How well do your people communicate?
How well do they actually connect?
What's your model of communication?
Is it:
- Chinese whispers?
- 3 wise monkeys?
- Least said, soonest mended?
- What they don't know won't hurt "em?
- They only need to know on a need to know basis?
- We heard it on the grapevine?
Communication is important because:
- It is the lifeblood of organizations
- It is vital to successful management
We need to communicate to:
- Establish control (introduce procedures policies, rules, systems)
- Motivate (tell staff how they are doing, what needs to be improved)
- Allow for emotional expression (people have views and feelings that they want to express)
- Give information (to explain decisions and changes)
When was the last time you examined the quality of communication in your organization? Isn't it time to check out how well your people are connected?
Communication works through all sorts of networks. These can be:
- Formal channels (typically vertical)
- Informal channels (the dreaded grapevine!)
There can be many barriers to good communication. For example:
- Neglect: Failing to communicate at all
- Filtering: Twisting and altering the message in some way
- Selective understanding: People see and hear things based on their own needs
- Emotions: The feelings we are nurturing at the time when we receive a message
- Language: The choice and emphasis of words
So how do you know if you have poor communication? Some of the symptoms are:
- Job roles and responsibilities are unclear
- No-one understands who is supposed to be doing what
- Effort is duplicated and wasted (several people do the same thing at the same time but with different outcomes)
- Things are neglected (Everybody thought Somebody else was doing it and in the end Nobody did it)
- People at the bottom of the organization don't know what is changing or why
- People at the top of the organisation don't know what is happening at the front line or how change is being received
- People are often not aware of decisions being made, or are not helped to understand how or why decisions are made
Who is responsible for communication in your organization? We believe that managers are primarily responsible because they are the “connectors” between the top and bottom of the organization. They are the decision-makers and part of their role is to communicate with staff they are responsible for. The job of managers is to communicate management's message.
What about the needs of employees? They expect be told what their job is and who is their boss. They want to know how their work contributes to the team and the organization. They need to know what is expected of them what their targets are, how they are doing. They are entitled to know what decisions are being made, what changes are afoot, how it will affect them.
Things that affect people's jobs are a must for communication:
- Changes in the products or services that are provided
- Changes in client and customer needs
- Changes in working methods
- Changes in systems and procedures
- New workload management tools
Managers who don't communicate effectively are neglecting a vital part of their role, creating a divide between management and staff and placing obstacles in the way of change being accepted. They are also costing the organization money as dissatisfied, neglected employees under perform or leave!
Some key points to note:
With easy access to e-mail, telephone, fax, paper and meetings, managers have no excuse whatsoever not to communicate. Time, or lack of it, is no defense.
Constant change and turbulence in the business environment means more communication is needed, not less!
The success of a manager depends primarily on their ability to communicate with the staff they are responsible for. Some managers prefer to keep things unclear because then they don't have to deal with conflict, handle objections, answer tricky questions or field negative feedback.
It's easy to confuse a lack of communication with a hidden agenda to keep it ambiguous because it serves a purpose (ie to avoid confrontation, bypass decisions people publicly support but privately disagree with).
Not everything can be communicated, not everything should be communicated. The secret to success is prioritisation and sound judgment. Prioritisation is about understanding the things that significantly affect a person's ability or willingness to give their best in their work. Sound judgment is all about what people should be told and what they say they need to know.
What method of communication should you choose?
It is very important for the right method to be used in relation to what your message is about. Your communication process should include different methods and everyone in the organization should understand the process and the range of methods.
It is also important for people to have a chance to ask questions and express views. Upward communication is every bit as important as downward communication.
Whatever method you choose, it is vital to regularly check that communication is working. The good news is that grapevines will wither when staff know that there is a good method to find things out
What can you do to improve communication in your organization?
- Identify it as a formal part of your operating procedures
- Appoint someone to take responsibility for it
- Make it a mandatory topic on the senior management agenda
- Tell your people what you are doing and why you are doing it
Make managers responsible and accountable for it:
- Confirm to managers that communication is their responsibility
- Set minimum standards for managers to work towards
- Assess their performance on the quality of their communications
Get feedback from employees:
- Ask staff what they can contribute to the communication process
- Ask staff what they would like to know and how
- Discourage moaning and griping about what does not work
- Invite staff to make suggestions
- Make staff feel involved and part of the communication process
Develop an internal communications strategy:
- Create a model and a network for communicating
- Define information that can be shared
- Explore opportunities and incentives for more upward communication
- Identify better ways of using technology to communicate
- Set minimum standards for the quality of communication
- Identify ways of checking if it is working
If you can't communicate well amongst yourselves how do you create the right impression with your clients or customers? Get it right and improve your organization's chances of success.
