Three ways to avoid the broken comms cascade
The communication cascade has been relied upon since the beginning of time to disseminate messages within an organisation. For those who haven’t heard of the term, it means we start with a message from the very top of the organisation and share it with the next level down, and then those managers are expected to share it with their direct reports, and so on.
Essentially, it’s the equivalent of Chinese Whispers for corporates.
The problem is, much like Chinese Whispers, by the time the message reaches the lower rungs of the organisation, it either:
Doesn’t have any context or information about why it’s relevant to that team, or
It actually never made it there at all.
The communication cascade is broken, particularly in very large organisations. There’s lots of reasons for this, including:
Managers are time poor and can’t put the time into either sending the message or making it relevant
Managers themselves don’t see the relevance of the message.
When you don’t have a direct line to every single team member and you obviously don’t have the resources to make it relevant to each individual, you still need to rely on the cascade to some extent. So here’s our top tips for dealing with the cascade challenge.
Make it easy
If it’s too complicated or time-consuming for managers to tweak the message and send it, then it just won’t happen. It’s really that simple. So equip them with the tools to make it easier:
Brief them on the project or comms (in person or via virtual), and give them the opportunity to ask questions
Provide them with key messages that indicate where and how they can tailor them to make it relevant to their teams
Provide templates for emails, text messages, speaking points, or whatever works that again make it easier for managers to share.
Have multiple touchpoints
Circumvent the cascade by providing different ways people can seek out and receive information. For example, apart from hearing the message directly from their leaders, they could also find the same message packaged in different ways on the intranet news stories, Teams groups, podcasts, Yammer, town halls, newsletters, etc.
Make it interesting and relevant
If a leader can’t see the relevance, then why would they waste time passing it on to their team? Make the case for why they should care and why they should communicate - be as specific as you can be about why it matters. Also, present the message in an interesting way! If it’s just another email, it can be easily dismissed. See our article on top tips to format your written communication.
Want help with fixing your broken comms cascade? We can help with training or our consulting services.
