Leadership Viewpoint

Excellent communicators understand the subtleties of communication, and this is fundamental to their prowess. Let’s think about the communication of the simple request with respect a letter, “Please be sure this goes out today.” Surely this is straightforward enough. Yet as stated, a myriad of problems may ensue.

First, let’s consider the tone. If stated without much inflection, it is a non-prioritized request that may get lost in the shuffle. If emphasis is given to the word “please”, then it may be taken as either sarcastic or as begging. If emphasis is placed on “today”, it may come off as impatient and annoyed. If emphasis is put on the word “sure”, it may be interpreted as not trusting and even derogatory. Each of these has undesirable side effects.

Second, the structure of this simple request leaves much to be desired. It doesn’t specify the means of transmittal, assuming that the receiver knows what is expected, and leaving much room for interpretation (and error). No information regarding the deadline for receipt of the letter is specified, which may ultimately be the source of a major error.

We routinely make simple comments like this all day long, and we’re lucky that most of them are received well and we are successful. There are simple changes, however, that can avoid the occasional blunders that ensue from incomplete communications, which is how I would characterize the example above. Consider the following example:

Janice, do you have a minute? (makes the recipient of the message stop their current activity and focus on what you are about to request)

Carol needs to have this letter, with the original signature on it, in her hands by noon tomorrow so she can proceed to commit funds for our project. Can you make sure that happens? (specific requests, with understanding of ‘why’ motivate people to do their part)

Sure Mary, I’ll send it out overnight with tracking. (you know that communication has occurred once the feedback has been received - until then, you only know that a message has been sent)

Thanks Janice! I appreciate your handling it personally. It’s pretty important, and I want to ensure it happens on time. (clarifies expectations and nicely assigns personal responsibility)

This is simple stuff, and we are routinely doing it all day long. It’s easy to skip steps, in the interest of efficiency, and when things go okay, we get in the habit of skipping those steps. With a well-oiled team, we forget that we are even skipping steps. Then, when there’s a personnel change, and things go wrong, we blame the new person instead of our short-cut communication.

Be careful to carefully balance the trade-off between time saving efficient communication and the power of effective, complete communication. The latter pays huge dividends, and takes little time to do well.

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Effective leaders find ways to ensure that their team remains motivated and energized. For most people, that must include some ‘fun’ time. One of our clients went so far as to build a miniature golf course into their offices, including a hole to drop to the lower floor for the second nine! For most of us, it means keeping a sense of humor and encouraging the ‘office organizer’ to do their thing. Often there’s a person on the team that likes to plan an occasional party or outing. Let them do their thing, and provide them with support when it’s needed.

The bigger question that we often hear is about ‘boundaries’. What is appropriate? How do we know if they’ve gone too far? Here are the guidelines we use:

1. Fun activities during work hours are mandatory for team building reasons.
2. Fun activities outside work hours are optional, unless we’re on the road together.
3. No individual will be singled out for jokes or ridicule. Even if he or she can take it, it sets a poor precedent and may make others uncomfortable.
4. Sports or competitive activities must include a role for everyone. Different physical abilities must be accounted for so that everybody is comfortable and included. Scorekeeping, commentary, etc. can be part of the plan.
5. Sensitivity to corporate titles is minimal during fun activities. It’s the one time we’re all peers.

Let us know if you have ideas to add to our list!

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We are often asked to work with management teams to effect change. Whether we employ the Kotter model or the Moss Kanter model, or if we setup a Balanced Scorecard or some other set of metric is all beside the point. These are just the details; the real point of our efforts is what we call the ’stirring of the pot’ to facilitate discussion. Many organizations actually use management consultants as the bad guys to help them wake up the troops. That’s our job, and as a result, we are both loved and hated by people in the same firms.

It can be very challenging for management to play the bad guy, since they intend to stay there and face people everyday. It is easier to bring in a hired gun to take the heat. They are usually there for the short-term, so their relationships with employees within the company are quite different. Management teams that need to effect dramatic change without outside assistance need to be prepared for personal rejection, high turnover and even short-term employment. Internal teams are often more successful with gradual change, which can be executed without significant disruption of normal business operations.

There are techniques to minimize the emotional distress that employees experience with dramatic change. A credible approach is termed appreciative inquiry. In this approach, a systematic series of positive questions, designed to elicit positive responses, are employed to lead people through each step of the thought process and change. Check it out if you find yourself in a major change leadership situation.

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