Do You Take Time to Explain Why?

Have you ever noticed that associates treat customers – not always how they’d like to be treated – but rather how their boss treats them.

 

Interesting.  If we are encouraging, positive and informative with our associates – they’ll respond positively and in turn, treat their customers with the same open, honest attitude.

 

So when assigning a project to your team – keep in mind that they’ll respond more in line with your desires if you take the time to explain the “why” behind the task.

 

Think back to when you were a kid. Remember when your Mom would tell you to do something? Sometimes it was a random request; you are playing with your toys and she sticks her head in the door and says, “Come on, get your coat on.”

 

Well, you don’t remember any appointment.  Nobody told you there were plans to go someplace. You are right in the middle of intense play!  You look up to find your Mom has already left your room and you holler, “Why?”

 

“BECAUSE I SAID SO.”

 

Oh, many times, she pulled the “because I said so” card. Grudgingly you drag yourself off the floor, looking longingly down at your dolls and slowly you turn towards your door.

 

“NOW!”

 

You hear your Mom yell at you to move faster.

 

You know where I’m going with this, right? How many times have we done the same thing at work? Oh, maybe we don’t say “because I told you” but it’s the impression we give.

 

So how does that make our associates feel?  How many communications have you read or even wrote that spelled out mandatory edicts without an explanation? I know, who has time to bring everyone up to speed.

 

But how quickly do you achieve 100% compliance without clearly communicating the “whys.”

 

 

What if Mom had said, “Hey, come get your coat on? I can hear the marching band practicing at the high school – let’s go watch them practice.” 

 

Or

 

“Grandma called, she’s not feeling well and she asked us to come for a visit.  Go get your coat.”

 

We’d leave our toys a minute, right?

 

As the former Director of Communications for Cole National, I often had to communicate messages to associates that would require change or additional work. Most frequently my writing went under the signature of the President or Vice President of Stores.  Their goal was a communication that achieved results. My responsibility was to ensure the message was read – understood – and acted upon.

 

To that end, I always included the why behind the information. It doesn’t need to be lengthy or complicated, in fact, if it is – it won’t be read.

 

When communicating with your associates remember these tips:

 

?        If there is an action, task or deadline for the reader, state it early and often

?        Explain the why behind the message – it should be as simple as a sentence:

o       “In response to competitor’s recent advertising we are…”

o       “Due to changes in our vendor supply capability you will need to…”

o       “In response to requests from your peers we are changing…”

?        Tell them how their compliance will impact the company. When associates realize that the request isn’t busy work but will actually impact the overall company results, they are more likely to comply.

?        Thank them in advance

?        Reinforce any specific task and/or deadline

?        Give them a contact in case they have questions or comments

 

Create a partnership for success by being informative and providing associates with the “who”, “what”, “where”, “why”, “when”, and “how”.  You are letting associates understand the value they provide to the company’s success.  That makes everyone a winner.