http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20091203/sc_livescience/studyrevealstheangriestamericans
Check out this link regarding the sources of anger study done in Toronto. Note that interpersonal relationship problems at work is among the top three sources. In addition, those with less education, those with children and of course those with time constraints and economic pressure are feeling the pain.
For years business has referred to communication skills as "soft skills" training. "Soft" as opposed to "hard" or skills that business people have believe are directly attributable to performance. I am already starting to laugh at the notion. Let's give everyone finance skills which they promptly forget or maybe we should laden spreadsheets and research upon them showing how to cut costs and re-engineer... And yet, survey after survey will reveal that communication continues to be the number one thorn in the side of companies and directly or indirectly the source of low performance.
Follow this train of thought. The leaders meet for days and forge their strategy. They then take about 15 minutes to communicate it to the masses if that. Other times they rely on a trickle down that is also cut to a fraction of time. Is it any wonder that folks down the chain do not grab on to that strategy and give it a big hug.
The next step then is to design work and manage it closely to make sure these people who arent' as engaged, do what needs to be done. This authoritarian style is mocked when backs are turned, and gets some results, but falls woefully short of what they could get. The worst by product is a lack of trust which permeates the culture and slows the communication and performance to a crawl of what it could be.
The Corporate Leadership Council produced research that names "Honest and accurate informal feedback" as the number one driver of high performance. There is no way you can accomplish this driver without a sense of trust amongst the people of your organization.
What do you think of communication in the workplace? Is it important?
What are the biggest flaws you see in your organization from a communication standpoint and what is the effect?
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Communication in the workplace is paramount! I can't say much for flaws or strengths of my current place since i'm only one week in. The style of leadership within a workgroup and the way that people communicate with one another really make or break the job, at least for me. I don't want to be in a place where I do not understand others or where I am not given a chance to be understood.
ReplyDeleteSpoken like a true 7 habits graduate! So little emphasis is placed on how leader's communicate because they are so focused on their business or technical skills. Those are important for sure, but the communication skills are what take all that knowledge and engage others to do something about it. It's been the curse of manufacturing for decades. Same for other businesses that rely so heavily on technical knowledge.
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