The frustrated communicator

It's no wonder that the role of employee communicator is often a burnout job.

How many times have you had a story ready to go out to your organization's employees, only to have it pulled or drastically changed at the last minute by executives who are nervous, or have second thoughts, or just feel like getting under the hood and getting their hands dirty?

I'm not sure if any other profession has this particular problem, or at least has it to the degree we do. And that's understandable, because once something is published, it's out there, exposed for all to see, and there is no shortage of critics and nitpickers in the corporate world. Many executives are perfectionists. That's how they achieved their success. And they're politically aware. That's how they survived their journey to the top. And they're overly sensitive because all they do all day is deal with a myriad of problems and complaints. They don't need another one caused by a newsletter article.

But time and time again I've seen this kind of instinctive, meddlesome behaviour frustrate and demotivate communicators, and leave employees in an information vacuum. There is no fully effective vaccine for this illness, but there are some tactics that will help reduce outbreaks and help the wounds caused by it heal faster:

1. Do it right. A well-researched, well-written article that has been checked by subject matter experts has a far better chance of getting out than one that has factual errors and poor transitions.

2. Get buy-in ahead of time. If an issue is sensitive, discuss the approach you're going to take ahead of time and get approval in principle. No surprizes equals less meddling.

3. Stick up for yourself. Communicators, especially ones early in their careers, often end up just giving in. But if you have the courage to say, "Look, this shouldn't be happening" and back up your defence based on sound principles like the need for open, timely communication, you'd be surprised at how much respect you'll earn.

4. Empathize. Executives are humans, too, although sometimes it doesn't seem that way. Try to understand what motivates the irksome behavior instead of just being angry with it.

5. Have a drink. Straight vodka works for me.

Comments

[Mark]

One important thing to add to the list is data. Meausurement is worth infinitely more than a communicator saying it is so (even if we're right). Let the data speak for itself, lead your leader to the right conclusions and you're on the path to acceptance.

[Ron Shewchuk]

Yes! You are so right, Mark. One of the best ways to stymie meddlesome behavior is to show that it results in very poor approval ratings from employees. It is extremely powerful to say to an executive, "Employees do not trust this company's leaders, and here are the numbers that prove it." Everyone wants credibility, and if you can show that the current approach to communication is destroying it, you will get a strong mandate to change things for the better.

[Brian Pituley]

IT (Information technology) suffers the same slings and arrows that Ron makes reference to. All too frequently an IT project is on the rails, technically right for the corporate computing environment _and_ the business need, only to have an executive come along and change the project spec or the vendor. The result is usually a technically inferior solution delivered at a higher cost.