Employee engagement calendar

Looking to plan your business year? Download and start with this employee engagement calendar which notes important dates for your company’s customers and employees.

Pro Tip: Coping with change

It’s not just you. Change is hard for everyone.

Part of that is just being human. Evolution made us great at absorbing patterns and generalizing experiences. Over time, we use this to build quick decision-making or easily complete tasks with muscle memory.

Routines give structure and stability. They can help improve our sleep, reduce our stress, and free up our time for cognitive thinking.

So it’s not bizarre that change is hard. It’s disruptive on many levels. But it’s also a part of life.

The good thing is that there are simple steps (dare I say routines?) that can help you and your team better cope with change.

Here are four easy steps to help your team cope with change:

1. Be clear that change is coming. Like most things, communication is key. Telling employees early and often can help them mentally prepare for a new reality.

2. Explore the ugly truth. One of the biggest pitfalls is failing to acknowledge all parts of your new reality. Like most things in life, there are probably upsides and there are also probably downsides. Be honest about what those realities could be. Facing worst-case scenarios head on can actually help alleviate stress and normalize expectations.

3. Check in and then check in again. Adjusting to change can happen at different speeds and in different phases. Sometimes the first wave is a breeze and then weeks later, you feel like you hit a wall. Keep a pulse on how things are going by regularly checking in with your team and maintaining open communication about challenges.

4. Give space for flexibility. This isn’t just ‘expect the unexpected’ but also a reminder that people are people and sometimes we all may need extra time and care. Be prepared to be flexible and make accommodations to help people adjust and thrive.

Have pro tips for coping with change? Leave them in the comments below.

Listen now: The Shake Up Podcast

Earlier this summer, I had the chance to join my friend Christina on her new podcast The Shake Up. The podcast features entrepreneurs and business professionals talking about how they’ve cultivated careers that are fulfilling, challenging, and buck the norms.

You can listen to my episode on Apple Podcasts or wherever you like to listen.

Pro Tip: How to write for clarity

Writing for clarity is something everyone believes they are doing. And yet, we often find examples of content that is dense, poorly organized, and difficult to understand. We see these examples in complex, technical communications but also in newsletters, press releases, and normal employee communications. No matter what you are communicating, if it’s worth saying it needs to be clearly written.

Here are some steps that can help you improve writing for clarity:

Step 1: Write the darn thing.

Start your draft by collecting and compiling all of the information you need for communication. Put it into one document.

Yes, it will be long. It will be clunky. It may have ugly charts and probably some redundant sections.

That’s okay.

This step is simply about pulling together all the required, essential information into one document. Check your notes to make sure you have all your key messages, contacts, and the ‘why’ behind any change or decision.

Step 2: Read and reorganize.

You’ve got all the essential information written down, now think about how it needs to be sequenced.

Reorganizing the content will likely eliminate some redundant sections. It will also help you think through what information needs to be shared first, second, third, etc. Many people only scan messages so put your most important information, such as a critical task to complete, at the start of your message or at a section break.

Step 3: Give it a quick edit.

‘Quick’ is key here. This shouldn’t take you more than 15 minutes. Read your newly organized draft and strike any parts that are unnecessary because of the new sequencing.

Put your first iteration of headers and formatting. They don’t need to be perfect, they just need to be something to work from!

Step 4: Give it a rest.

Take a break and move on to another project. Yes, really. Your mind needs to look and think about new topics. As you do, you may find yourself rethinking how you sequenced or wrote certain sections. Inspiration comes from all sorts of places and giving yourself a break to think and process other ideas may lead to your best insight.

Try to give yourself at least a solid 30 minutes to become truly immersed in another topic. If you can wait until the next day to return to our project, even better!

Step 5: Give it a hard edit.

You’ve taken a break, you’ve thought about other work, and now you are ready to revisit your draft. Give you communication a hard edit. Look at the document formatting, content sequencing, and structure of your sentences.

Are there words that can more succinctly summarize what you are saying? Great. Swap them.

Is there a format that improves readability of a chart? Great. Use it.

By this point, you should be familiar enough with the content to know what is essential and what is fluff. Get rid of the fluff.

Step 6: Read, review and share.

Your document should be in pretty good shape at this point. Give it a final read and review your changes. If the work is clear and concise, you are ready to share with others.