Practice better communication in our personal lives. Each of us brings our personal communication style to work with us. That can be good or bad, depending on how well our communication style serves us at home, with family and friends. I’m willing to bet a leftover fruitcake that most of us believe we could improve our communication skills and that if we did so, our personal relationships would be much more fulfilling. So, let us resolve to fix our communication problems at home by being more active listeners, by being more aware of how we communicate nonverbally, and by taking moments to play back what we say and how we say it. Then let’s see if our workplace communication skills improve, too.
Say what we mean and mean what we say. People know when they’re being fed a load of … leftover fruitcake. When we seek to avoid the awful truth and opt instead to obfuscate, our co-workers, bosses, employees, customers and business partners see right through it. We’re fooling no one when we engage in doublespeak or try to “spin” something to our favor. One of the greatest things we can do to improve workplace communication is to resolve to speak and write with clarity and purpose, even when it hurts.
Recognize communication as the vital business process it is. Whether we acknowledge it or not, communication is a process that drives business decisions and employees’ behaviors. Smart, high-performing organizations recognize communication as an important business process and harness it to help achieve goals. They engineer the communication process so that the business’s investment in it pays dividends through efficiency, reduction of waste and higher productivity. They provide the right tools for two-way communication between management and employees. And, yes, they measure the effectiveness of communication processes so they can eliminate or fix the things that don’t work and build on the things that do. None of this happens, however, if we do not resolve to recognize that communication is a powerful business process.
Focus first on face-to-face communication. Study after study reinforces the fact that people want real, personal interaction with their bosses and the leaders of their organizations – not just e-mails, memos and nice Web pages. Nothing says “you’re not important” more than an impersonal mass e-mail announcing a business decision that was made weeks ago and has already been rumor-milled. And nothing says “you are important” more than a boss who pulls employees together to give the details in person and gives everyone an opportunity to ask questions and make comments. People come to work every day and decide whether they will invest themselves in their work or divest themselves from it. The most critical factor influencing that decision is their relationships with their bosses – and relationships aren’t built through e-mails and memos. That’s why resolving to choose face-to-face communication first is a wise investment of time and energy.
Cut people some slack. None of us is perfect, not even the men and women at the top. We have weaknesses, flaws, insecurities, and shortcomings. Sometimes it’s easy to cast stones at others for their failures to communicate as well as we’d like. In my experience, however, I’ve found most people are sincerely trying to do what they believe to be the right thing. I, for one, resolve to give a little more benefit of the doubt to the business leaders and employees who just don’t seem to “get” communication.
I wonder how many of these resolutions will live to see February?
