when it came time for the Q&A, they actually asked questions. Some even made comments.

The upshot? Next time you conduct a town hall, consider the chairs.

Posted by Alison Davis at 01:23 PM | Comments (0)

January 03, 2012

One smart resolution: identify your essential question

I did a lot of reading over the holidays, as part of my annual get-a-jump-start-on-the-New-Year effort. And got some terrific inspiration from a book about analyzing data: Drinking from the Fire Hose: Making Smarter Decisions Without Drowning In Information by Christopher J Frank and Paul Magnone.

The book’s premise is that information overload is making it difficult for business people to focus and take action. “In our information-driven global economy,” the authors write, “the real challenge lies in keeping your head above the flood of data, learning how to separate information from facts, and acquiring the judgment to use what you find to inspire others to act.”

To deal with the deluge, Mr. Frank and Mr. Magnone recommend a number of strategies. One has particular relevance for those of us who communicate with employees—it’s so useful, in fact, that I’ve included it on my list of professional resolutions.

The idea is simple: Before you start any project, first identify your “essential question.” (The authors call this an “essential business question” but I’ve simplified it to cover a variety of situations.) The problem with being overloaded (with work, as well as information) is that we often plunge into situations without stepping back and asking what the issue is really about.

But asking the essential question provides perspective and “leads to an orderly, informed process of discovery and, ultimately, to success.”

The essential question “should be prescriptive. It should be written so that it has to be answered by a business action (target, explore, go, no-go, continue, etc.). Essential Questions do not have to be complicated. In fact, the simpler question is usually the better question: What business am I in? What am I providing of value to the customer? Which customers will pay for it?”

For example, let’s say you’re rolling out a new product or service. “The Essential Question should lead you to the one piece of information you need to make that rollout successful. That question might be: How do we identify our most promising prospects?”

What’s the payoff? Mr. Frank and Mr. Magnone promise that if you develop the habit of asking essential questions, “not only will your insight into business solutions, grow, but your personal brand will shift to consultant. And when you are also able to deliver the answer, your reputation will be that of a trusted advisor,” not just an order-taker.

Hope this helps you have a great year!

Posted by Alison Davis at 06:26 AM | Comments (0)