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Ducks in a Row: the Value of Direct, Clear Commications

Tuesday, December 11th, 2012

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lazylikewally/2940952229/In an article focused on meetings and importance of being direct Tony Tjan, CEO and Managing Partner of The Cue Ball Group, says, “When we avoid conflict or try to skirt directness, it does a disservice to all involved, and often just plain wastes time.”

I’ve voiced similar thoughts about directness in posts about bad news and rumors (supported by some interesting CDC research).

It often seems that subtlety and so-called diplomacy is taking the place of direct, honest communications, which, especially in the workplace, is asking for trouble.

A lack of directness stems mainly from three very different sources.

  1. Fear of confrontation: directness is often seen as a confrontational act that may create disagreement unlike subtlety and hints that can be misconstrued.
  1. Confusion/lack of clarity: not having a good grasp on what you want to communicate makes it impossible to be direct.
  1. Laziness: it is far easier to talk about, around, over and under the subject than it is to sort it out and plan how to best communicate it.

Another misconception is that being direct means being rude.

It doesn’t.

Rudeness is as much a function of presentation as it is of wording.

It’s simple to clean up wording; sanitizing non-verbal communications takes a bit more effort.

It means eliminating negative or demeaning body language (like sighs and eye-rolls) and focusing on displaying respect for those to whom you are speaking.

It may even require an adjustment to your MAP, but the pay-off is worth it.

Less confusion, less disagreement, less acrimony; increased trust and improved productivity and creativity are just a few of the benefits of clear, direct communications.

Flickr image credit: haven’t the slightest

Bad Times Require Communicating Bad News

Monday, February 2nd, 2009

Leaders, with a few industry exceptions, have noticed that the economy is in trouble (duh), but they still seem to think that their people don’t know the facts (double duh).

Sadly, too many bosses, from Fortune 100 companies to mom and pop-owned small businesses, are clamping down, saying nothing, running scared, freezing, blustering, or some combination thereof.

The result is management by rumor, which once started never ends.

The way to deal with bad news is directly, openly and honestly.

Even when you have to lay off this axiom applies; in fact, it’s the only way that gives your company any chance of emerging with the rest of your workforce intact and productive.

Here are six basics to keep uppermost in your mind—Whether they are comfortable or not!

  1. Bad news must be communicated—just like good news.
  2. Employees aren’t dumb—they know something bad is happening—and if they’re not explicitly told what it is, rumors will make any difficulty a catastrophe and a catastrophe a death knell.
  3. Management must be explicit about the ultimate potential consequences. In a situation that’s unfolding, such as the current economic crisis, when no one knows what’s ultimate or can predict when it will change, frequent updates are effective.
  4. Everyone hates uncertainty, which is all you have to offer at present. Analyzing and then explaining the worst case outcome as well as what you’re doing to counter it and how your people can contribute goes a long way to stabilizing people and gaining their buy-in to your plans.
  5. Successful plans are dependent on how well they are communicated, which is what determines employee buy-in; if you choose the delusional approach of minimizing the situation then you should expect minimal results.
  6. Share the outcome of your thinking, whatever it is—layoffs, plant closures, project cancellations, etc. If you don’t trust your people with the information your problems are even more serious than you realize.

Any solution to a crisis must be seen as fair, reasonable, and businesslike. If management’s reaction is illogical, petty, slipshod, unrealistic, draconian or any combination of these, then it’s likely employees will conclude the ship is about to sink and leap off.

People understand that difficult situations demand difficult remedies, and they appreciate that management must at times step up to harsh challenges. But if solutions are irrationally or whimsically applied, they become a demoralizing factor, increasing the difficulties that people encounter in trying to do their jobs.

Finally, you should always attempt to find a positive note to leave with employees. Everyone already knows that things are bad; it’s your job to find a potentially favorable course of action.

Just remember, you hired your people for their brains, so don’t expect them to suddenly go dumb. Employees easily spot propaganda masquerading as a solution. Predicting an impossibly favorable outcome will not only demean management, it can also result in a lawsuit.

Image credit: sxc.hu

Rumors never die—so stop them before they start

Thursday, September 13th, 2007

Have you ever tried to quash a rumor or disabuse a friend about a cultural or political myth?

An article detailing fascinating new research shines a light on why it’s so difficult—and why it’s better not to try.

“The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued a flier to combat myths about the flu vaccine. It recited various commonly held views and labeled them either “true” or “false.” Among those identified as false were statements such as “The side effects are worse than the flu” and “Only older people need flu vaccine.”

When University of Michigan social psychologist Norbert Schwarz had volunteers read the CDC flier, however, he found that within 30 minutes, older people misremembered 28 percent of the false statements as true. Three days later, they remembered 40 percent of the myths as factual.

Younger people did better at first, but three days later they made as many errors as older people did after 30 minutes. Most troubling was that people of all ages now felt that the source of their false beliefs was the respected CDC.”

Rumors/myths in the workplace sap productivity, destroy morale, send attrition rates skyrocketing and make it more difficult to attract new talent. They can damage individuals, hurt your stock or scare off investors.

Whether you lead/manage/run a company/department/team this is disquieting information. 40% is not an insignificant number, it’s a number that needs to be addressed.

But there seems to be little that you can do.

“Ruth Mayo, a cognitive social psychologist found that rather than deny a false claim, it is better to make a completely new assertion that makes no reference to the original myth…The psychologist acknowledged that such a statement might not be entirely accurate — issuing a denial or keeping silent are sometimes the only real options.

So is silence the best way to deal with myths? Unfortunately, the answer to that question also seems to be no.

Another recent study found that when accusations or assertions are met with silence, they are more likely to feel true, said Peter Kim, an organizational psychologist at the University of Southern California.”

Not encouraging.

In business, one thing you can do is stop rumors before they start by using extremely open communications.

Don’t duck, don’t play word games and never lie, tell your people what’s going on—before they read it on the Net

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