Communicate

One regular theme I have found when coming into a turnaround situation is the lack of communication between the top two or three people in management with the rest of the organization. "They never ask our opinion." "They don't understand the customer the way I do." "I have given many good ideas and nothing has been done."

It seems obvious in its face, but should be said: the wisdom in the organization is priceless, and any two or three people in the organization will know more on a given subject than the leadership will.

The best ways I have found to deal with this is to talk and listen. This can be done one-on-one, it can be done in meetings. I know meetings can be a taboo -- very bureaucratic and cumbersome, some would say. I would like to offer a different view.

It was my practice to set up meetings on various topics. I have previously discussed the four o'clock meeting. I would have meetings on business engagement, new customers / products, innovation, and others. I would ensure a very broad participation -- much broader than required for the specific agenda. I did this for a couple of reasons: 1) I wanted a wide range of opinions on a given subject (especially from people "outside" of the direct line of knowledge), 2) I wanted everyone to benefit from each other's knowledge, and 3) I wanted an opportunity to be able to convey my way of thinking through a subject to the entire team.

At first, I would get many complaints: " we have too many meetings, these meetings last too long, why do you let people talk on and on?" I would remind them of the earlier complaints -- management never listened to me, nobody asked what I thought, etc. I would ask them how they expected me to listen to them if we didn't have some forum to communicate. Or how could we properly question and discuss some new course without a brad array of opinions. Finally, as we are all affected by any such decisions, shouldn't more of us be in the discussion?

I am not sure my arguments won anyone over, however I believe time certainly did. After some time I would get comments from even the most vocal skeptics saying that they now see the benefits of such a process, that it helps bring the team together, that it makes everyone feel like they have a say, etc.

For me, I get the benefit of learning a lot about a new company, seeing management in action as to how they think and communicate, and conveying my sense to the group. I believe it is a win-win for everyone.