Tips For Communicating With Executives

Here are the tips I gathered from Daniel Shapiro:

1. Executives are context switching all day, so set them and yourself up for success by being clear about the objective. For example, start with “This meeting will be successful if…” If everyone knows what we are here to accomplish, an executive will know what to focus on.

2. Add a bridge from something you know they are focused on to the thing you are going to discuss.

Example:
This meeting will be successful if we can agree on our goals for the next six months regarding our initiative to enhance customers’ experiences with our website. Now, one of the things that we’ve been focusing on is helping customers solve their challenges on their own, which aligns with our broader corporate objective of being easy to do business with as an organization.

This example demonstrates how you can help everyone understand the topic, the purpose of the meeting, and tie it back to something that the executive is probably quite familiar with. Mention how it fits into the broader strategy or corporate objective, as executives will be aware of it.

3. Before the meeting, ask yourself what questions you need to answer for the executives so that they can participate effectively in the meeting.
E.g., How big is it? What is its value? How is it progressing?

4. Your aim is to present yourself to the executives as someone with a strong grasp of the subject matter and a keen sense of judgment. Deliver information that is both specific and precise, avoiding overly embellished language. Employ clear and straightforward communication to ensure that the executives have a precise understanding of the actual circumstances. When incorporating impactful terms such as “significant growth” or “remarkable impact,” it’s essential to substantiate these claims with data. Failing to do so can risk your credibility and may give the impression that you lack a comprehensive understanding of the situation. Therefore, if you’re enthusiastic about sharing certain results with executives, strike a balance between enthusiasm and credibility to earn their trust and garner support for the project.

6. Right at the start of the conversation, share the following:

• What is it worth?
• How is it progressing?

To answer “What is it worth?” do the following:
a- Provide absolute and relative scale data, e.g., “made $500 thousand in profit and increased the profit by 30%, respectively.”
b- Help the executive understand the before and after scenario to visualize the impact’s size. Executives do appreciate relevant details to comprehend the whole picture, so provide examples, especially if it helps them visualize the actual developments.
c- Share cause and effect; for instance, describe a situation where a change led to a 30% increase in revenue.

To answer “How is it going?”
Lead with the answer; state whether it is going as planned or off track.
When it is not going as planned, make sure you understand why and what the next steps are to bridge the gap between what was accomplished and what the goal was. Executives value understanding the reasons behind any deviation, so be sure to share them. You can mention if your assumptions did not work and needed refinement. Share what worked and why it worked. Also, share what you learned from any failure as it can enhance your credibility.