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Effectively communicating in a corporate crisis (Part 1)
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An essay by SEViX Partner, Prof. Dr. Immanuel Ulrich and SEViX Founder, Rainer E. Ulrich
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When the company is in crisis and the decision is clear that something must change, the new start must be communicated clearly and credibly. A strategic business transformation to end the corporate crisis begins with a comprehensive analysis. However, the real change of the company through the strategic business transformation only begins when the strategic business transformation is communicated to the employees. However, successful management does not just communicate, it communicates in a strategically meaningful and targeted way. In corporate crises, communication is either wrong because the basics of communication are not considered, and/or strategically poor communication is used. In the worst case, almost all employees know where the shoe pinches, only not the person who could solve the problem. Both are avoidable leadership weaknesses.
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Fundamentals of communication
Communication must be strategic in order to be effective. Many strategic and latent crises would escalate less and, in some cases, not arise at all if communication were done sensibly (strategically). The questions here are:
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- How does the CEO's message credibly impact employees?
- How does the CEO's message reach the employees correctly?
Many messages fail because the content does not credibly match the (physical) attitude. Communication takes place via
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- non-verbal (body posture, gestures & facial expressions),
- paraverbal (pitch of voice, tempo) and
- verbal signals (literal message).
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Employees only pay attention to or believe management's messages if it matches the para-verbal and non-verbal signals. A CEO communicating "the company is safe" may not have a shaky voice or body while doing so.
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Besides that, it doesn't matter what the non- and para-verbal signals are: It does not matter how exactly the CEO stands, sits, moves his arms or not, talks fast or slow, the content of the message is central, even if this is always claimed otherwise. People can only read basic emotions like joy, fear, pride, self-confidence from para- and non-verbal signals. If the content of the message is to radiate security, the CEO's voice and body must do the same. To derive further information (for example, thoughts, lies, moods) from body posture and/or voice pitch has so far only succeeded in fairy tales - and to some extent with very close friends and family members.
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As a rule, the message of the CEO, the manager, etc. does not reach the employees 100%. This is due to the receiver hearing out different levels of the message due to different
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- professional background
- educational background
- intercultural background
- specific individual experiences.
Every verbal message has up to four levels at which it can be understood:
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- Subject level: what information is going to the receiver?
- Relationship level: How does the sender relate to the receiver?
- Appeal level: What does the sender want from the receiver?
- Self-revelation level: What is the sender telling the receiver about himself?
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The problem is: Every person has different preferences on which levels he communicates and listens. Likewise, the sender can send something on one level that is nevertheless understood quite differently by the receiver. For example, the self-revelation of the message "The company is safe" by the CEO (sender) may be: "I am convinced that we have nothing to worry about". But employees (recipients) may understand the appeal as, for example, "I can't say it openly in public, but nothing is certain." This would be possible if the recipient has had bad individual experiences with such appeasement in the past (for example, "The pension is safe.").
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In Part 2, "Effective Communication in a Corporate Crisis," we highlight distinguishing features in both internal communication (departments) and intracultural communication
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What makes SEViX unique?
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The passionate SEViX Business Coaches and SEViX Interim Managers - with practical experience on the first and second management line - help in the most diverse business situations. They are characterized by "entrepreneurial spirit & drive". Only they have access to the Corporate Scan developed by SEViX, which has been tested in practice. A first-class back-support helps them to successfully implement the agreed tasks at our customers.
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We come to help in a way that leads to success.
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Please contact us directly if you need concrete help in change management projects or a managing director/CEO ad interim or a business transformation manager and a well-practiced team with implementation competence.
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