In a video, Richard Chambers, IIA president and CEO, highlighted the importance of effective communication to persuade organizations to listen and effect positive changes, even as working from home has made communication more difficult.
Chambers pointed out that aggression and divisive fighting are not conducive to proper persuasion, and that internal auditors need to make clients on the receiving end of reports comfortable and receptive to auditor recommendations through good communication skills. Auditors do not provide value until their decisions are implemented with outcomes, so auditors must strive to ensure their input is received and accepted.
Phrasing
Chambers recommends phrasing recommendations in ways that incentivize the listener to accept them, as well as showing sincerity. “You must truly want to help and sincerely be interested in making the audited area or enterprise better,” he said.
Chambers found that phrasing audits in the framework of risk is especially helpful, as it highlights the importance of the findings as well as can demonstrate the value in fixing the area by mitigating the risk, driving shareholder value. Highlighting risk can help management improve, as well as triggering self-preservation instincts so that the recommendations are more readily taken.
Human Interaction
Chambers found that direct conversation is where persuasion is most effective, versus written communications. He highlights the positive impact that human interaction has on persuasion, and noted that the best times for discussion were often during the course of an audit or during the exit meeting.
With the COVID-19 pandemic limiting face-to-face interaction, Chambers noted the difficulties auditors now face in communication, with less personal online conferencing software dominating the majority of communication. Chambers cited a blog from Thrive Global that offered six tips in maintaining proper communication while working from home. The tips include:
- Active listening with reflection by taking notes during the call and recapping after
- Mirroring body language to the other person on the line to create comfort and rapport, including looking into the camera rather than merely at the screen to create eye contact
- Matching verbal tones and volume, adjusting to the speed and volume of the other person
- Using headphones to decrease the background noise
- Closing other tabs to focus on the call at hand
- Eliminating distractions such as phones and other emails
Chambers found, through his own experience in the audit industry, that genuinely considering a client’s point of view when they disagree vehemently is a good practice to ensure proper collaboration. Being willing to compromise and showing the desire to effect positive change the bedrock of the internal audit profession, and good persuasion, whether at home or in person, is instrumental in achieving that goal. 
Stephanie Liu is assistant editor at Internal Audit 360°