Open Communication…How Important is it really?

In the context of the professional organizational realm, open communication is used in order to maintain stability and more importantly, success for the organization. In a time of shaky economics, many employees and team players question the reliability of those in charge. It is now even more important that communication is used frequently and clearly to remove any form of fear, or apprehension that may cost an organization not only monetary value, but also trust and honest work ethic. This week, Astronology discusses open communication, and how important it really is for an organization.

BNET.com provides the definition of open communication as a: "climate[that] encourage employees by supporting them, allowing them to participate in decision-making, and by trusting them, which assures the integrity of information channels." It is important to note that although not every employee maybe equipped in order to make certain executive decisions, in some small way, employees can help in decision making, whether it is through their input made at a staff meeting, or perhaps in a suggestion box. It is up to the human resource representatives in an organization to provide these outlets, of open communication channels and also to promote their use in the organization. BNET also explains, "Such openness ultimately rewards both the individual and the organization in providing an environment where people thrive and enterprise flourishes.'" Without a doubt, when employees feel as though they have a share in how their organization is run, they feel confident of its future and furthermore, present their best work ethic to the organization.

The Challenge
A big challenge that many human resource representatives face when trying to create a more open communication environment within an organization is resistance from executives. Why so? An article in Business Horizons mentions, "Perhaps many CEO's and other top officials prefer the company of their peers to those who do not share their perspective." This is a dangerous mentality as it can lead to a communication study term called, "groupthink" Groupthink is a phenomenon where a team or a group makes a decision not based on the actual problem, but rather to keep harmony within a group...pleasing the group members, but never actually analyzing the problem properly. Such a situation can spell disaster for an organization. The article also suggests that, "perhaps like generals on the battlefield, they [CEOs] are fascinated with strategy [rather] than tactics. Regardless, of the reason, it is extremely rare to find CEOs or other top officials who actively seek out a down-in-the-trenches perspective."

Rare Exceptions
Since it is a rare exception to find an organization with a high open communication environment, what examples do we have? For starters, there is Alabama Gas, and General Electric.

Alabama Gas
In the late 1980's, Mike Warren became the CEO of Alabama Gas. He recognized that the company's union was in bad shape and proceeded to launch a very visual campaign to motivate change and promote a more open environment. His first step was creating a 20-foot papier-mache dinosaur with a stake in its heart to illustrate that the old ways of the organization were finished. He wheeled the dead dinosaur to each department in the company. His follow-up to this display was his interaction with the employees. He regularly attended meals with union leaders. He surveyed employees and took their suggestions to heart. If he saw union workers laboring, he made certain to stop and speak with them. His honest, (yet quirky) approach to opening the doors of communication between white and blue collars of the same organization allowed for a definite change within the organization. Employees felt his honest and sincere attempts and realized that they were not being manipulated. Slowly, but surely, Alabama Gas became a more open and successful organization, and Mike Warren is highly regarded as a leader.

General Electric
One particularly effective system General Electric (GE) uses is called "Integrated Diversity". The design of the system, pioneered by former CEO Jack Welch, is supposed to help different departments work together...transferring skills across the board. Welch believed with this system General Electric had to be outstanding in transferring management techniques and practices. With the transferring of these skills across departments, it began to promote an enhanced communication environment. For instance, each of the company's 14 divisions has a leader who reports directly to the CEO. This direct communication permits a short cycle in critical decision-making and little interference of other staff (think of the game "telephone"). This means input from other staff members can be submitted to the CEO through these divisional leaders. This allows reassurance to employees that they are being heard.

Furthermore, General Electric conducts a structure called the, "Corporate Executive Council (CEC)". The CEC is a panel of 30 or 40 senior GE executives from each of the company's division, who meet for 2 days each quarter. The informal gathering puts an "emphasis on sharing information and ideas openly". By the closing of the council everyone has seen and discussed the same information, from the company's success to its failures. This similar structure is used in GE for lower levels. Once a year GE managers meet for a series of discussions formally and informally. Later in the year, a more select group of top GE bosses meet for an additional two-day session that is more strategic in nature.

Considering that General Electric is a huge conglomerate that encompasses medical systems, plastics, financial services, aircraft engineers, major appliances and even a television station, its understandable why they have so many different groups and meetings in order to facilitate open communication within the organization. The important thing is that they seek to diversify these groupings so there is a wide variety of input...granting a high volume of open communication. Perhaps this is why despite the economic hardship the company is still inking business deals through careful decision-making.

Clearly, not all of Astronology's readers are human resource representatives or executive managers that belong to huge organizational structures such as Alabama Gas or General Electric. Yet, these big companies provide us all with examples by their efforts to create and execute open communication plans. They must have noticed that the eventual positive turnover would be worth the venture.

Whether your organization would like to initiate such an environment with a simple suggestion box, or with more staff meetings (which includes more involvement!), the key notion is to find a way to expand the open communication so that all can feel part of the organization. Such a culture gives a fertile ground for success and innovation. Who doesn't want that?