When It Comes to Communication From the Top, Less Isn’t More

Many managers don’t convey enough information, but those who undercommunicate pay a steeper price

A boss who overloads you with information may be frustrating, but one who leaves you in the dark may come off as uncaring.

That’s the key finding from a new study that examines how employees perceive managers who assume that less is more when it comes to communicating at work.

After reviewing thousands of 360-degree leadership assessments in MBA and executive education classes, Francis Flynn noted that complaints about managers’ communication were common and often harsh. “More than just about any other leadership skill, people are fiercely criticized for poor communication,” says Flynn, a professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business. “The higher up you get, the more brutal that criticism becomes.” Noting this, he and doctoral candidate Chelsea Lide saw an opportunity to examine the quantity and quality of communication between managers and the people they supervise.

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Quality not Quantity

Thanks for a thoughtful article.

There probably is something to be said for leadership communicating the right amount, and in my experience the right amount usually would be more than what is forthcoming. A lot more.

But the amount of communication is, as we engineering nerds like to say, "necessary but not sufficient."

More important is what gets communicated, and how. A huge part of what is communicated really ought to reflect leadership's LISTENING to its workforce, not just issuing messages from on high. And the job of truly listening is accomplished best by those who practice "go see" - those who get out where the work is done, who show respect and ask questions.

Done properly, the practice of go-see is a vaslt more powerful form of communication than any town hall, memo, or canned video can hope to be. That's because it communicates respect and trust, which is the foundation for any and all subsequent communication.