It's The Communication, Stupid!

  I spent the better part of my career working in human resources, mostly in the healthcare industry. After getting laid off in 1997, I started my own HR consulting firm (which I had until 2002), working with small- and medium-sized companies as a sort of “virtual HR department” as they were usually too small to warrant having a human resource employee on staff. One of the common threads I noticed about every single one of our clients was that every problem in business- with the possible exception of actual theft – boiled down to one thing: communication. There’s a saying among HR professionals that “human resources would be so much easier if it weren’t for all the people”. Well, duh. And working with humans means that communication is essential if any business is going to succeed. Even the single, solo entrepreneur, who has no employees or staff of any kind, still has to communicate with his or her customers, vendors, suppliers. What can be so bad about communication, you ask? Well, it’s late, or it’s poor, or it’s wrong, or it’s sent to the incorrect audience. It’s early. Loud. Badly worded. Incomplete. Too long. Too short. You name it: it happens. So how do companies ensure that their communication is effective? Well, we can always start with that old cliché, the Golden Rule. Deal with other people the way you’d like to be dealt with. Courtesy has a lot to with it, and frankly, that’s one of the areas of business training that appears to be sorely lacking these days. Using simple, common polite manners goes a very long way toward creating a business climate that is positive, not negative. I have my own little set of rules that I try to remember when I’m dealing with anybody, even my children. They’re incredibly corny, but very effective, no matter how old you are, what kind of business you’re in or what level of position you hold. Here we go with my “Three Bees of Communication”. (You want corny? When I present these at workshops, I usually use bumblebees as the graphic to accompany them):  Three Bees of Communication:
 

• Be honest: don’t hold back, and make sure that you’re being 100% truthful.
• Be accurate: for goodness’ sake, have your facts checked and your ducks in a row before you say anything.
• Be kind: this is probably the most important “bee”. If you want your information to be received well, you need to give careful thought (especially if it’s not good news) as to how you present it.

Oh, and don’t forget that half of communication is listening. Ever had a conversation with someone you just know was 1000 miles away and not hearing anything you said? You have two ears and one mouth, so you should be listening twice as much as you talk. And even if you’re delivering bad news, you can present it honestly and effectively in such a way that your audience walks away knowing they were dealt with fairly. It’s just like my mother used to tell me, “It’s not what you say, but how you say it.”