Communicating in uncertain times webinar Tuesday 14 April 2020 presented by: Ann Pilkington and Tim Lyons The link to the write up page and resources of this webinar: https://www.apm.org.uk/news/communicating-in-uncertain-times-webinar/

1. Communicating in Uncertain Times

2. Ian Cribbes
Secretary
People SIG
Ann Pilkington
People SIG
Author of
Communicating
Projects
Tim Lyons
People SIG

3. The groundwork: a well thought through strategy and
plan

4. Strategic communications planning
Ruck, K. Exploring Internal Communication, 4th edition, 2020, Routledge

5. Set good communication objectives: SMART

6. Set good communication objectives: SMART

7. The golden thread of strategic communication
planning

8. Who are our stakeholders?

9. Who’s listening?
“Sometimes senior
managers say they want
to listen but do not want
to believe or accept what
they hear or are
genuinely unsure what to
do about what they hear.”
https://pracademy.co.uk/insights/whos-
listening/

10. About listening
▪ The way we define leadership – the way that leadership is understood to
mean the ‘need to provide answers’ rather than involving listening to
employees.
▪ Under-investment in listening capability development – are leaders
‘wilfully deaf’?
▪ Cultural barriers – organisational cultures are not very conducive to
listening and employees are often fearful of speaking out.
▪ Structures and processes not developed to support listening –
organisations do not always have a systemic approach to listening to
employees.

11. https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/pmwj22-may2014-Horton-Pilkington-
AdvancesSeriesArticle.pdf

14. Dealing with ambiguity

15. Tim Lyons

16. Communicating in uncertain times
Engage
Listen and
calibrate
Adjust
Communicate

17. Communicating in uncertain times
Visual
[45% of population]
Auditory
[15% of population]
Kinaesthetic
[40% of population]
Each group typically use the following types of construct in their conversation with others (although
are usually not aware that they are doing it!)
What does good look like? Sounds about right... Does that feel about right...?
You see what I mean...? Would you say that...? Take you on a journey...
Show me... Let’s discuss... In the first place...
▪ How does your audience ‘represent their world’?
Using this in practice: Observe the patterns people are using (whether written
or spoken) and try to respond in the same representational system – the
chances are the interaction will work better.

18. Communicating in uncertain times
▪ 1. FIRST POSITION – ‘ME, MYSELF, I’
▪ 2. SECOND POSITION – ‘WALKING IN SOMEONE’S SHOES’
▪ 3. THIRD POSITION – ‘FLY ON THE WALL’
▪ Making use of ‘Perceptual Positions’
How to use this in practice: Saying
something like: ‘You might well ask…’
or asking for audience responses
shows good use of second position.
Taking a neutral stance on a polarised
subject, citing 3rd party research or
offering a reflective view would be to
use the third position.

19. Communicating in uncertain times
▪ Where is the focus? (neurological levels)
Purpose – a spiritual reason for doing anything.
Identity – ‘Belongingness’, the group we are part of,
the Team, what we do things for.
Values & beliefs - What is important? Why do we do
it?
Capabilities - What am I / are they capable of? How
to do it?
Behaviour - What to do? What action? The primary
level that impacts on others
Environment - Where to do it? When to do it? Is it
possible, here?
Using this in practice: To bring people together in a common purpose, appeal to them at Identity level,
and emphasise the required Values. Behaviours follow when the higher levels are in line – telling people
to change behaviours won’t work unless they feel part of a group that does not behave like that.

20. Communicating in uncertain times
▪ Chunking up and down
Using this in practice: By asking the “What’s important about…?” and “What stops you from…?” you
can discover what it is that empowers or blocks somebody from doing something. NB: try not to ask
“WHY didn’t you…?” as this can often prompt a defensive response.
“What stops you from….?”
[will usually elicit a response
from a lower neurological
level]
“What’s important about….?”
[will usually elicit a response
from a higher neurological
level]

21. Communicating in uncertain times
▪ Convincing people
Using this in practice: If you think your audience will just take things on trust then just communicate; If
not, use a mix of convincers on the basis that an audience will be made up of a mix of channels and
modes - so incorporate different methods to reach as many as possible. Respond to what works best.
Convincer channels
See: 55% of us are convinced when we see the
evidence ‘with our own eyes’
Hear: 30% of us will be more convinced when
we hear something told by others
Read: only 3% of us will be totally convinced by
reading something written down
Do: 12% of us are only really convinced when
we do it ourselves – ‘walk the talk’
Convincer modes
Number of examples: 52% of us are convinced
more when we see something repeated – with a
subcategory regarding the number of repeats
that do it for us!
Automatic: 8% of us just ‘get it’ without a need
for further impact
Consistency: 15% of us are convinced by
evidence that supports itself in a consistent way
Period of time: 25% of us come to be convinced
by the passage of time

22. Communicating in uncertain times
▪ Albert Mehrabian's 1967 proposal was that for conversational
meaning received (when an emotion is involved):
– 7 percent of a message pertaining to feelings is the words spoken.
– 38 percent of a message pertaining to feelings is the way the words are spoken.
– 55 percent of a message pertaining to feelings is in the facial expression.
▪ Verbal and non-verbal – during a lockdown? Hmm!
How to use this when distance-working?
• Be aware of your expression if your face is on camera!
• Be aware of how you say things, and be careful of cutting people off…
• if the emotion in the words you're saying doesn't line up with the emotion in your tone of voice or
facial expression, your listener will probably believe the latter.

23. Resources and links
▪ The People SIG Stakeholder Focus Group work:
https://www.apm.org.uk/resources/find-a-
resource/stakeholder-engagement/key-principles/
▪ People SIG Guide to Communication – coming soon, watch
this space!
▪ Who’s Listening research:
https://pracademy.co.uk/insights/whos-listening/
▪ PR Academy’s series of PR Place Guides and Toolkits
including: Writing a Communication Strategy, Using
Communication Theory, Stakeholder Engagement :
https://pracademy.co.uk/insights/category/guides-toolkits/
▪ Communicating Projects, Ann Pilkington, published by
Routledge: https://www.routledge.com/Communicating-
Projects-An-End-to-End-Guide-to-Planning-Implementing-
and/Pilkington/p/book/9781138749658