Communication
The single most important skill and ability any leader, executive and team member must have is communication.
In fact, communication is far and away the most important ability in all aspects of life - parenting, friendships, family relations, church groups, dealing with service/repair people, solving problems and so on.
In business, ideal communication alone - throughout an organization - unlocks the door to ultimate success and a stress-free environment.
Communication is really the only tool a leader-manager has when it comes to people. You can hammer out a building. Unfortunately, you cannot take any physical tools or means to force people to work for you, to carry out your missions, to perform their jobs well. The only tool and skill you have to motivate people to do what you want done is communication.
Then it follows that communication is extremely, vitally, infinitely important. If you want to be a good, effective leader or a success in any field or profession, you have no choice but to become superb in the skill of communication.
Communication is the common and most powerful thread that runs throughout every job in an organization, every system the organization follows, and every successful action the organization takes.
In the normal course of business, there are misunderstandings, disagreements, upsets, arguments, misinterpretations.
Why does it occur so often that a group of people aren’t all on the same page?
Why aren’t tasks always completed exactly as intended?
Why do so many people feel disrespected, neglected, unappreciated, betrayed so often in organizations?
How do toxic environments occur, and why do they continue?
What separates good and bad leaders?
How do problems start, and why do they often continue or even grow bigger?
Clearly, there are some missing pieces to ideal communication.
What is communication? And more to the purpose, what is ideal communication?
The starting point is a clean, clear definition of communication that works in all situations and environments.
Communication is an exchange of ideas, thoughts, intentions, goals, purposes, ideals, concepts and emotions, from one person to another, in such a way that each person fully understands the other’s thinking, point of view and intentions.
So the end result, the desired goal of communication, is that both parties see and understand exactly what the other is trying to communicate. Ideal communication occurs when both parties exchange their points of view with the idea that each will understand the other.
The parties might or might not agree with each other. Person A doesn’t have to agree with Person B’s opinion in order to understand that opinion. As long as each sees exactly what the other person is looking at, if each understands the other’s point of view, then eventually some sort of agreement will be reached. Then there will rarely be an argument or upset. They don’t have to agree, they simply have to understand.
Following this definition as one communicates with others is the key to successful communication and leadership.
Source of Problems
Every problem contains a breakdown in communication one way or another.
Something wasn’t said that should have been said
Some important message wasn’t received or didn’t arrive
Something was misunderstood or mis-interpreted
Upsets weren’t resolved with good communication
There wasn't enough communication to solve the problem or push through the problem to a good end result
Someone wasn’t aware of what was said by someone else
False information was spread or received
Communication breaks are the source of all problems, and effective, ideal and quality communication is the only solution to problems.
Getting Agreement
Ultimately, as an owner or executive, you want (1) agreement from your people to carry out their assigned duties and responsibilities, and (2) you want your people to fully understand their jobs, tasks and projects so they can produce the desired results.
Everyone wants to be agreed with. So much of life’s struggles and day-to-day challenges are wrapped up in people trying to get agreement from other people.
Parents want agreement from their children - to clean their messes, do their homework, be pleasant, be home at a certain time, etc.
Couples want their partners to agree with them and support them no matter what.
Home buyers want banks to agree to give them home loans.
People want their mechanics and repair companies to agree to completely fix a problem correctly the first time, at a reasonable price.
People want their loved ones who are addicted to drugs and alcohol to agree to get help and get off those substances.
People want others to agree with their opinions.
In business, owners and executives want agreement from their teams - to follow company policies, to work hard, to produce well, to follow the leader's directions, to do the right things and so on. Team members want their leaders and peers to understand them, their points of view, their contributions, problems, etc.
Leaders and managers must obtain agreement from their teams, or nothing gets done in the organization. So the two desired end results of communication from the leader’s or manager’s point of view are
Each person in the company understands completely their job, the mission or the project, and especially the end results or goals expected; and
Each person agrees to do the job, mission or project and achieve the defined end results and goals.
Communication is the key to getting these understandings and agreements.
An owner or executive can simply issue an order to do something. In most day-to-day routine circumstances, that is all that is needed to get someone to get the job done - assuming people know what their jobs are and how to do them (another possible source of communication breaks).
But what about those situations that are different or more complex? How do you communicate a bad situation your problem the company is facing? How do you present a major change to your people, such as a company re-organization or major policy change? How do you issue a directive that goes against standard operating procedure?
There is a step-by-step, nearly-foolproof process by which to obtain agreement from your team members in these and any other major situation. (See the article How to Gain Agreement From Your Team for this process.)
The first thing to know is this general principle: Getting agreement is simply the process of exchanging goals, points of views, ideas and concepts back and forth, back and forth until both parties reach an agreement.
Internal Communication Within An Organization
Not only is communication the most vital skill and tool for any leader-manager, but the quality of the communication between management and staff is vitally important. It can be argued that the quality of the communication that occurs in an organization determines the very quality, efficiency, morale and productivity of the entire organization. By quality of communication, we mean
Frequency of communication. How often do the leaders and executives communicate with everyone in the company? (The Goldilocks dilemma - too often, not enough or just right?)
Quantity of information. How much information do team members need to do their jobs well? Do leaders and executives provide needed information to everyone in the group? How well informed is every team member at all levels?
Tone and mood expressed in internal communications. Are the communications positive, factual, encouraging and constructive? Or negative, casting blame, criticizing, harsh, etc?
Truthfulness and factualness of communications, from top to bottom.
Completeness or incompleteness of communications, from top to bottom.
Coordination and cooperation. How well do people within the organization communicate with each other, at all levels of the organizational? Do people play office politics - withholding or altering communication for personal gain?
The answers to these questions tell you the quality of the entire organization, as well as its level of success or failure.
One major component of the quality of the communication within a business is the quality of the people themselves. Negative, lazy, unproductive or detrimental people lower the overall quality of communication. (See the article The Single Biggest Mistake Executives Make for more about this vitally important issue.)
There is another aspect to communication within organization.
What does the organization tolerate with respect to communication within the group?
How much communication does the organization allow, encourage or discourage?
What emotional and professional levels are allowed or insisted upon when people within the group communicate to one another?
Are people allowed to say whatever they want in any emotional level they want (which creates drama, conflicts and stress), or are there professional guidelines that are laid down and strictly followed?
To create the most productive and successful organization possible, the frequency and quantity of communication and information should be high. Everyone in the group should know more rather than less.
Certainly there are times to keep certain information contained to a few trusted individuals. Some information at certain times needs to be kept confidential from everyone other than the individuals who must know. But these confidential withholdings of information should be kept to a minimum.
An organization that communicates frequently to its people, that keeps all its people well informed, especially as to the organization’s goals and plans, that presents factual information with no alteration or spin, will most likely achieve its goals and beyond.
Here is a Leadership Principle related to communication:
Leadership Principle: The organization's purpose and goals must be clearly and completely defined, free and clear of any ambiguities, biases, disagreements, or conflicting intentions. Then this purpose is to be communicated throughout the group, known and agreed- upon by every member in the group. Such communication greatly increases the power of the group and greatly increases its power to achieve desired goals and end results.
Purposes, goals and plans are the first things to be communicated to everyone in an organization. This helps get and keep everyone well coordinated and on the same page - as well as motivated.
Next in importance is and and all information needed by people to do their jobs well and achieve their individual, team, department, and organization goals. Information should be factual and complete. If people don’t have all the facts or the complete story, they will make mistakes, or produce insufficient or even negative results.
People are tougher than most people think. No matter how painful the truth is, no matter how bad a situation can appear to be, people are better off knowing the truth and facts than not.
People respond best to the truth, to full information.
Even if they have an initial reaction that is negative, most people get through that reaction quickly and then focus on the job or situation at hand.
Even if a small percentage of people react badly, this is good for you know. This could be an indicator that these people should be weeded out of the group, which in turn greatly strengthens the group.
Thus we have another leadership principle:
Leadership Principle: Everyone in the organization should be communicated with frequently and given full, complete, accurate, and uncolored, unaltered information and reports of existing conditions and situation. All such information is to be free of spin, alteration, or omissions done “for the protection of our people.” People are empowered, strengthened, and more willing to contribute if the organization communicates in this manner. Such communication greatly increases the power of the group and greatly increases its power to achieve its desired goals and end results.
If the organization ever finds itself in a difficult or even dangerous situation or condition, it’s best to let everyone in the organization know the full story of what’s going on.
Yes, there will be some concern and worry. And yes, some people might even start looking for other jobs.
But 80-90% of people will respond with a desire to help, to contribute to the solution, to work even harder and with more focus.
In fact, letting people in your group know the actual, factual information and situation is an excellent test, an excellent screening process that tells the leader-executive who he or she can and cannot count on.
People are actually empowered and strengthened when they are told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. People will rise to the occasion and work harder and contribute more and better ideas and solutions if they are told the whole story without spin.
The strongest, most productive, and most efficient groups
communicate frequently with their people,
give them all the information and truth (with the exception of those infrequent times that secrecy is genuinely needed), and
keep the tone and mood of the communications positive and professional but without spin and alteration so as to falsely make the information more rosy than it actually is.
If you are a leader at any level, get into the routine of providing frequent (daily, weekly, or monthly as appropriate) and complete briefings of the current situations and conditions, successes and gains, goals and plans - and even setbacks if any have occurred. Communicate with your people, let them know what is happening, and address the organization’s plans and goals.
And then ask your people for their own opinions, help, ideas, and recommendations. Invite your people to contribute to the success and growth of the organization. Again, 80-90% of people will want to help, will care enough about the health of the organization to want to contribute to its success, and will rise to a higher level in their own work ethic and production.
You will be amazed at people’s responses and accomplishments if you simply communicate to them and invite their help and contributions. 80-90% of people want to help, want to contribute, and want to feel a part of something special. The wise, effective, and great leader cultivates this open attitude and encourages his people to rise to any occasion or situation the group faces.
A group is most successful, then, when it communicates in this manner:
The leaders understand and apply the definition of ideal communication given in this article.
The leaders communicate to their people and teams as given above.
The leaders follow the correct sequence of steps to gain agreement from their people and teams.
The leaders communicate the organization’s goals and plans as often as possible. People need to hear things more than once. Even if they know and understand and agree with the goals, over time and in the heat of battle and doing their jobs, they can lose sight of those goals and forget why they’re doing their jobs. Therefore, the organization’s leaders need to communicate the goals frequently, and certainly any time the goals change.
The leaders give their people all the information their people need to do their jobs well and achieve the desired end results of their jobs. “All necessary information” is usually more than most leaders and managers consider sufficient and necessary.
Leaders give their people the full picture of what’s happening. They give their people the truth and facts, unvarnished and without alteration or spin. Leaders and managers let their people know the exact situations and conditions that exist. Frequent and complete briefings are routine.
Leaders then ask their people to contribute their ideas, recommendations, solutions, and hard work to resolve a situation or achieve a goal. All good ideas and solutions are incorporated into the organization’s action plans.
There is enormous power in following these communication principles as given in this article. Conversely, communication that violates or is the opposite of any or all of these principles is destructive and will cause an organization to struggle.
Our leadership development company, Ikigai Leadership & Communication, offers communication training that is extremely effective in developing communication skills as described in this article. This training is an intensive and powerful program, which turns people into superb communicators whom others will listen to, understand, and follow.