The Power of Two-Way Dialogue at Work

People do not like to be told what to do. Therefore when leaders create a strategic plan and email to their people, the result will be anything but smooth. This outdated leadership tactic simply doesn’t work anymore. But you know what does work? When leaders communicate with their people. When leaders share the current state of the business and offer an emotionally compelling story, without the marketing speak and business acronyms, for why everyone needs to rally behind the new strategic plan. When leaders give their people the information, the time to digest it, and the opportunity to ask questions. Leaders who invite people to come to a conclusion on their own are the leaders who will be able to create engagement among their people.

All of this centers around dialogue and communication. However, two-way dialogue isn’t as common as you might think. In fact, people are often so consumed with their own opinions that they are incapable of truly listening to others. And without listening, real two-way dialogue is impossible.

Active Listening is a Lost Art

The heart of dialogue is listening. Actively listening to what others are saying and allowing this information sink into our own minds. When we participate in real two-way dialogue we agree to possibly changing our own point of view – we are truly able to and willing to receive others’ input. This isn’t easy. Often in conversations, we aren’t listening to what is being said because we’re reloading. It takes practice to quiet our inner thoughts, which often distract us from hearing what others are saying or even recognizing our own reactions.

Here’s the problem when it comes to dialogue and listening at work. The times when we need to be the most conscious of what others are thinking and saying is during times of chaos and crisis. When unforeseen roadblocks emerge. When deadlines are closing in. When things are going haywire, we must listen to others. Because turning to our groups and synthesizing challenges together has the potential to penetrate and dissolve some of our most difficult problems.

Collective Intelligence Can Solve Most Obstacles

When we learn to actually hear what is being said around us, collective intelligence is attainable, and this is truly powerful. Gathering others’ perspectives in the pursuit of landing on a new perspective is groundbreaking for you as a person and as a leader.

To help your organization make collective intelligence and meaningful two-way dialogue a part of your culture, leaders need to adopt and practice the following behaviors:

1. Retire “old school” means of communication, like PowerPoints and memos. For the most part, static PowerPoints that simply list stats and share data points aren’t an effective way of conveying information. They aren’t capable of creating an emotional connection and therefore can’t lead to open and honest conversations. They actually do the opposite! When you use facts, fear, and force, the side effect is people not caring. People don’t want to be told what to do. They want to engage in a discussion and be part of the planning process.

2. Acknowledge the power of storytelling as a means of engagement. When you stop using PowerPoint presentations to communicate with your people, you will have the opportunity to turn to powerful storytelling and visuals. These techniques will elicit emotions in your people that will motivate them to give and engage with your strategy. Consider this scenario. Instead of showing your people a PowerPoint presentation in an all-company meeting, what if you shared a visual that depicted the roles of leaders, managers and doers; split people into small groups; and gave them the safety, time, and tools to share their real thoughts and opinions? You would provoke the fire of conversation! People would participate in real dialogue. They would become engaged. Now, you’re headed in the right direction.

3. Great leaders know the collective mind is more powerful than their own. The most successful leaders realize their people will come up with better solutions than they could ever script for them. To be a great leader, you must believe that the collective minds of all your people working together can solve problems better than you ever could alone. This is why leaders need to encourage co-thinking and collective intelligence. The ideas of others will undoubtedly lead to concepts and solutions that a leader alone in his or her office would have never conceptualized.

The Power of Learning to Listen

Employee disengagement has been plaguing the business world for decades. It’s increased a percentage point or two at times, only to go right back down and hover around a 30 percent positive engagement rate. Which is pretty horrid. The three actions above are great ways to begin to change the trajectory of employee engagement for any business. By inviting people to become problem solvers and enablers of the business, leaders will drive higher levels of engagement. And it all begins by retiring outdated modes of communication and one-dimensional storytelling. Instead, it’s about letting people become participants and co-crafters of their story.