What do you communicate?

Communication, we are told, is about sending and receiving messages as well as the context in which this is done. That this can be verbal and non verbal is assumed.

It is also generational, for those of us that grew up in the 70s & 80s, it was more of body language, remember how you politely declined anything you were offered when you went visiting with your mum and she cast a look at you? The millennial generation are the techies and # is the order of the day! #do you read me!!!

The message can therefore be misconstrued if not set in the proper context. However even when set in the right context, what do you communicate? For example, in the workplace, we are quick to draw up vision, mission and core values that in most cases, more than half of the employees, including the top management do not know or cannot remember once they leave the strategy session. What are you communicating? If this is the case, then such a strategy does not reflect your organization! If it is aspirational, it has to have a buy-in and commitment to drive the change through.

Back to our vision etc, we place it proudly on a plaque and hang it in conspicuous places. For example, I am yet to see an organization that does not have the value 'Respect' in one form or the other as a core value. Either respect for its employees or its clients. But what do you communicate when it becomes the norm in the organization for every boss to shout at or talk down to the associates? It is called shredding! What you have communicated is that this value is best left on the plaque, an ancient landmark!

Recently I was at a service centre of my preferred telecom provider and was pleasantly surprised to see posters splashed on the wall that its employees were there to make me smile! Smile I did but because the exact opposite was the case. I had to tell the employees there that from my first contact to the last (had about 4 contacts), none had smiled! One made the effort, after my comment, the others could not be bothered! What do you communicate?

In the workplace, communication should not be double speak, do as it is written in the policy and not as I do! We have inadvertently accepted that in the political space in this clime and we should be ready to raise the bar in the workplace. Communicate realistically and follow up to ensure the message is spread in the right context and understood. A very good example of what was rightly communicated was during the Ebola crisis when most firms not only pasted hand washing bulletins but equally provided wash basins and sanitizers. What was being communicated then was that hand washing and good hygienic practice would help stave off Ebola. I am not sure the same concentration has been placed on the information on Lassa fever more than reduction in the price of garri!

Communication in the workplace is not the responsibility of the human resources or communication departments. In drawing up the values of the organization, are we prepared to live it? In disseminating information in the workplace as a middle level manager, are we telling associates 'they say we should..'? As an employee, what do you communicate about your company in your neighborhood when you do not pay your rents or community dues?

For my preferred telecoms provider, what do you communicate when you say smile when you employed people who are stingy with smiles or who think they are doing clients a favour by attending to them?

Communication should be done with the end in sight. What is the intended result of our communication? What do we really want to communicate? These will help us shape our message and channel intentionally. Today, at your own level in the organization or in whatever space you are, pause and think through, what do you communicate?

Enabling Concepts Ltd is a business communication & customer service skill trainer.