If you are a plan-a-holic you likely have a shelf full of strategies and good ideas that won't see the light of day. The reason this usually happens (other than poor consulting!) is that they are seen as distinct from the everyday work of your organization. The more you can make the "new" way, the "new normal", the more successful you will be. Like a lifestyle change, it's about creating new organizational habits. My recent enewsletter provides shelf-help.

Proving life really does come full circle, I have found an interesting parallel between games of childhood and boardrooms across the nations -- the game of Truth or Dare.

If you've played this game, you know that most of the time, given the choice, people pick Dare. This is because it is easier to risk embarrassment, and to gain admiration through an act of courage or daring, than it is to reveal one's personal feelings and Truths. In fact, our culture rewards daring (and stupid acts of daring) above truth, much of the time.

This revelation came about because I have been immersed lately in a lot of "deep thought" and tough conversations, due to a project I am working on with a client on internal culture as well as a presentation I recently delivered on the importance of building internal teams.

In a nutshell, if you are setting out to change your organization's culture, the most important thing you can do for your organization is to frankly agree to the rules you are going to live by, and have consequences for not doing so. If you approach this by asking what you are prepared to accept, and not accept, you will soon get to the hard truth. This will take your mission statement and list of values beyond a piece of paper and will instead tell your staff, volunteers, donors and the world, what you are all about. It becomes what you stand for and how you do things, and makes decision-making clearer and more decisive. Above all, it gets to the truth of your organization. And exposes the less than truthful very quickly, in other words, the disconnects between what your organization says it upholds, and what it actually does.

Don't get me wrong - a certain amount of daring is necessary too! But looking at ourselves in the proverbial mirror is the most difficult, enlightening, and transforming step we can take. So pick Truth!

p.s. another definition of culture - how people act and what they do when no one is looking.

Like making grand personal resolutions, good communications in organizations is something we strive for but don't always achieve.  Like anything that's worth doing, it's "obvious but not easy." Quitting smoking, eating better, or exercising more is about integrating new habits and not about knowing they're good for you. When I work with a client organization, I almost always find that they know what they want or need to do -- but for various reasons can't get there.  The same often applies to strategic planning and visioning exercises -- it is more energizing and fun to blue sky the future than it is to do the daily work that will support the end goal. If this rings true for you, dust off that plan, and talk with your team members about concrete steps you each can do, today, tomorrow and this month, to make progress. The more real you can make your strategy, the less it will feel like a special project that can be put on hold while the "real work" gets done. Watch for more on habits coming soon!

Did you know that most of what you "say" in person is communicated by your body language and tone rather than by the words you speak? This can be a little disheartening when rolling out an announcement or big news to a staff audience. In this month's e-newsletter I provide four steps to success to help get around this challenge. Given the wealth of statistics that show employees are looking for leadership and direction from their employers, and notably, their senior management, there is no time like the present to brush up communications within your organization. Here's the first step from the article. If you'd like to receive the e-newsletter you can sign up here.

Step 1. Fail to plan, plan to fail

Planning is a journey, not a destination. The simple act of planning will bring forward issues and ideas you hadn’t thought of.

· Start with your objective in mind – although obvious, it’s easy to forget. The first step to any strategic communication is defining your objective. Each message you deliver should have a specific audience and purpose.

· Make a list of all of your audiences

· Identify the role each group plays in your initiative – will they be go-to people for inquiries once the project starts? Are they a link in the chain? Do they just need to know, but won’t be directly involved? Are they responsible for training other staff and volunteers? This helps identify what information each group will need. This might even cause you to rethink timing or order of information to each group, for example, brief department leaders or go-to people first.

· Identify the issues or concerns for each group – anticipate any positive or negative reactions, and make sure you have answers for each. Remember the first question each person will have is, how will this affect me?

· Identify the action you’d like to inspire in each group – everyone needs to know his or her responsibility in the process and what you are asking each of them to do.

If I had a dollar for every time I've heard this statement, I'd be independently wealthy: We need better communications. Everyone says it, everyone knows it, but hardly anyone does it. I think there are many reasons why this is so: different understandings of the term, mismanaged expectations, or unclear goals and objectives, to name a few. When you get right down to it, communications is a broad concept. There is the act of communicating, and there is the profession of communicating. Everyone communicates but not all are communicators, professional or otherwise. As a profession, communications is a broad field with many areas of specialized skills.

What communications isn't, is a band aid for organizational issues, lack of strategic direction or focus. When I am told by management or staff that better communications is the missing piece they feel is needed in order to be successful at X, Y, or Z, I know from experience that this is usually the sign of a larger issue or challenge that needs to be addressed, and then communicated. Here are a few common scenarios I hear often:

• Staff aren't excited or supportive of a new, positive initiative
• Board members seem disconnected from the workings of the organization
• Long-term volunteers or staff are becoming disinterested, and are leaving
• Despite an open door policy, no one comes forward to discuss concerns
• Media never cover happenings or news about the organization
• The organization isn't recognized in the community
• They (insert group here) don't understand our issues
• Donations are down and we think it's because we don't have a high enough profile
• Members aren't renewing and we don't know why

There are many valid reasons why any of the above situations occur. But most often, it is not a single cause that is the issue. So trying to solve one generally leads to another. Good communications, if done well, is integrated into the core of the organization and is consistent throughout all functions and activities. But the need never ends or is completed. Think of it as a series of decisions and interactions. Multiply it by the power of the individual and the perceptions, motivations and interests of each person and you can imagine why achieving communications nirvana is a continually moving target.

I fundamentally believe that all organizations need these pieces for each corner of the puzzle: a clearly articulated vision and strategic plan, realistic and meaningful goals that can be interpreted at the individual level by each person in the organization, a comprehensive and two-way internal communications program, and an annual communications plan that specifies both internal and external communications objectives and activities that directly support the organization's broader strategy. Only then can you begin to fill in the pieces.