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.