In his bestselling book E-myth Mastery, business writer Michael E. Gerber highlights five essential qualities for entrepreneurial success:
- Concentration
- Discrimination
- Organization
- Innovation
- Communication
Of these, only the final tool, communication, is used by every employee in an organization. Knowing this, many companies provide communication training for customer-facing employees. Others may educate front-line supervisors on how to communicate procedures and policies to their charges. Effective communication is essential for nearly every employee, regardless of role or rank. This article will explore how to improve communication between managers and executives, who generally spend far more time training others on how to successfully communicate than they do polishing their own communication skills.
Communication Roles
First, let’s consider the communication roles of each group. Managers (as distinguished from front-line supervisors) are the conduits through which vertical communication passes. As such, managers must relay the concerns and ideas of employees. They must also be skilled in providing feedback and directing employees toward meeting organizational goals. In their communications, executives and senior managers provide leadership, inspiration, and the broad, market-wide perspective that is required to steer any organization toward greener, more profitable pastures. It is the executive’s role to get teams fired up, and to ensure that new projects begin with a positive, anticipatory atmosphere.
Communication Methods
A major consideration for both groups is the method of communication. What tools does your organization offer to help your leaders monitor company activity and communicate current challenges? In this digital age, many firms have created a company intranet in order to streamline communication. A “management toolbox” is a handy tool to locate on the intranet, as it allows firms to break down bulky management information into sub-categories according to purpose. The nature of digital networking has also allowed many corporations to flatten hierarchical structures by eliminating middle managers in favor of more direct reporting from employees. Indeed, in their book The Leader of the Future 2, Frances Hesselbein and Marshall Goldsmith encourage executives to regularly review internal communication procedures:
Executives should seek clarity, simplicity, and economy in their structures, and they should keep to a minimum the number of levels required, because each layer is a communication link that adds complexity and noise to the decision process.
As 2.0 technology blossoms, more and more programs are facilitating direct communication between employees and executives, thereby eliminating supercilious levels of communication. For instance, the CEO of the international research firm Schlessinger Associates uses CEM to personally monitor customer engagement. He has opted to automatically receive a Recover Alert when a customer indicates that they were dissatisfied with their experience with Schlesinger. Since this process is automated, managers spend less time describing problems, and more time fixing them. As all of us have experienced when playing a whispered game of “Telephone,” each time a message goes through a messenger, it risks being altered. Review your organization to see where messages often become stuck or altered, and consider whether you can remove such communication barriers.
Miscommunication
Even after your review is complete, and you’re satisfied with your communication procedures, miscommunication will occur. This is inevitable, as humans are sense-making creatures; we would rather guess at what we think the speaker is saying, rather than suspend our own understanding and wade in confusion until the true message is conveyed. Robert McCloskey captured the circuitous confusion of miscommunication when he quipped, “I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.” To ensure that they are conveying their intended messages, managers and executives should brush up on the following tips for successful communication:
• Consider your tone. Most people have a hard time capturing an intended message if their emotions get in the way. Especially when sending emails, be sure to step outside of your own viewpoint for a moment to consider how the recipient might feel upon receiving your message. Aim for a tone that’s positive, honest, and trustworthy.
• Clarify, clarify, clarify. Many miscommunications occur when people fail to admit that they are confused. Ask questions until you can confirm that all parties involved are receiving the same transmission. Encourage everyone that you communicate with to ask questions with no fear of ridicule. Let “There are no stupid questions” be your mantra, and you’ll suffer far fewer misunderstandings.
• Enter into every communication with an objective in mind. This will help you prioritize messages that must be conveyed, and allow you to let go of unimportant side points.
• Don’t let your emotions get in the way. If you are upset, feel free to write a nasty letter—just don’t send it! (I suggest composing such letters in Word, so as to avoid any hasty hits of the “send” button.) Lincoln, a masterful communicator, made use of this technique. Following Lincoln’s death, a scathing letter decrying General Meade’s weakness following Gettysburg was found in Lincoln’s desk. Adopt Lincoln’s approach—express your frustrations honestly, but before you convey them to your colleagues and employees, cool down. Then, let your rational mind strategize the best way to preserve trust through communication.
~Monica Nolan, Account Manager
Additional Resources:
Combating Miscommunication in the Workplace
Customer Engagement Management Tools for Organizing Customer Feedback
Best Practices in Employee Communications
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Tags: communication, employee communication, executives, Internal communications, Lateral communication, managers
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The article above is on point with regard to communication styles. However, in a sagging economy, rising employer costs and nervousness regarding job security among the employee base, one issue has been overlooked: in order to reach out and communicate with employees; they must be engaged.
The idea of C-Level management stepping up in this area is key. While conveying the message in a thoughtful, honest manner is critical, establishing your leadership style takes time and consistency. And as any manager will attest, symptomatic problems are a direct result of disengagement of employees.
According to the October 19th issue of Forbes Magazine, one of the most important keys to turning a company around is engaging employees. Once engaged, employees are more productive, receptive to communication and tenure is increased.
• Want to know the best way to lead your staff? Ask them.
• Has an employee or department gone above and beyond to complete a project? Say thank you.
• LISTEN to your employees
The strategy is simple; InclusionINC’s CEO was recently quoted in a Forbes article: “Engaging, retaining and getting the most out of your people are more important than ever. At one time, inclusion was a nice thing to do. Today, it’s mission critical.” Don’t just step into the job, Step UP to the job. Your employees and customers will thank you.
For more articles regarding Inclusion and Diversity within the workplace, access: http://www.Inclusion-inc.com/blog
Great article on communication in organizations and how to do it right (or at least better). I find there are so many facets of communication that it literally becomes as generic a term for problems in an organization as Coke became a generic term for cola flavored soft drinks or Kleenex became for tissues.
Every organization can point to “communication” as a source of many of its ills. The challenge is defining the specific challenge as it relates to the issue at hand. I recently wrote an article where I described a recent employee workshop I facilitated where three different people in three separate groups identified communication as a problem.
Upon further delving I learned the three issues were completely independent of each other and one had absolutely nothing to do with ‘communication’ as one would historically define it, but it was:
1) General information about news and events within the organization. One employee was told of news from a friend outside the organization before it was disseminated internally.
2) A problem with a personality dispute between an employee and her boss, whom she felt did not ‘communicate’ appropriately with her,
3) Was someone who identified communication as the problem when the bigger issue was no one gave her direction on her specific job responsibilities and tasks when she was hired three weeks prior. This is an onboarding and orientation program issue stealthed as a communication issue.
This stuff happens all the time. The issue of communication must be clearly, clearly defined or else it becomes a platitude and excuse for learned helplessness in an organization that kills employee motivation and morale.
For more details on this you can get a free white paper report on “The 7 Deadly Sins of Organizational Leadership Communication” at http:/www.HowToImproveOrganizationalLeadershipCommunication.com
Great article on communication in organizations and how to do it right (or at least better). I find there are so many facets of communication that it literally becomes as generic a term for problems in an organization as Coke became a generic term for cola flavored soft drinks or Kleenex became for tissues.
Every organization can point to “communication” as a source of many of its ills. The challenge is defining the specific challenge as it relates to the issue at hand. I recently wrote an article where I described a recent employee workshop I facilitated where three different people in three separate groups identified communication as a problem.
Upon further delving I learned the three issues were completely independent of each other and one had absolutely nothing to do with ‘communication’ as one would historically define it, but it was:
1) General information about news and events within the organization. One employee was told of news from a friend outside the organization before it was disseminated internally.
2) A problem with a personality dispute between an employee and her boss, whom she felt did not ‘communicate’ appropriately with her,
3) Was someone who identified communication as the problem when the bigger issue was no one gave her direction on her specific job responsibilities and tasks when she was hired three weeks prior. This is an onboarding and orientation program issue stealthed as a communication issue.
This stuff happens all the time. The issue of communication must be clearly, clearly defined or else it becomes a platitude and excuse for learned helplessness in an organization that kills employee motivation and morale.
For more details on this you can get a free white paper report on “The 7 Deadly Sins of Organizational Leadership Communication” at http:/www.HowToImproveOrganizationalLeadershipCommunication.com