Communicating: Are Your Employees Afraid to Say What They Think?
The management meeting is coming to close.
“Everybody on board with this?” you ask. “Any questions or concerns?” They nod
in agreement to the first one. By the time you’ve gotten to the second
question, most have already pulled out their phones to check email. It’s a day
or two later when you start to hear the rumblings. Maybe directly. Or, more
likely, filtered through intermediaries. That’s because the reality is that
much of the time in business people don’t say what’s really on their minds.
That can be a very effective strategy. Selling a
new business prospect, recruiting an employee, and speaking to the media are
examples of interactions where you’re likely to accomplish more by being
strategic and very selective about what you say to accomplish your objective.
But internally, within your company, the greatest
benefit will usually come from an environment where people feel free to speak
their minds. When people don’t speak up about what they really think, that
often ends up working against the common goal of the company’s success.
Effective communications leadership comes from, first creating the environment
where people feel free to express their opinions and, then managing the
discussion and decision-making process so that the end result will be
respected.
The reality is that, given the choice, most
people would rather speak up and say what’s on their minds. That’s true in
personal relationships as well as business. And in both cases, what often holds
people back is fear of the consequences that come from saying what they truly
feel.
In a corporate culture where people who don’t
automatically agree with everything that’s said are quickly branded as “not a
team player” or “difficult to work with,” employees quickly get the message
that there’s only one acceptable answer to the question of whether or not they
support a course of action.
A recent New York Times article on discord in the
workplace noted that it’s the leaders who set the behavior norms when it comes
to communication in the workplace. When people see healthy communication at the
office they’re likely to mirror that behavior. And experience has shown the
reverse is true as well: when there are no channels for healthy communication,
the indirect back channels and office politics tend to gain more traction.
Are you really getting full-value from
experienced employees if they’re afraid to voice their opinions? Yes, companies
are not democratic institutions and in the end, you—along with perhaps your partners
or other senior executives—must make the final decision. You may not agree with
everything your employees have to say, but demonstrating a willingness to
listen and opening up the process that leads to your choices will usually lead
to better understanding and acceptance of the decisions once they are made.
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