Having spent the last few years applying my soft skills to the tech sector, I’m struck by the tenacity we have on both the business and technology side to focus on the tool rather than the problem. We all know it’s a false starting point and yet, when faced with a barrier or a challenge, we jump to “There’s a tool for that!”
I’ve grown particularly interested in the spotlight being placed on employee engagement, specifically in large public sector organizations. In cracking open this multi-faceted issue, we see leadership challenges, the changing needs of an evolving workforce, and I would argue, a misplaced reliance on communication tools.
In exploring the issue with staff, I’m told, “We don’t know what’s going.”, “We’re more familiar with the organizations we’re servicing than our own”, “We get these emails but they don’t SAY anything." As recipients of sanitized communication products vetted and distributed by senior management, staff feel they're being kept in the dark.
Increased frustration typically leads to action, and that action usually calls for two things: traditional communication vehicles (newsletter, executive emails) and technology (social media site, collaboration tools), neither of which can truly address the problem.
You can acquire the most sophisticated collaboration tool or produce the most beautifully worded and stylishly formatted newsletter, if your organizational culture is not attuned to communicating, these will have little to no impact.
Look around your organization and consider:
Do we call each other up to grab a coffee or lunch on a regular basis?
Are our spontaneous interactions graced with work related conversations or cordial and brief exchanges?
Do we tend to get caught up in conversations pre-post meetings?
Are we interested in knowing what's going on? Sufficiently interested to call someone up to find out?
An organization that doesn't TALK amongst each other won't consume formal communication to a level that makes it worth the effort.
As an avid user of collaboration and communication tools, I understand why the common reflex has us start here. In reflecting on the environment, it's worth considering the fostering of a culture of communicators and information seekers as a more effective starting point.
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