Quality Management
by A. Blanton Godfrey
Getting the Word Out
Communication remains one of the
keys to success in any organization.
Our biggest problem is communication!" Time after time, when I
start working with a company, the senior executives describe "communications"
as one of their biggest problem areas.
Communication is one of the keys to success in any organization. Communicating
the vision, mission, key objectives, strategic goals and annual goals is
one of the fundamental tasks in building a strong business and empowered
work force.
A recent American Management Association report, "Business Communications:
An Executive Assessment," illustrates just how bad the problem is.
Although 84 percent of the executives surveyed stated that communication
was one of their top business priorities, only 41 percent felt that their
company communicated with key constituencies more effectively than their
competitors. And only 30 percent felt that their companies regularly seek
feedback to see if messages are received and understood.
Although many leading companies today have clear objectives with well-defined
projects for accomplishing these objectives, their communication plans remain
vague and poorly conceived. But other companies have developed dynamic,
effective communication systems. The following ideas have worked in establishing
effective communication systems:
n Repeat, repeat, repeat-Someone once said that to truly communicate something
in today's busy organizations, you must say it eight times, in eight different
ways. Simply putting an article in the company newspaper and assuming that
everyone will know about it just doesn't work. Companies that communicate
their messages effectively use every available medium at every possible
opportunity.
One of the best tools for enhancing communication is consistency. By using
the same words for the vision, mission, values, strategic goals, annual
goals and key performance indicators, people begin to understand just how
important the message is and how it applies to their job.
Active, not passive-One of the best rules
for communicating is to know exactly what you want to communicate. Years
ago, when I was a department head at Bell Labs, I became frustrated with
the almost endless pile of technical memoranda that sat on my desk waiting
for review and approval. What should the recipients do after they read the
memos? If I didn't know, would they?
In desperation, I sent many of these back to the authors with a cover note
asking six simple questions: Why did you write this memo? Who is supposed
to read it? What will they do after they read it? How will you know they
have done this? What impact will it have on AT&T? How will you measure
this impact?
The immediate result was that some of the memos simply disappeared.
The long-term result was memos that began to be written quite differently.
The distribution lists became shorter, the expected actions were described
clearly and explicitly, specific implementation steps were defined, and
measurements of results were suggested. But, more importantly, many of the
researchers decided that memos were not the right vehicle for communication.
Instead, the researchers presented their findings or new procedures directly
to the intended recipients. My employees and I became focused on making
quality happen rather than making recommendations.
Make it fun, make it memorable-A sense of
humor helps. People remember things far better if what's being communicated
is humorous. Tommi White of Kelly Services has devised a clever "quality
game." Each month, a new idea or concept relating to quality is hidden
in a puzzle incorporated into their normal communications with staff members.
Simple prizes are given for correct answers.
KISS-We've all heard the expression, "Keep
it simple, stupid." This should be the guiding principle of all communications.
Larry Bossidy, CEO of AlliedSignal, firmly believes organizations can only
focus on a few things at a time. At AlliedSignal, he believes this number
is three. He chooses three goals and focuses exclusively on those until
he feels they have been achieved or are well underway. Then he picks three
more. Everywhere he goes, he discusses them, requests updates on their progress
and weaves them into presentations, memos and corporate documents.
Listen-Probably the most important part of
communication is not what you say, but what you hear. Actively listening
to your customers, employees, suppliers, stockholders and communities is
far more important than what you say to them. You can't communicate effectively
if you don't know what people need to hear from you.
About the author
A. Blanton Godfrey is chairman and CEO of Juran Institute Inc. Send comments
either to the editor or directly to Godfrey at Juran Institute, 11 River
Road, Wilton, CT 06897, by fax (203) 834-9891 or preferably by e-mail to
godfrey@netaxis.com.
