Shelley Row's Blog

One of the biggest mistakes managers make during change is not reinforcing the message and assuming that once is enough. Communicating a message once—even clearly—is rarely sufficient. Repetition and consistency are crucial for effective communication.

Why Repetition Matters
In uncertain times, people are distracted or emotionally taxed. They may not retain everything they hear the first time. Repeating key messages helps them sink in and provides reassurance.

Consistency Builds Credibility
Say...

A one-size-fits-all communication strategy rarely works during change. Managers need to tailor messages to different audiences—because people hear and interpret information differently based on their roles, experiences, and concerns.

Know Your Audience
Consider who you’re talking to. Frontline employees may be concerned about workload or job security, while senior staff may focus on strategy and risk. Tailoring your message ensures relevance and engagement.

Use the Right Language
Avoid jargon w...

Change. It isn’t always welcomed in the workplace. As they say, the only thing certain is change, and change brings uncertainty. Particularly in today’s environment, employees may wonder if they’ll have a job tomorrow with which to pay the mortgage, save for their kid’s education, or provide healthcare. Bosses may change, responsibilities could shift, workplaces can move. All these changes are unsettling and destabilizing, and that’s bad for productivity and morale. You may not be in control of...

In this topsy turvy world, there’s a good chance that your organization is in a state of change. While change is an inevitable part of business, for many, today’s rate of change is unprecedented. In this environment, you might be interested to know that studies indicate that more than 60% of change initiatives fail to achieve their goals. While the technical aspects of change management—planning, implementation, and execution—are crucial, the human side of change is often overlooked. During tim...

Have you noticed the wide range of skill sets in your staff and team? Some people easily see the big picture and fit activities into an overall strategy. Some people can look at a spreadsheet and immediately make sense of the data. Other people naturally read the room and intuit individual motivations. Some people need quiet while others need interaction to perform at their best. To one degree or another, we are all different. These differences have a name: Neurodiversity.

Neurodiversity refers...

We may be in a post-pandemic world, but we’re still feeling the effects of workplace trends wrought by the pandemic. We learned how to work remotely, and many employees don’t want to go back. The workplace debate —remote, hybrid, or fully onsite—has intensified for managers and staff. Should employees stay remote, adopt a hybrid schedule, or return to the office full-time? Recent studies show that 62% of workers are full-time in the office with 27% in hybrid arrangements.

It’s a big decision th...

You work in a technical field, and you know your stuff. You are respected for your knowledge in the field. And then, you are moved into a leadership position. In an instant, everything changes. Suddenly, new skills are needed. If you are like most, little has been done to develop those new skills in advance. Moving into leadership is not just a promotion, it’s a career change. Like any other career change, transforming individual contributors and technical managers into effective leaders is a p...

Accountability. It’s a hot topic of conversation and frequently a topic filled with frustration. Managers complain that staff don’t take responsibility for completing a job on time and with high quality, or that staff don’t take ownership for the work. It is easy to criticize the lack of accountability with staff, but it’s not just them. As a manager, you have a role in accountability as well.  Accountability is not about micromanagement or blame—it’s about creating an environment where everyon...

You have goals for profit, pressure from clients, and expenses to manage. In that environment, how can you justify the financial and time investment in leadership training? After all, you need your top people working on projects that generate profit. In a competitive business environment, you have to consider return on investment (ROI) for any initiative. How does leadership training stack up? The answer: very well. Investing in the development of your leaders can yield substantial dividends, n...

Whether on television, social media, or in newspapers, it seems we’ve lost a sense of respect. Increasingly with clients, I hear concern about the lack of civility at work. Impoliteness, one-sided viewpoints, and terse language create a tense mood which isn’t helpful for productivity. Civility is not merely a nicety but a cornerstone of a healthy and productive environment. Defined as the polite and respectful behavior expected of individuals in a professional setting, civility sets the tone fo...