How to communicate your gathering so people want to attend
Your workshop, training, webinar, etc, is finally ready to go, and now it’s time to communicate about it internally and spread the word.
Getting folks to sign up or even read their email or slack can be a stressor with so much competing for smaller attention spans. When there is so much pulling on people’s time, it’s easy to assume the only way we will get people to attend our gatherings is if we push them there, or send multiple comms.
Instead, we can ask ourselves - what will make this stand out?
Every time we read a message we are scanning for what’s applicable and relevant to us (you may be doing this now!). Employees are wanting to know, is this worth my time? What’s in it for me? This is especially true when participating equals a long workday or a trip into the office.
With better communication about our gatherings and programs, we can demonstrate how we understand our employee's needs and help ensure our efforts aren’t wasted.
Check out these 4 tips for more effective employee communication.
Connect to a concrete need
Our role is not simply to curate gatherings and programs. It’s to help close the gap between the utility of what we create and the employee's ability to do something with it.
One way to close that gap is to provide real and concrete examples that show instead of tell the benefits of your programs.
Don’t use jargon
Our brains like certainty, jargon doesn’t help. Don’t waste employees' precious cognitive resources asking them to guess what your program entails or to decipher fancy HR speak.
Instead, answer the ‘so what?’ of the jargon. We aren’t selling a class on emotional intelligence. We’re selling a class on developing a better working relationship with their team.
Don’t sell the subject matter. Sell how the gathering will improve something they care about.
Do use critical incidents (aka real, meaningful examples)
We learn more and more deeply when learning touches on something we care about. Oftentimes employees don’t know there is a need for your solution unless you show them, concretely.
Provide clear examples of who the gathering is right for (For example, if you got feedback from your direct reports about X or Y) so people know the need
Help employees “land the plane” by directing them where and when they’ll be able to apply what they learn. Ex) you can use these communication techniques in your next 1:1, instead of general communication best practices.
If we don’t know the employee needs our program addresses, chances are our employees won't know either.
Share data and proof
The proof is in the pudding, so they say. With so much competition for our time, strategies like sharing data can help employees internalize the reward of saying ‘yes’ versus the risk of doing so.
Share feedback from the business or tangible business needs or trends that led you to create the gathering or program
Connect this program to previously received feedback to show how you listened to employees' needs, “here’s what we did with your feedback”...
Give employees proof of how this offering helped other employees or other companies
Share stories, quotes, or testimonials of past participants of what they learned and the impact
Answer the “so what?” question
It’s common to communicate the agenda or the content of our gathering when what people really need is clarity on the effect.
Be able to ask and answer, what will be different because of our time together? This is one reason why stories and testimonials are helpful - they give employees examples of what life can look like on the other side.
Awareness of the program often isn’t enough if employees don’t have awareness of the gap in their knowledge or skills that would motivate them to attend - and pay attention.
It’s this awareness of the gap between the current and future state that fuels a desire for change. Focusing on what’s at stake versus your solution can create a sense of urgency - another key ingredient change ingredient.
Make your thinking visible
We may know why we curated these programs or gatherings but we can’t assume our employees know - unless we tell them.
“The reason we hired X vendor/the reason we are offering this class on performance reviews is…”
Making your thinking visible means giving your employees a peek into your process. This is something artists do frequently, “the reason why I created this new album is that…” Not only does sharing our intention build trust that employees know where you’re taking them, but it also reduces uncertainty which can be a barrier to buy-in.
When we make our thinking visible, it helps employees feel that they are too.
It’s too easy to dismiss something as not important when we don’t know why it should matter to us. It’s okay to tell people why.
Rather than push our employees with perks and extrinsic rewards, we can pull on something more powerful and untapped: motivation.
Pulling instead of pushing employees to attend or take part in our programs presumes that people want to know their wants and needs matter. We can show our employees we are listening and care by effectively communicating the programs and offerings we work so hard to create.
Planning a gathering? Fill out this form to download my free communication checklist and template
Lindsey Caplan is a screenwriter turned organizational psychologist who helps HR & business leaders create experiences that boost motivation, engagement, and performance