So, why is it such a problem?

The following are five reasons that cause or aggravate deficiencies in communication. You may be able to observe all of them in your organization.

1. Vague responsibilities and poor discipline
   A trivial issue of failing to spell out who is responsible for dissemination of information and facilitation of the communication process can be easily overcome by creating a communication plan, either verbal or written (whatever is appropriate) and sticking to it. Are you delegating it to someone? Be specific on the expectations, the media and the protocol.
   
   
2. Lack of transparency
   “We cannot make it public knowledge”
   “It would not be appropriate”
   “We need to ensure X is ok with us saying this, but he is on vacation for two weeks”
   Sounds familiar? Of course it does. Instead of communicating openly, organizations routinely engage in political hopscotch, which unavoidably produces a brood of worst kept secrets, gossip and uncertainty. And uncertainty kills productivity.
   I command you - cut through this stuff, be proactive and foster the spirit of transparence within your organization. Squash gossip by providing trustworthy information.
   
   
3. Efficiency
   The human brain is an incredibly efficient device, capable of processing massive amounts of information quickly and efficiently. Such processing power is possible due to the presence of synapses, which allow neutrons to exchange information in a parallel mode. It is the power of our brains that makes the otherwise pretty unimpressive hairless ape the most powerful animal on Earth.
   
   Those organizations that encourage communication in all directions and at all levels, not unlike in a neural network, are the ones that are nimble, quick and powerful. They thrive.
   
   
4. Poor content
   Communication that lacks substance and relevance, no matter how wordy or even eloquent, is useless if not harmful. Provide information, not data; ideas, not words.
   
   
5. Lack of discipline
   Nothing to say here but that we all goof off, forget, procrastinate and drop the ball. There is no excuse for it. Maybe I‘ll talk about how to deal with these later… perhaps next time… if I remember!

By the way, I’ll be speaking on the Best Practices in Business Cases at the Toronto Chapter of the International Institute of Business Analysts (http://www.iibatoronto.org) on May 28. Check with them if you’re interested in attending as a guest.

Comments (3)

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written by dalex, May 03, 2008

Hi Ilya,
You have put main causes perfectly. And I would like add one more. it is an obvious cause and we tend to forget about it. I am speaking about an 'a usual way to do things here' pattern in communication between different business groups. it deteriorates an initiative to be proactive and innovative.

Thank you for your summary of main stones on our way to success in projects.

Sergio Korban

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written by ibogorad, May 05, 2008

Thank you for your comment.
Yes, this is easily one of my favourites. I have recently become aware of an interesting dynamic in one of the leading Canadian banks, between a development team and a testing team. Apparently, it is nothing short of a war, with name calling and finger pointing, which makes their development cycles last forever.

I asked the person in charge of the whole area if they were doing anything about it, and he replied that there is nothing to be done, because - you guessed it! - "it is just how thing work around here". Beats me.

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written by ps5, May 18, 2008

A good start and all points are SOOO true. May I also add:
* failure to understand that different audiences have different communications needs (one size does NOT fit all!)
* poor or non existant governance structure for communications
* wrong sender of the message (users will pay more attention if the manager delivers the message than if it is sent by some PM they don't know)
* lack of feedback loops (e.g. project mailbox) to quickly identify when messages have not landed as intended
* bringing in a professional with project experience

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