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<- Return to Articles HOME Genuine understanding: Does your company have it? What about your department?
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page2 by Paula Bartholome
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Of course there are times when a quick decision and action is necessary. There's no point discussing assumptions about fire if someone yells the word in a crowded office. Everyone needs to move and clarify the situation later. Also, there are times when there isn't enough at stake to bother using this process.
However, it's very appropriate when organizations seek commitment to a major course of action, especially when opposing, strongly-held beliefs threaten to fracture the work force. Such a situation occurred when a suburban Chicago hospital entered into conversations with another Chicago hospital about a merger. On the surface there were many synergies. The two organizations involved employees on task forces who worked carefully for two years on planning how the process would occur, what employees would reside in which location, how sophisticated, expensive equipment would be transported and other decisions. Finally the merger was announced with much fanfare. New signage was placed throughout two communities to let the public know.
Then, suddenly, less than two years after the announcement, after all the time and money that went into it, the merger was dissolved. What happened? Each hospital's administration had assumed a genuine understanding of the other's philosophy about family planning. It turned out that the acquiring institution did not permit any family planning activities to occur. The acquired institution saw family planning as part of their charter. Each organization and its employees were strongly committed to their belief and thus the merger dissolved. Clearly, the thousands of wasted hours and millions of wasted dollars could have been saved by getting genuine understanding on one, up-front question.
The bottom line
Ineffective communication has a real cost. Besides the lost productivity that occurs immediately, over time trust erodes and this impacts performance and makes change more difficult. Without regular communication that allows people to reach genuine understanding, employee commitment is impossible to achieve.
So where do you start to build the skills and culture that supports effective communication and ultimately commitment? While it makes sense to start practicing the skills and behaviors when dealing with smaller, less complex issues to experience some successes, the key is to start. Otherwise, leaders and employees may continue to act on the basis of faux agreement or simply comply temporarily, leaving everyone the poorer for missing an opportunity to exercise their knowledge and creativity in the service of long-term success.
Related reading:
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Asch, Solomon E., Social Psychology, Prentice-Hall, 1952
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Hallowell, Edward M., The Human Moment at Work, Harvard Business Review, January/February 1999
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Kurtzman, Joel, An Interview with Charles Handy, Strategy & Business, (Booz, Allen & Hamilton), Fourth Quarter 1995
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Maney, Kevin, USA Today column, "Failure to define company's purpose led to AT&T's 4-way split", Nov. 1, 2000 (www.usatoday.com/money/columns/maney.htm)
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OfficeTeam, "'What are you talking about?' survey reveals seven weeks per year lost to poor communication" PR Newswire, Nov. 10, 1993
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Tannen, Deborah, The Argument Culture: Moving from Debate to
Dialogue, Random House, Inc., 1998
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Drawing on 20 years of policy-level experience, Paula Bartholome helps individuals and organizations gain a new perspective on communication and organizational issues to enhance performance, strengthen working relationships and increase job satisfaction. She also teaches courses on using stories in business settings at DePaul University’s School for New Learning. For more information, go to
www.parallax-perspectives.com.
© 2001 Ragan Communications, Inc.
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Phone: 1-800-878-5331 Fax: 312-960-4106
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