Have you ever been in a situation where senior leaders express their interest in knowing how things are going but you’ve hesitated to jump in with your feedback? The opportunity to speak up was available to you, but instead, you held on to your thoughts. 

In my experience, this happens all the time. One of my clients asked me to guess how many questions he received when he presented important company information at an all-employee event. I immediately said, “Two.” He was shocked at my accuracy, but the low engagement didn’t surprise me. People miss the opportunity to speak up. 

It’s important to seize opportunities for communication, but it’s equally important to understand how to communicate with senior leadership regarding organizational changes in the most effective way when you do find your voice. Below, I’ll explain how the proper timing, context, and channels can get your message heard.  

Consider Your Timing

Many aspects of workplace changes are out of our ability to control, but you can choose to speak your ideas at the proper time. Timing is powerful and has the potential to shift outcomes. 

What is the most optimal timing? In the life cycle of a typical project, several natural pauses may work for you. Most people find out about an organizational change after the decisions have been made. Consider yourself fortunate if your input was requested while the decision is being made. In that case, speak away! Share your thoughts and ideas because that is the most important time to do so.

Other opportunities to speak up are present at milestone intersections. Savvy leaders know the importance of creating bursts of excitement around workplace change, so they position themselves in places where people have the chance to see and hear about the change initiative. 

Consider attending town halls, lunch-and-learns, system demos, and other engagement activities. Even though you may not have the stage to fully share your opinion, the types of questions you ask during this phase are critical. Senior leaders attend these events expecting to hear from you. 

Around the midpoint of the workplace change initiatives, senior leaders shift their attention to preparing people with the right skills to adopt the organizational change. This is your opportunity to ensure you and your team are prepared. Using an inquisitive tone, engage the change leaders to advocate for your team’s success. This could involve requesting additional resources or specific training or asking to stage the change in a particular way to avoid change saturation during critical business cycles, especially if the change is rolled out in phases.

Does your senior leader hold office hours? Many leaders choose to set aside designated time to engage with their teams. If that is an option for you, leverage it to get direct time with your senior leader. Get creative! Invite your senior leader to a group lunch or organize a fun team-building event so you can get to know your peers and leaders. Although sharing complex ideas at these types of fun events is inappropriate, socializing with your leaders will give you a glimpse into their personalities so you can properly engage in the future.

When possible, schedule time with your senior leaders when you presume they are the least stressed out and thus have a greater likelihood of perceiving your input favorably. 

Focus on Context

You need to understand your senior leaders before you can get your message across. This may require a bit of research. Listen for information about their reputations in the organization. Ask how others have experienced interacting with them. Bottom line, for your voice to be heard, you need to know your audience (your senior leaders) so you can understand what matters to them.

If you want to bring a controversial topic to a senior leader, approach the conversation carefully, probing to understand his or her interest in the topic. If the leader is not interested, your efforts won’t be fruitful. If there is genuine interest, proceed by setting the stage by sharing what you’ve observed, what you’ve experienced, and how it can be improved. Senior leaders listen to problem solvers, not to continuous complainers. If you want your message to be heard, bring a solution. 

Find the Ideal Communication Channel

Have you ever flipped through TV channels, speeding through those where people are speaking foreign languages you don’t speak? We hardly pause on those channels because understanding what is being said is difficult. We usually stop and watch channels with content we understand and are in the mood for—some channels are for news, others for entertainment, others for movies, and so forth. 

To that point, the channel through which you communicate matters. Some communication channels are informal and serve a specific purpose of camaraderie or team building. Other channels are formal, such as an all-employee town hall or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, a board meeting that is accessible to only a select few. 

The communication channel you select to share your message with your senior leader influences how much of your content is consumed and in what manner. So choose wisely.

Don’t Miss the Opportunity to Communicate

If your insight is not well received, don’t assume you did something wrong. A senior leader could dismiss your message for a million reasons. Perhaps he or she is too busy to hear your message, or perhaps it’s not the right timing to receive the feedback. Perhaps the message needs to be delivered by a preferred person through a preferred channel. Do your research. 

Most importantly, ask yourself, What do I want to accomplish by delivering this message? Why should my senior leader care? How can I earn trust and preserve everyone’s dignity while delivering a tough message?

Remember, your senior leaders want to hear from you. They want to hear your ideas and solutions to problems the organization faces. Seize your moment to contribute to the path forward.

For more advice on workplace change, you can find Speak Up or Stay Stuck on Amazon.

Pam Marmon is the CEO of Marmon Consulting, a change management consulting firm that provides strategy and execution services to help companies transform. From executives at Fortune 100s to influencers at all levels, Pam helps leaders achieve lasting organizational change with minimal disruption. She is also the bestselling author of No One’s Listening and It’s Your Fault, a book that equips leaders to get their message heard during organizational transformations, and the creator of the LESS change management framework. Pam and her family live in Franklin, Tennessee, and chase adventures wherever the road takes them.