A 4-step recipe for tasty internal communications

As a professional communicator and amateur chef, I am frequently surprised by how often my two worlds collide.

Usually this happens in the kitchen when I’m following a new recipe and wondering how the recipe creator could have been so vague (My personal favorite: “cook until done”).

How many employees suffer from the same problem when trying to follow their company’s “recipe” for success? According to one study in the Harvard Business Review, 70 percent of employees surveyed were unclear about their employer’s strategy—and that’s in high-performing organizations with “clearly articulated public strategies.”

Imagine my surprise at finding the perfect example of clear communication during a cooking class in Provence, France. Chef Jean-Marc is a Provençal native who’s travelled the world to perfect his art and now teaches cooking classes out of his home in Maubec. He’s a world-class chef with a gift for breaking down complex dishes into understandable (and repeatable) instructions.

Here’s his recipe for success:

1. Speak your audience’s language.