As you read this, self-selecting members of the world’s population are rushing to take advantage of exciting new post-lockdown opportunities.
Simultaneously, many are battling pesky new-variant Coronavirus upsurges in India, Brazil and the United Kingdom and beyond.
Taking the two together, our planet has seldom experienced so much Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity.
That’s “VUCA” for short.
Levels of Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity have been particularly high since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic – making business, communications and life in general harder to predict and manage.
And the more VUCA increases, the more pressure grows on you and your organisation whenever you seek to communicate what you’re offering or changing.
Alas the more Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity there is, the more communications challenges there are to go with each new VUCA outburst.
This is because VUCA brings with it its own difficulties in getting across your message.
Amidst the chaotic swirl generated by high VUCA levels, your communications aspirations – internally and externally – will continue to be hit by:
+ Fewer available hours to prepare whatever important things you’re trying to convey
+ Audiences having less time to absorb whatever you’re seeking to tell them
+ More distractions to divert the busy minds of your targets away from the crucial things you want them to notice, to buy or to do.
As a result of these factors, sessions to enable you to communicate better amidst the VUCA help you to:
- Plan your messaging better and faster
- Structure your thoughts more effectively
- Deliver your messages more impressively, more persuasively and more memorably.
If that seems a lot, take heart.
There’s inspiration at the end of this e-zine from internet sensation, Dexter The Dog, who will encourage you to communicate better on your own two feet!
COMMUNICATING AMIDST THE BETTER VUCA NEWS
Although VUCA makes communication more challenging, upsurges in Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity are not all necessarily bad.
The good VUCA news is that in April 2021 (now) there’s some more positive news amidst the craziness.
At long last, there’s an overall shift in the balance between negative and positive VUCA-related developments.
Before the invention of the Anti-Covid vaccines and the start of mass programmes to inject them, many VUCA-related developments were essentially bad news-related.
But as 2021 has progressed, there’s been a light-shaft spreading more good news through the VUCA forest.
As the vaccines allow many of us to start cautiously returning to some of our old familiar ways – like going to sporting events, cinemas, theatres, restaurants and pubs – there’s welcome breaks from that relentless surge in bad VUCA-related news.
VUCA HICCUPS REMAIN
Nonetheless, as lockdown restrictions start to ease there will still be a need to beware VUCA-related hiccups.
Take for example the ever-evolving “facts” and “fiction” around the (alleged) side-effects of Oxford University’s AstraZeneca Anti-Coronavirus vaccine.
This has left many of us oscillating between saying “Hooray – the AZ Jab is good news… Let’s get it at the first opportunity”…
…while muttering: “Oh no – the AZ Jab is turning out to be bad news… Let’s see if we can get another vaccine or avoid it altogether”.
This kind of VUCA-related confusion is not only unsettling.
It also makes things more challenging over how to pitch whatever our latest offerings or developments are amidst the easing of post-peak Coronavirus lockdowns.
Furthermore, VUCA upsurges make it more daunting to answer those blowtorch-on-the-belly questions that get fired back at us during and after our new announcements.
COMMUNICATIONS HELP AMIDST THE VUCA SHERMOZZLE
The good news is that the latest communication-boosting sessions for individuals, groups and conference audiences are designed to help convey your messages more effectively amidst the VUCA.
When you’re tackling the communications around any new development, there are two elements to consider.
There’s your pro-active communications element. This is introducing what you have to say to particular audiences in the most engaging and persuasive way.
The communications-boosting sessions to help you do this are:
PRESENTING WITH CONFIDENCE, IMPACT AND PIZZAZZ:
These sessions help you in face-to-face and online presentations – and in presentations for hybrid audiences where some people are physically in front of you while others are following online (providing you’re dazzling enough so they’re not nodding off!)
There’s also your reactive communications element. This is responding to whatever questions and comments you get as a result of your pro-active announcements.
The communications-boosting sessions aimed to help you do this are:
GREAT ANSWERS TO TOUGH QUESTIONS:
These are to assist you in face-to-face or online interactive sessions – whether the questions come from individuals or from audiences.
Sessions help you and colleagues know how to prepare in advance for your toughest questions.
They’re based on the methodology outlined in “Great Answers To Tough Questions At Work” published by Wiley.
And with face-to-face conferences coming back – while online and hybrid events continue – you can boost the communications skills of your conference audience with keynotes and live demonstrations of:
BECOMING INSPIRATIONAL COMMUNICATORS:
These interactive conference sessions give audience members a deeper understanding of what effective communications involves in these VUCA times and how they can better get your organisation’s message across amidst the cascading rapids of change.
There’s more at:
http://www.michaeldoddcommunications.com/speaking-at-your-event/
And you can check out the video at:
BETTER MEETINGS WITH BETTER RESULTS:
Increased Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity has also meant an upsurge in office meetings – online, face-to-face and hybrid ones – as organisations decide what they need to do amidst each new bout of VUCA.
But help is available to allow you and your colleagues to run enhanced meetings that bring out the best in your team’s introverts and extraverts.
There’s much that can go wrong within business meetings.
But the “Activate Your Introvert” expert, Jon Baker, and I can help shift your team towards more productive interactions.
Jon Baker is the author of “Running Meetings That Make Things Happen”.
You can find it on Amazon at:
To demonstrate just how bad business meetings can be – and how Jon Baker and I can help you and your team to run them so much better – here’s the latest demonstration video featuring a meeting with an introvert and an extrovert:
If you’d like to discuss any of the above offerings for you or your team email michael@michaeldoddcommunications.com or call 44 (0) 7944 952835.
And if you’re feeling nervous about enabling yourself and/or your team to take their communications to a higher level, then take inspiration from Dexter the Dog…
THROW YOURSELF INTO THE CHALLENGE – LIKE DEXTER
Dexter the Brittany Spaniel lives in Colarado where, sadly, his two front legs were badly affected by an accident.
As a result, a vet amputated his right front leg.
His left front leg remains, though it’s been less functional since the accident.
But Dexter doesn’t meekly accept what life throws at him.
At his own instigation and with much perseverance, Dexter has taught himself to walk on his two hind legs!
His efforts have been captured on video by his owners who’ve encouraged him at every step of the way – as you can see from this video.
Dexter shows how individuals can build new skills if you put your mind to it.
People who are not initially confident about or competent in their communication skills can take advantage of the fact that they are learnable and improvable.
So in communications-boosting sessions amidst increasing Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity, you just need to show the same keenness and determination as Dexter the Dog!
Keep smiling,
Michael