Communication is a Process

Effective communication isn’t important to good management, it’s essential.  Troops can’t execute orders they don’t understand, consumers can’t respond to a confusing advertisement  Great plans can fall apart because of poor communication, so managers should strive to ensure that ideas are communicated effectively.  Thus, in an on-going series, we’ll discuss tactics that improve communication management and minimize the risk of disaster due to poor communication.  Let’s begin with a discussion of what communication is.

Many managers mistakenly believe that it is enough to simply articulate an idea.  Communication is the sum total of the idea being shared, how it is shared, and how it interacts with other ideas, some of which may be exclusive to one party.  It is this last factor, the interactive nature of communication, that requires it to be considered a dynamic, on-going process.

An Effective Way To Manage Poorly Performing Employees

Employee performance often makes or breaks your organization, especially in the case those employees with significant responsibility.  Unfortunately, we don’t always end up with employees capable of performing as well as we’d prefer.  When such an incident arises, it becomes the management’s responsibility to deal with the poorly performing employee.  While there are many management tactics for dealing with inadequate performance, the one made famous the by the American President Lincoln may be among the best.

As outlined in Donald T. Phillip’s book “Lincoln on Leadership,” Lincoln was confronted with the task of finding a General for the Union Army that could both build and successfully fight with it.  Unfortunately, most Generals he appointed would prove to fail on the latter of Lincoln’s requirements.  Through the use of a precise management technique that relies heavily on leadership and tact, the President was able to rapidly weed out ineffective Generals until he found one that performed as per his requirements: General Grant.  Here’s the strategy Lincoln employed to manage and remove an inadequately performing general:

How to Repair Broken Employee Trust with an Apology

As any good manager knows, trust is harder to build than it is to lose, so it should be carefully protected.  However, even the best managers make a mistakes and do something that breaks an employee’s trust.  Sometimes it’s intentional and we later regret it.  Other times its unintentional and we may not even be aware of what’s occurred until it’s pointed out by someone else.  Regardless, rebuilding trust is a vital skill - perhaps it should be called an art - that can help resolve these situations.

Have no illusions: you cannot successfully rebuild trust without an apology.  While some might be tempted to wield authority and demand respect, a more successful tactic is to swallow a bit of pride and issue a sincere apology.  If done skillfully, an apology can repair even the most damaged relationships and lay a solid foundation for future positive associations between the parties.  At the very least, issuing an apology illustrates that you believe the relationship is valuable and worth continuing.  Of course, for it to be effective, both parties must share this belief.  If not, your efforts will fall on deaf ears (though if you’re really good, the apology can convince them otherwise).

In general, a successful apology takes responsibility for the action that broke the trust and employs empathy and sincerity.  But the best apologies have these additional elements:

Small Business Week In Review: 01/26/09

Former Secretary of the Treasury, Lawernce Summers, said the months ahead will be extremely challenging.  Credit is still frozen and most banks are technically insolvent.  According to a Bloomberg News survey, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted at an annual rate of 5.5% between October 2008 and December 2008.   Some small business owners have started taking drastic action to cope with the conditions.

To cope, small business owners — from neighborhood plumbers to graphic design firms — are paying employee salaries before their own, trying to renegotiate leases and pleading for customers on neighborhood blogs. But despite their best efforts, the customers aren’t there.
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While falling sales and the credit crunch have made headlines, the small business owners left standing are facing problems as varied as the businesses they run. Manufacturing is slowing. Layoffs are looming. Financing is hard, if not impossible, to come by. Vendors are being skittish about extending credit for inventory. Rents are rising. And profits are falling — or vanishing altogether as sales slip.

Keeping Commitments, The Foundation For Trust In Business Relationships

Contrary to what most people believe, trust is not some soft, illustrative quality that you either have or you don’t rather trust is a pragmatic, tangible, actionable asset that you can create - much faster than you probably think possible. - Steven R. Covey,  author of The Speed of Trust, The One Thing That Changes Everything

Although we may strive to live by certain ideals, we’re not perfect.  Nobody is.  We often struggle with complicated situations personally and professionally.  Our intentions are  complex.  We are bound to make mistakes.  These mistakes, especially those related to trust can have far reaching consequences.  Fortunately, fostering and maintaining trust is also one of the easiest things to do (in my humble opinion).

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