Is the communication throughout your organization always clear and inclusive? Probably not.
Often, communication throughout an organization is fuzzy and unclear, rife with misunderstanding and, sometimes, loaded with conflict. That’s why strategic communication is the foundation of everything we do at Monitor. For example, in our executive and leadership development training and coaching programs, we know that leaders must use clear, honest, and consistent communication to build trust with employees.
We aren’t talking about superficial chit-chat…
We teach the entire team how to engage in-depth dialogue where real, substantive communication takes place. Why? Because that’s the communication level where we share new ideas. Where we take risks. Where true innovation occurs. That’s when the real work begins and organizational evolution takes root!
Strategic communication enables management to home-in on organizational goals and expectations while building internal and external coalitions required for success. It also:
- Promotes innovation and creativity
- Fosters flexible solutions to complex problems
- Builds morale and increases productivity
- Enhances decision making
- Encourages candor and risk taking
- Enables proactive planning and implementation
- Builds trust and consensus
Organizations that embrace strategic communication continue to evolve.
Strategic communication must be learned. How? Monitor uses 2 unique tools to teach organizations how to communicate strategically and continue to perform, unafraid of future challenges and change.
Monitor’s R3 Communication™ method focuses on constructive dialogue, the bedrock of strategic communication.
Monitor’s president, Mickey Anne Benson, PhD, teaches that there are 3 levels of communication: talk, conversation, and dialogue. Strategic communication ─ essential for organizational evolution ─ begins with the deepest level of communication: dialogue. To enhance dialogue throughout organizations, Dr. Benson created a 3-pronged approach that she calls this R3 Communication™: Responsible, Reflective, and Responsive.
Using this tool, Dr. Benson and other communication experts at Monitor teach you to look at communication in its entirety – including verbal and nonverbal communication. R3 Communication™ shows you how to actively listen to what is said and not said, assess your own thoughts and feelings, assess the other person’s thoughts and feelings, and respond in an honest, open, and direct manner.
With OneVoice™ you clarify and establish your organization’s common language to ensure everyone is on the same page.
It seems obvious yet it’s often overlooked: Every organization has its own common language to express concepts and issues, and everyone working in (or with) that organization must know and use that common language for shared understanding.
For Monitor Associates, this is a foundational concept – a starting point – when working with an organization, whether the need is for organizational consulting, training programs, or executive coaching.
With this in mind, Mickey Anne Benson, PhD has developed an approach to tease out every organization’s common language, which she calls OneVoice™. Dr. Benson guides all stakeholders to clarify their organization’s common language, then use it consistently to express issues, resolve conflict, and more readily move forward. OneVoice™ is essential for organizational evolution to take hold.