Get Off the Island!
Bridging the Gap at Work
Communication—it’s something all of
us can do better. News for a Change thought that it
might be wise to get some tips from an expert on
practical communication. We’ve asked Meryl
Runion, author of the book, PowerPhrases! The
Perfect Words to Say It Right and Get the Results
You Want, to share her insights on
interdepartmental communications, which clearly can
be extended to customer-supplier team
communications.
Coming home from a presentation in Wilmington, DE,
I scored a first-class upgrade for the
Atlanta-Colorado Springs segment of the journey. I
knew exactly how I was going to spend my time. As
soon as I settled in, I was going to put in my
earplugs and put on my noise reduction headset. I was
going to put my eye mask over that, snuggle up with
my pillow, and settle into three hours and 20 minutes
of rest, reflection, relaxation, and
meditation.
My plans changed when I overheard the man seated
next to me speaking with someone behind
him.
“What have you been up to?” the man
from the next row asked.
“Homeland security,” my new seatmate
replied.
In that one instant, my plans changed. I wanted to
know all about my seatmate and the project in which
he was involved.
He calls himself “Tiger.” He is a part
of a team sent to Washington, DC, to get the 22
agencies and departments that are responsible for our
security to communicate with one another.
I was preparing to go to Boulder, CO, to get the
six departments of a drug manufacturing company
talking to each other. Compared to Tiger’s
project in DC, my job in Boulder now seemed
easy.
Although the lack of communication between
departments in the U.S. government became glaringly
obvious in 2001, the breakdown of communication in
corporate America has received less attention. Within
our corporations, two-thirds of employees say there
is poor communication between departments. In a way,
departments function like islands. They are separated
physically with different locations, functionally by
different roles, financially by separate accounting
procedures, and verbally because they speak different
languages. This can result in overlapping
responsibilities, unnecessary conflict, and poor
customer care.
Improving understanding between departments is
complex, so any effort to bridge the gap needs to
include creating shared principles of communication.
The PowerPhrase® principles provide clear
guidelines for interdepartmental communication that
can mitigate the effects of separation caused by
compartmentalization.
A PowerPhrase is a short, specific expression that
gets results by saying what you mean and meaning what
you say without being mean when you say it. Each
aspect of this definition is vital to ensuring
effective communication.
Short
A PowerPhrase is short. When it comes to
communication, less is more. This is particularly
true with interdepartmental communication where the
receiver is much less concerned with the subject than
the one communicating.
Mary was upset when the project she sent to Jesse
in the graphics department was not completed at the
promised time. She stormed into Jesse’s office
and exclaimed, “Why didn’t you tell me? I
would have subcontracted it out!” Jesse
protested that in fact he did tell her—in a
single spaced, two- page memo he circulated to the
department heads. He began by informing them of the
urgent new project he had just been assigned. After
several paragraphs of explaining this new project, he
talked about the chain of command and the procedures
he follows to prioritize work. In the third paragraph
of page two, Jesse discussed exactly how it would
affect his work schedule. He closed with two
paragraphs of apology; detailing the quick fixes he
could do if necessary and expressed his appreciation
for everyone’s patience and
understanding.
Mary’s boss took one look at the memo and
did not see the relevance of it. As a result, Mary
never saw the memo.
She might have been informed had Jesse’s
message not gotten lost in too many words. A
PowerPhrase would have been to say:
“Due to a high priority project, all
scheduled project deadlines will be extended by
five days. This will affect work orders by the
following five people...I regret the
delay.”
Keeping it short is particularly effective in
e-mail communication. Ideally, the bulk of the
message needs to be included in the subject line. The
opening paragraph should make it clear what action
the sender wants accomplished. For example, a subject
line of “Company Picnic July 30th! RSVP by July
3rd “ would be far more likely to get a reply
than one that only mentioned “Company
Picnic” in the subject line. Even worse would
be a subject line that said “Interdepartmental
Memo,” which gives no insight into the
content.
Remember: Keep it short, get right to the point,
and go into detail only if necessary and only after
the main points are communicated.
Specific
A PowerPhrase is specific. Being specific is an
important part of the definition of a PowerPhrase,
and it is even more essential in interdepartmental
communication. Each department has its own language,
and, unless meanings are spelled out, there is ample
opportunity for misunderstanding. What is assumed in
one department may be a foreign language in
another.
Gene was upset when the samples he’d given
to research for testing did not come back to him on
time. Gene had not been specific about the urgency of
the work order. When he dropped the samples off, he
said, “These are important.”
In Gene’s mind, that comment was clear.
Anyone else from his department would know that
remark meant that other priorities should be set
aside. Gene was not aware that almost everyone who
dropped work off at research claimed his or her
project was important. There was nothing to separate
his request from the others. Gene would have received
his samples back on time had he been more specific.
He could have said, “Fifteen design engineers
are awaiting further testing on these samples. We
need to get these back immediately so they can resume
work and complete this project.”
A few more words—yes, but none of them is
fluff. The message is clear. Remember: Say exactly
what you mean and get exactly what you
want.
Results
PowerPhrases get results. We often communicate in
ways that elicit responses that are opposite to the
ones we were hoping to get. Ask yourself how you can
communicate in a way that is most likely to produce
what you want.
For example, someone in the sales area might say
to a person in production, “We’re losing
accounts because you can’t get your act
together and get products out fast
enough.”
The likely effect of this comment is that production
will end up complaining to each other about how sales
never considers their needs. Together they may even
conspire to hold fast to their timetables so that
sales won’t expect so much.
A more effective approach would be to say:
“We have a big new account on the line that
insists on a 10-day turnaround. We need your help to
hook this one account. Is there anything we can do to
make it possible for that kind of turnaround to
happen? It would be a windfall for our
company.”
This phrasing is more likely to get results
because it expresses the importance of the effort for
the benefit of the company and elicits cooperation
from production to work with sales as a team. By
addressing production as an equal, the sales
department increases the likelihood of
cooperation.
Remember: Before you speak, ask what results you
seek.
Meaning
PowerPhrases say what you mean. Do not hold back
what needs to be said and, whatever you do,
don’t hint! Make your point directly.
Barbara found that when some agents from her
travel department handled her arrangements, they were
more accommodating than others. She suspected that
some bent the rules and others followed them more
rigidly. She found that some agents were sloppy in
the arrangements, and there were errors and omissions
in her arrangements and itinerary.
Barbara hesitated to rock the boat, but she
wasn’t getting her needs met. She didn’t
know the culture in the travel department and was
very careful about what she said about what other
agents were doing for fear of getting someone in
trouble. This caused her inconvenience and
frustration.
When she vented her frustration to a friend, her
friend suggested that Barbara speak up. She did, but
she toned her message down. Barbara explained the
occasional inconsistencies to the department
supervisor. The supervisor did not fully understand
Barbara’s message because Barbara did not
really say what she meant. As a result, the
supervisor did nothing. Finally, when she
couldn’t take it any more, Barbara marched down
to the supervisor and said, “Why don’t
you take my complaints seriously? I told you things
weren’t right and nothing has changed!”
The supervisor was shocked. He thought Barbara was
being completely irrational.
Barbara would have been better off saying what she
meant from the beginning. She should have said:
“I’m frustrated because every agent
handles things differently, and I don’t know
how to get what I need. I also am frustrated because
I have experienced the following five errors in
scheduling or in listings on my itinerary….
What can be done to make it easier to get accurate
travel arrangements?”
Remember: Saying what we mean is a risk—but
when we say it in a nonaggressive way, the risks are
minimized.
Follow Through
PowerPhrases mean what they say. When you make a
request, the best way to get a response is to follow
through on what you say.
Mike is in maintenance. There is a standard
procedure for work orders; however, many employees
prefer not to fill out the forms and, instead, they
corner Mike in the hall with their requests. Mike
used to refer them to the forms, but when they
resisted, he accommodated their requests. As a
result, Mike finds it challenging to keep his orders
organized.
Mike realized that by honoring requests that were
not made according to procedure, he was teaching
people that the procedures had no meaning. People
learned that if they didn’t want to fill out
the forms, they didn’t have to follow the
process. These procedures kept Mike’s workday
orderly, so he began to insist on work order forms
for all non-emergency requests. Mike told his fellow
employees, “Please submit your written requests
to me on the work order forms. I will no longer
accept oral requests.”
His co-workers soon learned that he meant what he
said, and they got in the habit of filling out the
appropriate forms.
Remember: Do not say something unless you intend
to back yourself up.
Wording
PowerPhrases are not mean when you say them. This
is the PowerPhrases principle that makes many people
stop and think about their wording. Many people
sacrifice clarity for kindness or sacrifice kindness
for clarity. It is possible to have both.
PowerPhrases avoid blame, judgment, and
accusation. Instead of saying “Your staff is
incompetent” the message should be “Here
are the problems I’ve been
having.”
Sales and production, faculty and administration,
and accounting and marketing often have traditional
rivalries, which can become personalized and
reinforced in an accusatory style of communication.
PowerPhrases come from a perspective that is
inclusive: “I have my needs and you have
yours—how can we integrate the
two?”
For example, you might say: “I know it seems
my staff constantly is circumventing procedures you
have established. How can we streamline the
procedures, so we can get the essential information
to you when a crisis occurs?”
This wording acknowledges the competing priorities
of the two departments and attempts to integrate the
two. This is far more effective than saying,
“You don’t get it, do you?” or
“You don’t understand what we do around
here.”
Remember: A PowerPhrase does not shoot a cannon
when a BB would work.
Summary
Whether you work in a coffee shop, a large
corporation, or for Tiger’s homeland security
team, PowerPhrases keep interdepartmental
communication clear. A common understanding of the
PowerPhrase principles among departments can create
clarity and receptivity to the different perspectives
between them. Having common principles of
communication can mitigate some of the effects of
separate functions, locations, and procedures, even
if you do speak different languages.
Although effective communication alone cannot
solve all problems between departments, it eliminates
conflict and breaks down barriers that keep people
working on their own islands.
MERYL RUNION began her career by designing
effectiveness measures for use by police departments
all across the country. Runion has a master’s
degree in the science of creative intelligence and is
certified as a stress management expert. She is known
as a speaker and author across the United States,
Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. You may
contact her via e-mail at ms.meryl@att.net .
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