It's hard to overstate the importance of timely, complete communication to a business. Advances in telecommunications technology have significantly expanded our options for communicating, but they have not solved the communication problem at work. It has always been difficult to get the right information to the right people at the right time—and it still is. In fact, you can make a persuasive case that the rate of change and the rapid growth of information are making this age-old challenge more difficult than ever.

We now have the ability to transmit vast amounts of data to many locations around the world simultaneously. This is a great plus, but it can quickly turn into a minus. It's very easy to inundate people with data today.

The central questions at the heart of the communications challenge remain the same:

• What information do I have that others need?
• What information do others have that I need?
• What does this new data mean to us and our customers?
• What's the best way to communicate in each case?

What's needed today is a new, higher level of information responsibility on the part of everyone in the organization. It will never be possible to communicate everything so it's vital that people start with a shared understanding of what's important and that they make good choices when deciding whether or not to communicate new data / information. In short, everyone needs to assume responsibility for making sense (meaning) of the rapidly changing marketplace.

Communicating bad news has always been a particularly troublesome area. Most people would rather avoid it—especially if they’ve been punished for being the bearer of bad news. It's crucial that everyone adopt the attitude that, in the long run, the facts are friendly. It's better to know the truth and deal with it than to go ahead with an incomplete understanding of reality.

The enabling technology at our disposal is impressive, but the fact remains, individuals must decide what information is relevant and they must want to communicate it in a timely way. The fundamental interpersonal issues that have always been troublesome in organizational communications will not be solved by e-mail or intranets. In fact, their negative consequences can be magnified through enabling technology.

In summary, it is more important than ever that leaders do their part in modeling good communication and that they create the conditions where people are rewarded for saying what needs to be said—even when it isn't comfortable.

Back to Home