Most organisations communicate because they want the best. The best outcomes. The best engagement. The best culture. The best performance.
But when we think about communication, we often focus on what is being said. Sometimes on how it is being said. Less often do we stop to ask: who is missing?
Over the years, working across different sectors and organisations, I’ve noticed the same pattern. The people least likely to receive or engage with a message are often those with the busiest hands. The parent juggling work and young children. The customer service colleague moving from one person to the next. The hospitality worker on their feet all day. The frontline employee whose role leaves little time to sit and read pages of updates.
It is not that they do not care. Often, they simply do not have the time.
That is why the who should shape the how.
If we truly value people’s involvement, we have to think carefully about how they experience communication. What assumptions are we making about their time, their access and their attention? Too often we assume they will hear the message through someone else. Through a manager. Through a colleague. Through the grapevine.
We all know the risk of assumptions. So perhaps the next right thing is this:
Take a walk around your organisation and ask yourself, who is least likely to hear what I am trying to say?
Your answer might change the way you communicate. And that is where conscious communication begins.
#dothenexttrightthing
