Good Morning,
Welcome new recipients!!
This past weekend, my family attended a regional cross country meet at a local park. Our eldest daughter competed. We watched the girls run first and then the boys. After the boys raced, the parents and friends of the runners from our school talked of going out for lunch around noon after the awards were announced. At 12:30, we were still standing around waiting. Ten minutes later someone told us that the awards would be announced at 12:30 (ten minutes earlier). We continued to ask questions, but people did not know. Slowly we heard different reasons of why it was taking so long. It passed 1:00 PM and we were still waiting. We were confused and frustrated. Finally, the awards were announced and a few of us ended up going to lunch.
Waiting an hour or so for the awards was a frustrating time. We did not know who to look to for answers and our Coach was as much in the dark as we were. We did not have expectations to guide us. The information we did receive was piecemeal. I am sure that the event went along as planned with a few hiccups which normally happen, but not so for those who were not in the know.
In the organizations we work in, communication is supposed to be more free-flowing between all people, but this is not always the case. Instead of proper communications, we hear rumors and get the piecemeal information from various sources. Since we don’t have any real expectations given to us we can get confused. Add to this, when our management is just in the dark as we are, we get just as frustrated as my family was this weekend. We wonder if they care about us or even know if we exist.
Many company executives keep information they consider to be ‘sensitive’ close to their chest. They do not share it until they absolutely have to, which can often be too late. We have heard the stories where employees found out news and changes from people outside their company first, rather than from inside. It makes us question the integrity and worse, the ability of the company leadership. Understandably some information cannot be shared internally prior to public announcements, but there are times that there are no internal announcements, except once the rest of the world know first.
Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart, believed in sharing information freely with all of his employees and has been successful in building a retail empire. He felt the risk of sensitive information getting out was less important then empowering his employees with what is really going on.
When information is not shared freely, we get caught off guard. A well-oiled machine appears to fall apart right in front of us. We start wondering about the leadership’s motives, and then ability. We ask ‘who planned this?’ and ‘Don’t they have a clue?’ This leads to us becoming less engaged at work. Worse, after repeated conundrums we start moving one foot out of the door just in case our fears that the ship is really sinking.
Communication is the lubricant that keeps the business machine well oiled and running smoothly. Make sure everyone who needs to know it does, and in a timely manner. Otherwise we could continue to stand around wondering what is going on, with growing confusion and frustration.
Enjoy!
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