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Communication in the Workplace: It Pays to Make Business Personal

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Even a top-line look at the tech industry's most successful firms underscores one obvious commonality: communication must be open on all levels. These are companies that focus on people. They understand that business—even hyper-technical business—isn't a repetitive mechanical process but instead is a process driven by people, ideas, and communication. A prime example is Google recently being ranked as the best company to work for by Fortune magazine.

In short, technology's most respected and profitable firms have placed a priority on making business personal and pay considerable attention to creative human communication, relationships, and interaction.

But to what end? Is open communication simply about knowing what your staff is thinking on any given day? Not exactly. The reality is that anyone who wants to create a profitable business must learn how to make work meaningful to people. The best way to do that is to put people first through open, ongoing communication in the workplace.



"Creating open communication in the workplace" may sound like a lecture topic for a Business 101 course, but the art of communicating is actually a critical element of business success.

Whatever else your business values—from unmatched service to personalized solutions for customers—360-degree communications should be at the top of the list. Here's how to make that happen:

Promote communication on all levels. Your staff should feel comfortable enough to voice opinions to anyone within the organization, all the way up to the CEO. This means creating a culture that encourages those at the top to place themselves on equal footing with any employee in the company. This type of unfettered communication promotes a sense of ownership and leadership at all levels. It also delivers the message that everyone in the company is empowered to take accountability for the company's success.

Communication results in responsibility. Knowledge is power, but it's also a responsibility. When you give people access to the information about how the business operates, it sends the signal that you expect them to take responsibility for the success of the entire organization. For instance, if a mistake is made on any level, your employees must feel comfortable telling management right away. The message to your staff is that it is okay to make mistakes, but it's also essential to be open about them and learn to avoid repeats. There are obviously some pieces of information—particularly for publicly traded companies—that can't be shared in advance with employees; the key is to let them know that. It also means no selective editing with what can be communicated; all information is free game—the good, the bad, and the ugly. Sharing bad news ultimately builds credibility for the good news.

Respect different opinions. Attitudes and opinions are what govern motivation, commitment, and the sense of ownership valued by successful organizations. Open communication encourages employees to question any business approach or decision made by management—and to vocalize their thoughts. If an issue is important enough for an employee to express an opinion about it, it's equally important for managers to explore with that person why certain decisions were made. Ultimately, no one knows better how to improve the efficiency of their positions than the employees doing the work; information must be able to flow up for process improvements to take place.

Communication takes many forms. Top leadership sets the example by being open, actively listening, and speaking honestly. But while open-door policies certainly encourage essential (and often informal) dialogue, more formal forms of communication can help fill knowledge gaps, including:
  • Responses to employee feedback on performance reviews.

  • Employee surveys that explore job satisfaction, confidence in the company, and comfort level in communicating with management. Keep in mind that truly candid feedback comes from anonymous surveys.

  • "Town Hall Meetings," where survey responses are released, concerns and issues are highlighted, and management action is outlined.

  • Regularly scheduled, weekly or bi-weekly conference calls with staff to communicate information of importance both inside and outside the company.

  • Intranets, webinars, emails, and internal newsletters.

  • Social networking sites, including blogs and wikis. At Intel, for example, an engineer and some colleagues created an internal, Wikipedia-like website that lets people collect information and collaborate on projects instead of having to send around endless emails. The project, called Intelpedia, houses some 9,000 articles.
Listen. Then act on what you hear. Advocating an open-door policy does little good unless your management team is filled with active listeners who know how to turn off their BlackBerry devices and forward their phones to voicemail during meetings.

Humor counts. Effective communication is really about attitude. One of the most important ways we express the sense that "we're all in this together" is through our sense of humor. Humor is a great equalizer, especially self-effacing humor—after all, you have to be able to laugh at yourself just a little.

Open communication beyond staff. Finally, it's as important to be open with your customers as it is to be open with your own employees. Send a brief email out to customer contacts on a regular basis. Keep it informal but informative, and include your email address and phone number to remind your customers that you are available to them at all times.

It's human nature that in the absence of communication, rumors and/or gossip will fill the void. By sharing information and encouraging open communication, you stimulate a feeling of ownership among people and inspire leadership from all levels. People who are informed and who have access to the information they need have the courage and motivation to make decisions and are more willing to be accountable for them.

About the Author:

Arunas A. Chesonis is PAETEC's chairman and chief executive officer. PAETEC offers its customers a comprehensive suite of IP, voice, data, and Internet services, as well as enterprise communications management software, network security solutions, and managed services. Arunas can be reached at arunas.chesonis@paetec.com or 585-340-2567.
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