CEO Playbook Series: Communication

As a CEO, a major area that you should be focusing on is “Communication”. The way you communicate is critical to how your organization will “execute” for you. After all, what you’re looking for is a high performing team, a team that can consistently deliver results. High performing teams are aligned teams with a clear purpose. This clarity of purpose is going to come through an effective communication strategy. In this post, I’ll give you my recommendations on how you should communicate as a CEO.

To start I’d like to add a simple framework for you to follow:

The YOU, WHO, WHAT, HOW Framework of Effective Communication

The Basics of Effective Communication (YOU, WHO, WHAT)

When it comes to communicating, first things first, there are 3 elements to focus on:

3 Pillars of Communication

1. Authenticity/YOU: This is all about “You”. Effective leaders bring their own voice to their communication. They don’t try to fake it. They are genuine and authentic. What they say to their teams, they effectively follow through on. They know that their words and actions consistent with their own personal values will determine how their organization will act or not act.
2. Target Audience/WHO: As the CEO, you’ll be dealing with various stakeholders — the board of directors, employees, customers, vendors, government, the press, educational institutions. Your message should be consistent, but tailored for every audience.

Identifying Stakeholders

A key part of your communication strategy will be to identify your stakeholders. For each stakeholder, you should identify: the type (whether primary or secondary stakeholder), the cadence of communication (e.g. daily, weekly, monthly etc.) and the type of communication.

Example of a Stakeholder and Type of Communication

3. Message/WHAT: Finally the message itself. What are you going to communicate to the appropriate target audience. What is the actual message going to be?

The Message (WHAT) in Greater Detail

Let’s deep dive a little into the WHAT of communication i.e. the message.

The Message Framework a.k.a. WHAT TO COMMUNICATE

When it comes to your message to your stakeholders, a simple framework that I follow is to focus on the following:

1. The Platform for Change: This is the big problem that we’re facing or the big opportunity in front of us.
2. The Brighter Vision That Awaits: This is the vision for the future and the light at the end of the tunnel.
3. The Path to Get There: This is the plan for us to get there.

When I joined Kaspien as CEO, I focused on exactly these 3 elements of my communication and have been consistently doing so since.

1. The Platform for Change: The developing “Marketplace Seller Services Market” and the fragmented nature of the same.
2. The Brighter Vision That Awaits: The opportunity to leverage our assets and capabilities become a multi billion dollar global consolidator of this market.
3. The Path to Get There: Reposition our company as a one stop shop platform of software and tech enabled services for everything marketplace growth, launch new products and services, diversify into new markets and geographies, and introduce newer business models.

This form of communication has since been the foundation of how my executive team has trickled down this message and aligned every single individual to this message.

For each audience (stakeholder) of this message, you can add to this framework the following:

4. Headline: This is the summary of the main point on your message. Note that this will change per audience type you’re communicating to.

5. Key Points: These are the key takeaways that you’d like for your audience to take from your communication.

So this brings us to the final “Message/WHAT” framework.

The Message Framework a.k.a. WHAT TO COMMUNICATE

HOW to Communicate

The next big thing when it comes to communication is the actual implementation of communication. There are many pieces to this, so let’s jump into the details.

Types of Communication

I prefer to use 3 forms of communication:

One Way Communication: In this form of communication, you’re pushing information to your teams. These are in the form of team presentations, emails, social media posts etc. In this form of communication, there is little opportunity to engage your audience, but it is extremely critical and should not be ignored.

Examples of One Way Communication

Two Way Communication: In this form of communication, you’re engaging two ways. For example: You might be in a meeting with a team that is presenting to you and you’re giving them feedback through Q&A or the other way around.

Multi Way Communication: In this form you’re brainstorming with your team. For example: You’re running a goal setting workshop with the team where you’re interacting as a group.

Both Two Way and Multi Way meetings are typically of 3 flavors:

3 Types of Meetings for Multi Way and Two Way Communication

1. Strategy Review Meetings — Answers the question — Are we executing our strategy well?

Example: Monthly Strategy Reviews,

2. Operational Review Meetings — Answers the question — Are our operations under control?

Example: Monthly, Weekly and Quarterly Business Reviews, Cross Functional Team Reviews, Product Roadmap Updates, OKR Review Meetings etc.

3. Strategy Testing and Adapting Meetings — Answers the question — Is our strategy working?

Example: Quarterly/Semi Annual Strategic Planning Meetings

Tenets of Communication

The YOU, WHO, WHAT, HOW Framework of Effective Communication

By now, hopefully you have a sense of how to develop your communication strategy. Here is what we learnt so far:

1. Bring your authentic self to your communication (YOU)
2. Identify your stakeholders (WHO)
3. Identify your message (WHAT) — Platform for change, vision, the path to get there for each stakeholder. Ensure you have a headline and key takeaways in your message.
4. Figure out the mode of how you’re going to communicate (HOW) — one way, two way and/or multiway. Balance between all three modes. Identify which ones make sense for you and your teams.

This is the most basic framework that you should internalize. Now that we’ve nailed the basics, let me give you a few tenets to communicate effectively.

Tenet # 1: Communicate Consistently

Build out a consistent schedule for your communication strategy, schedule it on your calendar and execute on your communication plan. Remember to do this to all stakeholders.

Tenet #2: Learn How Stakeholders Want to Be Communicated To

Some might prefer email, some text messaging, some phone calls, some might follow you on social. Learn what your stakeholders prefer and follow through with the right HOW.

Tenet # 3: Communicate the Same Message to All Stakeholders

Whether you are talking to your investors, employees, board, customers, communicate the same message to them. Every stakeholder

Tenet # 4: But, Tailor Your Content to What Each Stakeholder Cares About

Tenet #2 should not be confused with sharing the same content with all stakeholders. You’ll have to tailor your content to each stakeholder’s needs and wants. Customers may not care about your internal KPIs. Your board might want to see a high level overview of your strategy and operations etc. etc. Same message, but different content.

Tenet # 5: Work Backwards from Major Communication Deadlines

Just like a product team builds out a product roadmap and drives towards it through smaller milestones of delivery, a communication strategy should be thought of in the same way. You should build out a communication strategy and plan out your messaging by scheduling every message that you want to seed out there.

Tenet # 6: Cascade Your Message to Your Entire Organization

Every employee in your company should identify with your WHAT. They should internalize it and connect with it. You’ll need to make sure that you use the different leaders in your organization to ensure your message cascades down effectively to every person.

Till next time, signing off.