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Editorial Note:
This article provides a variety of places to look for added
performance and increased productivity by improving communication.
As the author states, communication is essential for a well-run
business. How we communicate is a vital business process. How is your business's communication skills?
Kay
Graham-Gilbert
How much has poor communication cost your company in the past
twelve months? Chances are, you have no idea. Chances are even
better it's a lot more than you can afford.
But you won’t find the numbers in the financial statements or
year-end departmental reports. Nothing shows up saying "lost
productivity due to miserable meetings" or "missed business
opportunities through sorry selling skills" or "employee quit
because there's no communication around here."
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Why? Because most people aren't sure
what communication really is.
Consider this: When companies conduct internal needs assessments,
communication virtually always surfaces near the top of the list.
But if you ask ten people who put it on the list exactly what they
meant, you’ll get ten different answers. People often can’t pinpoint
the problem—they just have a vague feeling communication isn’t
happening. Unfortunately, this vagueness relegates communication to
the bottom of the action list.
Truth is, communication isn't some warm and fuzzy "nice to have"— it
is nothing less than the lifeblood of your organization. If blood
doesn’t circulate at just the right pressure and speed to all parts
and extremities of the human body, that body sickens and eventually
dies. So, too, does an organization where communication doesn't flow
freely. |
Communication isn’t limited to vision and mission statements from the
top; it’s not just news releases publicizing financial results or new
product announcements; it’s not just internal or client newsletters,
annual reports or videotaped messages to the troops. These are all
important, but they form just a fraction of the communication—and
miscommunication—that takes place every day in the workplace.
What I call applied communication is written, spoken and non-verbal
interaction among people in order to get things done. It takes
co-operation to create a product. It takes collaboration to approach a
new market. It takes teamwork to implement a strategy. It takes this
applied communication to oil and run the machinery of business. And if
that machinery breaks down—as it often does—a great deal of money is
lost. It's in this area, applied communication, that we need to look for
the financial drain.
Loss of time
What does your time cost the company for each hour you are at work? A
good rule of thumb in calculating hourly cost is: annual salary divided
by 2000 (based on 50 40-hour weeks). When you know this figure for your
own time as well as that of your staff, you can begin to calculate the
cost of applied communication at work.
Meetings
Regardless of its purpose, a meeting is an exercise in applied
communication: you speak, you listen, you interact. I’ve never met
anyone in business who has not complained about meetings: too many, too
long, too boring. I would add to that: too expensive.
Consider meetings that are supposed to last an hour but somehow expand
to use up most of the afternoon. Calculate the hourly cost of total
participant time and multiply by the length of the meeting—and keep in
mind that the higher level the participants the more expensive the time.
The result may not sound too alarming, until you consider how many of
those meetings take place in your organization every day, every week,
every year. Do the arithmetic.
Correspondence
Letters, reports, memos, and now the ubiquitous e-mail—written
communication is an integral part of doing business. Unfortunately,
statistics show that corporate employees spend altogether too much time
writing it, and badly at that, so that those on the receiving end spend
too much time reading it!
If a $40,000-a-year employee spends just two hours a day reading,
writing and managing e-mail, that’s a $9,000 annual cost. Judging from
what people tell me about their work habits, two hours a day is a
conservative estimate. And what about those at much higher salary levels
who spend much longer writing every day? Do the arithmetic.
Presentations
People at all levels present information in a variety of settings in the
workplace every day. These presentations not only consume many hours in
the creation and preparation, but also the expensive time of those who
must listen to them. Unfortunately, poor presentation skills often
result in a futile exercise that communicates less than a simple written
report. How many useless presentations take place in a major corporation
every day? Do the arithmetic.
Loss of business
Sometimes salespeople know their "pitch" so well that they totally
ignore any input a prospective customer might give them. They barely
shake hands and sit down before they start talking. They blithely
prescribe their product or service as the cure for a problem, without
even finding out if such a problem even exists.
But an effective sales process is, in fact, a conversation, a two-way
exercise in applied communication. Done poorly, it can result in lost
sales and missed opportunity for ongoing business relationships.
Customer loss doesn’t happen only in the sales process, but can also be
spurred by an inept "customer service" exchange. When someone calls to
complain, the client relationship is at a fragile point. It can be
repaired through the right message well delivered, or broken beyond
repair by poor communication. When we consider the total lifetime value
of a customer relationship, we can truly appreciate the real dollar cost
of poor communication.
Loss of people
Whatever people tell their bosses about their reasons for leaving the
company, exit interviews often tell a different story. One of the most
common reasons cited is that they don’t feel anyone listened to them.
Day after day in the workplace, millions of people go through the
motions of talking with each other in person and on the phone,
constantly connected through technology, and never truly communicating
with one another. Study after study tells us that recognition and
respect are more motivating than money, and one of the best ways to show
people they are valued is to listen to them. Sadly, listening is
probably the most underused of all the communication skills.
So people leave. How much then does it cost to replace them? Studies
give a wide range, from a low of 25% of salary, plus benefits, to a
whopping 150%. Employee replacement represents yet another huge cost
that can at least sometimes be charged to poor communication.
By improving the way people (and I mean people at all levels) interact
in order to get things done, we can increase productivity—with its
attendant positive impact on the bottom line.
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Helen Wilkie is a professional keynote
speaker, workshop facilitator and author whose latest book is "The
Hidden Profit Center—a tale of profits lost and found through
communication." For more articles and other information, visit
http://www.mhwcom.com.
While you're there, sign up for Communi-keys and receive monthly
communication techniques directly from Helen.
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