Who do we communicate with?
Every day we alter our communication style to suit who we’re talking to. This might be dependent on the relationship we have with that person, the setting we’re in, the other person’s age (if they’re a child for example), or the level of understanding we perceive that person has. This adaptation is second nature for most people, but where it gets clever, is when we take time to understand who those people are and work out what the best way is to communicate with them, to achieve a desired outcome.
This is key in landrights.
We recently started a project at CLM exploring who our stakeholders are, what their influence or impact on our business might be and analysed the way in which we currently communicate with them. This really got us thinking, because while an adaptation of our communication style does tend to come naturally, once you lift the lid on this and consider how our stakeholders might receive or understand what you’re telling them, you soon realise there could be a better way of doing things.
Take a ‘typical’ landrights project. The ‘who’ might include an ICP, an IGT, a DNO, an IDNO*, a Developer, an end user, a Main Contractor, a Local Authority, various statutory consultees, private landowners and even community groups. That’s a very diverse collection of organisations and individuals. Some we may just need to keep informed, while others could be critical to the successful completion of the project.
To a certain extent, the communication with some of these organisations is formulaic and often process-driven or regulated. Though I do firmly believe in pairing up the right members of my team with these parties to build rapport, because it always delivers a stronger result. Where we can improve further in this area though, is appreciating that even though we’re working with organisations in a professional capacity, they may not understand the landrights process – so by getting to know ‘who’ we’re talking to, we can tailor our communication style to suit.
At the other end of the scale, private landowners can present an enormous risk to a successful connection. Not everyone is interested in financial gain or compensation and there may be other factors at play which will determine whether they want to engage with you. Understanding ‘who’ these people are, what’s important to them and demonstrating genuine respect is crucially important. And, while acting in the best interests of our clients, is something which thoroughly puts the communication skills of the CLM team to the test.
*DNO – Distribution Network Operator
IDNO – Independent Distribution Network Operator
ICP – Independent Connections Provider
IGT – Independent Gas Transporter
