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Transparent
Communication
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security adjusts the security
alert status from code yellow to code orange. The change is
announced on national television news networks. You
immediately launch your orange alert status program – or, do
you? More likely, you’ll do what almost everyone else does
when the alert status changes. You will probably do nothing
different than what you were going to do anyway. Why then, if
the government has alerted you to an increased security threat
would you choose to ignore it? The answer could be that you
have too little information to act on.
When these alerts were first issued, I suspect that more
people became more attentive to their television sets. They
had no information to act on so they waited to see if
something happened during the heightened state of alertness.
Then ultimately as people became numb to the announcements,
they were simply ignored. That’s hardly what was intended, but
then there does not seem to be a good alternative. What
information could they tell you that would be relevant to you
specifically to enable you to make a decision or take any
particular course of action?
It’s difficult to imagine how they could possibly produce and
communicate information specific to a small enough group of
individuals. That group would not even be qualified to take
any appropriate action if required to do so.
As a business leader, you may rely on an executive dashboard
to track and report on various key indicators of operational
performance. When one of the dials or gauges enters a red
zone, you have access to information and potentially a host of
analyst experts to tell you what it means. Then you can take
purposeful and meaningful corrective action. Let’s say that
one of the indicators you monitor is the cost of technical
support services. For some reason this month there was a huge
spike in the cost of providing that service.
Then you send out a high alert to the entire company that the
cost of technical support service has entered a red zone. No
other information is shared, just the red zone alert. What do
you expect would happen? Most likely, this will either create
chaos and panic, or they too will simply ignore it. If you
repeat this behavior, the organization at large will become
demoralized. This is the result of the continued blasting with
alarming and threatening news while they remain powerless to
do anything about it.
Transparency in communication requires a delicate balance
between three key needs. They are the need to disclose the
facts and the reality of each situation, the need to protect
private information, and the need to generate appropriate
action and behavioral response. As we have seen previously,
saying too little can be very dangerous. The same might be
said for saying too much. Too much information opens up more
opportunities for misinterpretation as people search for
relevant and actionable information to them. There is also a
risk that some seemingly meaningless item of information may
be blown out of proportion.
The key is to communicate enough information that is relevant
to the audience in order to clarify the situation and support
the desired response. This is not the same as creating
corporate “spin”. Spin is primarily a defensive mechanism by
communicating as little as possible. The goal there is to
protect the company from things like inadvertent disclosure,
misinterpretations and so on. Information without the
appropriate context has the potential to be misunderstood, or
ignored, or even mistrusted.
How important is context, or relevance? Think about this quote
from Dr Carl Sagan, “It is of interest to note that while some
dolphins are reported to have learned English - up to fifty
words used in correct context - no human being has been
reported to have learned dolphinese.” Did the dolphins really
learn English or were they trained associate certain sounds
with specific meanings? As they responded to commands, do they
also demonstrate an ability to respond in English? Most
likely, the answer to that is “no”.
We have successfully demonstrated the ability of dolphins to
interpret our communication in a context we create for them.
Impressive, but we have not demonstrated any ability to
communicate with dolphins in a context in which they operate
on their own. Perhaps they communicate in ways and using
concepts that are more sophisticated than individual words. We
just don’t know, and as long as we force them to operate only
in our context, how will we find out what their real potential
is?
In your business you are in the fortunate position in that
your employees are all human beings. They have language skills
very similar to your own, and they already work in the context
of your business and your industry. Communicating with them in
a context they can understand should be a lot easier. That
context should be pertinent to the issue, to the vision of
your business, to your employees, and to the business outcome
you desire. The nature, amount, and timeliness of information
you communicate should consider all of these factors.
Stephen Covey said, “Priority is a function of context”.
Calling the fire department to put out a fire while you lie on
the beach might be the wrong priority at the wrong place and
time. You know there is a fire somewhere, so why not call the
fire department just in case it is near you. That would be
totally out of context and a huge waste of resources. On the
other hand, if you are on the 30th floor of a hotel and you
notice your room curtains going up in flames, then calling the
fire department and making your way to the ground quickly is a
high priority. That would be highly contextual, urgent, and
appropriate action.
You want your organization to take the correct action with the
appropriate level of urgency and importance. To do this you
must learn to communicate with them in the right context. Then
they will align their priorities with yours and get to work.
“Spin” leads you to conspiracy thinking and fear. Too little
information leads to apathy and no action. Too much
information creates confusion and chaos. This is a potentially
large drain on resources as your organization focuses on
putting out fires that don’t exist or matter. The right
information in the right context at the right time leads to
productive engagement. Effective leaders know that while the
choice seems easy the process may be difficult – and they work
hard to do it the right way to produce the right outcome.
Patrick Smyth is a leadership navigator and advisor to leaders
of high growth and emerging businesses. He creates compelling
visions and comprehensive strategic plans, and coaches on
effective leadership and management practices. He is a
recognized speaker, trainer, coach, and international business
strategist and author of the book Elephant Walk: Balancing
Business Performance and Brand Strategy for the Long Haul.
http://www.innovationhabitude.com |
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