Templates
Skill

Communication

The ability to communicate well with those around you with sensitivity to timeliness, medium, brevity and tone

Communication

Level 1

Communicates effectively with immediate peers

  • Keeping people informed: You keep immediate peers in the team informed as needed regarding workload and progress.

  • Looking for feedback: You explain your thought process carefully when required by a peer.

  • Delivering bad news: You spot blockers to your work and proactively let your immediate peers know.

  • Mentoring communicators: You are able to reflect on your own communication style.

Level 2

Communicates with wider team, feeds back on communication of others.

  • Keeping people informed: You communicate work updates from your peers across your wider team, and respond to feedback in a timely manner.

  • Looking for feedback: You consistently ask for critique on your thinking from a wider group, and inform the group which elements you're incorporating into your work.

  • Delivering bad news: You recognise when you need help from outside your immediate peers and asked for it effectively.

  • Mentoring communicators: You are able to unpick the communication of others around you and offer advice and feedback.

Level 3

Communicates with organisation, helps others in team to communicate

  • Keeping people informed: You communicate on behalf of your team to the broader organisation on important or divisive projects, handling any questions in a timely manner.

  • Looking for feedback: You proactively ask for feedback from important stakeholders in your organisation early in your work.

  • Delivering bad news: You communicate changes of plan or slip in timelines to a broad group within your organisation and manage expectations effectively until resolution.

  • Mentoring communicators: You set up processes around more effective communication for your immediate team, and manage its implementation. You proactively offer good feedback to peers on their communication methods.

Level 4

Communicates with the wider business, including change affecting the work of others, helps teams around them to communicate better.

  • Keeping people informed: You design the process of communication to communicate with the business around strategically important projects using appropriate mediums.

  • Looking for feedback: You communicate changes in plans, organisational structure or work situation which directly affects one or more people, and manage any fall out from that change ensuring all parties stay informed and content.

  • Delivering bad news: You communicate bad news to a group of reports or peers, ensuring that a strategy is in place to manage expectations and morale during the change. Your approach involves thoughtfully designed communication to the top levels of the organisation

  • Mentoring communicators: You regularly mentor others on communication technique, unpick poor communication in your wider organisation and add process where needed. You're comfortable feeding back on the communication of your seniors.

Level 5

Communicates effectively on behalf of the business. Communicates change affecting the work or careers of many, and coaches senior staff on communication technique.

  • Keeping people informed: You represent the business in matters of product or strategy, working with senior stakeholders internally and externally to ensure that the goals of communication are met.

  • Looking for feedback: You communicate changes of strategy, team structure or discipline for your department or group within the business, ensuring that team members and others affected are informed and given all tools needed to effectively transition.

  • Delivering bad news: You communicate large scale re-organisations or company restructure to many others, acting as a point of contact and representing senior management in feedback and critique sessions. You manage any ensuing conversations around layoffs or demotions effectively.

  • Mentoring communicators: You spot where poor communication is leading to efficiency breakdowns on a company-wide level. You look for opportunities for change and owns the process of rolling out that change, even when it means having hard conversations yourself.