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Conquering the Number One Problem in Business--Poor Communication

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The Number One problem in business is poor communication: between coworkers, with clients, across functional areas, up the food chain. When I ask anyone I meet “What’s the one thing that causes problems in your company?” the answer is always Communication: poor communication in relaying instructions, miscommunication because of irresponsible delivery, too little information when conveying changes in policies or procedures, not enough exchange of information when relaying new concepts or ideas.

The result of every one of these communication down-falls is misunderstandings, missed deadlines, hurt feelings, and a lot of wasted time.

Consider this ideal world: you have ample time to ask questions and deliver feedback; you have full support from management for taking time to slow down and consider the receiver of the messages you send; you are encouraged to write your letters and emails from the perspective of your audience rather than from the perspective of your company position; your management values the time you take to talk with staff, coworkers, and clients one-on-one and face-to-face rather than relying on mass communication sent via cryptic emails.

While email has become the unofficial standard of communicating in our business environments, it’s not always the best choice. We need the opportunity to have spontaneous feedback that can only come from a one-on-one conversation—especially when relaying instructions or attempting to win over associates to a new way of doing things. We need to encourage questions and take time to respond in order to ensure cooperation and support. We need to slow down and build relationships rather than simply force-feed our ideas to an unreceptive or resistant audience.

Okay, you say these are great ideas and would certainly help; but who has time? Consider these questions:

• How much time are you wasting every day cleaning up the messes of your associates because others in your organization didn’t take the time necessary to get their ideas across clearly?

• Are you spending time answering questions your peers have about something they’ve been asked to do?

• Do you find yourself being a sounding board for disgruntled associates who feel they’ve been bitten by a shark simply because they are trying to do their jobs?

If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, then you are on the receiving end of the Number One problem in business.

While the trend in business for the last three to five years has been to do more with fewer resources—and do it faster, companies are seeing the negative effects of that trend. They are recognizing the loss of committed clients because of a reduction in the quality of customer service (automated answering systems that require us to listen through lengthy menus of numerical options is a perfect example of this), they are seeing a loss in morale in the work place causing staff to resist change at every turn, they are seeing a loss in productivity because of exhaustion, and they are seeing a large percentage of burned-out and frustrated employees.

Companies that recognize this negative trend are making changes. They’re placing more emphasis on relationships among employees at all levels of the hierarchy, encouraging flexibility and camaraderie, and placing more value on quality than quantity.

While what I’m suggesting in this article may not yet be the culture of your company, you can begin to adopt some principles for your own personal performance now that will help you be more effective in your work today and in the future. Three things you can do now are:

• Choose to call people on the phone or see them face to face rather than communicate via email all the time

• Give people the “why” along with the “what” when you are giving them instructions or asking them to adopt a new procedure or policy

• Listen to people when they speak

Email is a fine tool to use for communicating—as long as it’s balanced with some actual human contact. And that human contact comes through most clearly face to face. Your second best option is to use the telephone. When we talk to people face to face, they get the opportunity to notice our body language and hear our vocal inflections. Both of these give them a sense of our personality. People do business with people they like. Give people an opportunity to get to know you, and they’ll be more cooperative in the long run.

No one likes to be told what to do. In fact, most often when people are told what to do in a directive fashion their gut reaction is to rebel. Resistance and negativity come from a lack of understanding and buy-in. When we simply deliver the “what” of the message, people begin formulating a stance to protect themselves. This is usually labeled defensiveness. We can begin helping them reduce their defensiveness and resistance by giving them enough information (the “why”) to help them understand the “what.” Unfortunately, when we’re in a hurry this is the part we most often leave out.

Most of us think we’re pretty good listeners. In reality, we’re pretty good hearers. We hear the words people are saying, but we fail to listen with our eyes and ears; then we miss out on their inflection and body language signals. These signals tell us when we’re facing resistance and when the people we’re talking to are confused by our messages. Rather than assuming we’re completely clear in our communications, we can listen attentively to what people are actually saying to see where our communications might be unclear—and then clarify as necessary.

Each of the three things I suggest above requires time. But this investment of time is worthwhile. In the long run, you’ll accomplish more with fewer disruptions because you’ll have

• Built solid relationships

• Eliminated misunderstandings

• Cultivated cooperation

I guarantee you'll notice results.

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