Removing the veil of secrecy


Removing the veil of secrecy

As discussed, businesses are not always the haven for winning the knowledge game. They are stuck with trying to second-guess what is happening, planned and learnt. This is particularly the case when secrecy, hearsay and bullying are feeding how a business operates.

To help overcome difficulties we need to expose those behaviours that are causing damage. The more transparent and honest the conversation, the more likely home truths will be discussed. This is not about running a propaganda campaign, but is about giving people meaningful feedback on what is the current state of play. This information needs to be placed in the hands of people who can suggest ways of proceeding.

When the plans and actions are decided managers need to back these up with well thought out and reviewed communication strategies. Choosing what to communicate is never easy, but from experience the answer is more often rather than less. Lend Lease Corporation is a global business that works hard to share the state of the business and to inform its people what is happening. Like many other organizations it publishes the company news for each day on its web site. The goal here is not to drown people in information but to feed them mission critical knowledge. Government organizations such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics have daily updates of corporate and team news.

So, whatever your business size or type, make it your job to audit the quality of your communication process on a regular basis, whether it is hit rates on new web pages or feedback from what people learnt from a staff meeting. Communication audits can take various forms, ranging from conducting formal surveys of your people s perceptions to vetting whether the key corporate messages are known and understood .

Here again the role of managers and team leaders is vitally important. If they do their job properly the business will work so much better. Remember to be very clever in how your business grabs and holds people s attention. In this fifteen-minute world it is very easy to become sidetracked.

In addition, it is worth noting that medium- sized to large businesses are increasingly appointing communication managers to keep an eye on the flow and quality of knowledge. This appointment, if conducted correctly, should improve the quality of communication and assist better decision-making.




Winning the Knowledge Game. Smarter Learning for Business Excellence
Winning the Knowledge Game. Smarter Learning for Business Excellence
ISBN: 750658096
EAN: N/A
Year: 2003
Pages: 129

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