Staying Aligned: Communication is Key

Communication is typically the most difficult yet most rewarding exercise one can execute in an organization. Whether leading a small group of centralized employees or a large number of geographically dispersed professionals, getting them aligned against a mission and keeping them on task is crucial. I don’t claim to be expert at this, by any measure, but I have practiced it for decades. 

The moment you share something with three people it’s likely heard no less than two different ways. We’re all familiar with “broken telephone”: the phenomenon of one person saying something to the person beside them and, by the time that information goes around the circle, the last person is privy to an entirely different story. Even if the words remain the same, it is possible that the intent is altered in some way. A message received is almost never as it was intended by the original messenger.

People learn and digest information differently. Only 20-30% of the population are auditory learners. So if your only means of communication is a meeting, a conference call, or a casual chat, it’s likely your message isn’t landing the way you hoped it would. In addition to learning styles, everybody processes messages through their own personal filters based on experience as well as their position in an organization. Some people will feel at risk while others feel empowered when a leader asks a question or states a new priority.

If you say the most important thing we can do is tackle Job A then whoever is working on Job B likely hears "What I’m doing isn’t as important." When we say "All hands on deck for this effort," should that be interpreted as stop everything you’re doing and pay attention to this task at the risk of all our other priorities? I don’t think so. At ATLAS, in order to strengthen communication and drive awareness and appreciation of each other, our entire company meets every Tuesday so employees can share their quarterly goals and what they’re working on that week. This provides the team with an opportunity to hear and understand what is important broadly across the company and establish alignment in meeting customer needs and corporate goals. Everyone has to be an active listener as well as an active learner in order to propel the company forward. We endeavor to keep the “telephone chain” intact using clear, direct, regular communications keeping the receiver in mind and how they need to hear a message to make it accurate and useful. ATLAS has grown four fold in three years. Communicating is a challenge and we recognize it’s critical. That’s why, even though we can always improve, we practice it every week!