Ivy Sea Online: Back to Basics in Organizational Communication

Over the past ten or so years, and certainly during the last several, organizational communication became a bit of a circus – at least, when there was a coherent communication effort at all. Think about it: during the dot-com years, thoughtful organizational communication programs seemed to go the way of the Dodo bird, overshadowed or replaced in many companies by investor-relations blitzes and parties with a trendy vodka flowing from your choice of ten different ice sculptures.

In some large, more traditional corporations, organizational communication sometimes bore a greater resemblance to a kindergarten or summer camp for kids than a series of conscious, consistent efforts to distribute quality information to the talented adults (a.k.a. employees) being paid to do specific work.

And in just about all communications, in most organizations, advertising and marketing "spin" was ubiquitous. A penchant for boom-time glitz made substance, and truth, seem downright old-fashioned.

Amidst all of this, surveys showed that good percentages of employees were feeling understandably cynical and angry at the shenanigans of highly compensated executives, particularly those who jumped out with golden parachutes just before company stock values took a nose-dive, paper-wealth disappeared, and employee retirement funds dwindled. Other surveys showed that employees felt ill-matched with their work, perceived a lack of meaningfulness, and seemed overwhelmed by layoffs and information-overload. Perhaps these reports show feelings magnified by a post-9/11 lens, yet those were the perceptions voiced none-the-less.

Though good communication has always proven valuable, if not completely fashionable during a boom, the events of the past several years have brought us to a time when the need for high quality, thoughtful and effective communication – real communication, not circus acts that too often masquerade as communication – is most urgent.

That said, there’s no time like the present to get back to basics. After a decade or more in the circus, can we even remember what the basics are? Of course we can. After all, in some pockets of the work world, paying heed to and striving for excellence in the basics has been a practice maintained all along.

Key Rules of Back-to-the-Basics Communication

• Maintain a two-way dialogue
• Be honest and straight-forward
• Don’t substitute glitz for substance
• Write well
• Remember that design serves content
• Speak genuinely
• Use multiple modes of delivery
• Ensure mutual accountability
• Foster self-responsibility
• Encourage questions and ideas
• Respond promptly
• Be consistent
• Align action with communications
• Remember that your actions speak loudly, and
• Keep in mind that trust is easier to maintain than recapture.

For more suggestions on organizational communication strategies and tactics, visit the links below.