Leadership

The art of strategic communication

How managing directors communicate the corporate strategy clearly across all hierarchical levels

From Sabine Walter, Head of netzwerk managementberatung | coaching

Managing directors are not only responsible for developing a convincing corporate strategy, but also for its successful implementation at all levels of the company. It is therefore crucial that the strategy is understood and lived throughout the organization to ensure long-term success. But how can CEOs meet this challenge? In this article, we will present key aspects that contribute to successfully conveying a corporate strategy in a comprehensible way across all hierarchical levels.

Clarity and transparency

An important first step is to clearly define the corporate strategy and communicate it as simply as possible and easy to understand. Avoid complex terms and abstract concepts. Instead, use analogies or concrete examples from everyday business to clarify issues.

To ensure that the message is understood by all employees and leaders, it must be clearly communicated what this strategy means for everyone. What of known and proven elements will be retained? What will be strengthened or expanded? What will change?

Especially if the strategy implies major changes, it is important that you as the managing director explain the underlying considerations. In doing so, you will foster understanding of the strategy as well as trust and acceptance for its implementation.

Comprehensible communication at all levels

The strategy should not only be communicated top-down, e.g. through video messages from the managing directors or as part of townhall events, but also from the bottom up and horizontally within the company. Therefore, the question: "What does this strategy mean for our area / our team?" should be worked out by the executives together with their team members. The key findings from this can be recorded in video messages and made available to other areas via the intranet.

In addition, create regular interaction and communication spaces with employees at various levels to continually check if the strategy is understood all the way down to the grassroots level.

Speak appropriately to the addressees

There is an iron rule of convincing communication: The worm must taste the fish, not the fisherman. What does this mean for strategy communication?

The ability to address the prior knowledge and questions of the respective employees' groups is crucial for the understanding of the strategy throughout the organization. Managers can classify and understand things differently than blue collar workers who, in many cases, don't even have a comprehensive grasp of the corporate language. Therefore, make sure that you only use terminology that your audience can also immediately understand. What is known? What do you need to explain? What contextual or figurative framework from the listeners' everyday life can you use for this explanation?

Communicating in a way that is appropriate for the audience also means that you prepare the accompanying visuals accordingly, e.g. a presentation. If necessary, you should also decide whether you want to present the presentation not only in the company-wide language, e.g. English, but also in the respective national languages.

By building and maintaining an open and understandable communication culture, employees feel heard and become advocates and implementers of the strategy.

Align target, feedback and reward systems with strategy

Feedback and reward systems can help to weave the strategy more closely into the day-to-day lives of employees and managers and encourage the implementation of the strategy. This could include giving recognition or bonuses to employees or teams who contribute to the achievement of strategic goals.

Establish continuous everyday reference

Communicating strategy is not complete once you have conducted a roadshow in the company and held target discussions with your direct managers. Rather, communicating strategy is an ongoing process. It is important that the strategy does not remain an abstract thing that is discussed again at the end of the year, but that the strategy becomes part of everyday life. There are a number of ways for you as a managing director to succeed in this.

Ensure strategic fit of decisions and projects

Linking decisions and projects to corporate strategy is crucial to ensure that strategy becomes part of everyday life and that the company achieves its strategic goals. The two key questions that take center stage are: Why are we doing something? Why are we not doing something?

What exactly has to be done?

Conclusion

The comprehensible communication of the corporate strategy is a continuous and multi-layered process

As you can see, it is not enough to present the corporate strategy to all employees and managers once as part of an event. Rather, successful communication of the corporate strategy is a continuous and multi-layered process. This becomes easier if you involve employees and managers in the development and communication of the strategy. This involvement not only contributes to an understanding of the strategy, it also ensures much greater identification with it and, ultimately, its operational implementation.