If you don�t
think that our society is experiencing a communication overload, you
really are living under a rock. We can over-share every aspect of
our lives in real time via social media. We can record all of the
ups and downs of our personal sagas through blogs. We can call or
text anyone at any time.
And the
communication avalanche doesn�t exist just in our personal lives.
Today, it�s a lot easier to get in touch with coworkers and ask them
for information whenever and wherever you need it. And you can share
every detail of your current project with your boss just by clicking
�send.� We�re much better off than we were 20 years ago, right?
Well, maybe
not. According to OfficeMax cofounder, former CEO, and serial
entrepreneur Michael Feuer (pronounced �Foyer�), innovations in
communication sometimes make it more difficult to get the point
across.
�Since we can
say as much as we want in multiple forums these days, almost
everyone � including businesspeople � provide too much information (TMI)
in their exchanges,� points out Feuer, author of the new book The
Benevolent Dictator: Empower Your Employees, Build Your Business,
and Outwit the Competition. �In many organizations, the art of
cutting to the chase has been lost.�
Feuer knows
what he�s talking about. He has been involved with launching a
number of business ventures, including OfficeMax and Max-Wellness, a
recently launched one-of-its-kind health and wellness retail chain
concept.
The lessons
he�s learned have convinced him that a great leader�s management
style should mirror that of a benevolent dictator, which is not as
scary as it sounds. Because at the end of the day, the dictator side
of you calls the shots and makes the difficult decisions, but your
benevolent side does so while putting the interests of the
organization and your customers ahead of your own. And part of being
a benevolent dictator is requiring clear, concise communication at
all levels, so that key decisions can be made quickly and
effectively.
�Before today�s
instant transmission of words and numbers by lightning-fast speed,
you had to talk to your boss in person, on the phone, or in a hard
copy report,� Feuer explains. �In all of those formats, it was in
your best interest to get to the point quickly. These days, though,
there are e-mail in-boxes, shared calendars and documents, instant
messaging programs, and much more. Employees can send a constant
stream of information to others � and that�s a problem that�s
bleeding into face-to-face interactions, too.�
If you�ve ever
asked an employee or a coworker a basic question and gotten an
e-mail that took you 15-minutes to read and answer that should have
taken 30-seconds, then you know what Feuer is talking about. �Your
team members may want to provide you with excessive detail in the
hope that you will recognize them as the ultimate experts on various
topics. However, you must let them know that a succinct response is
much more valuable.�
To encourage
more concise and effective communication in your organization,
consider Feuer�s tips:
Be clear
about what you need.
The first step in encouraging concise communication is to be
straightforward about what you need. In other words, if you don�t
want to read between others� lines, don�t force them to do so with
you. Remember, though, that one size doesn�t fit all, so you may
have to infuse your cut-to-the-chase request with humor or
compliments to soften the message � or you may have to resort to the
�ton of bricks� approach.
�When someone
is giving me way too much information, I politely interrupt and tell
him that I recognize him as an expert on the subject matter being
discussed,� Feuer shares. �Then I say that since I know it�s a given
that this person knows his stuff, I merely need a short sound bite.
Usually, this strategy soon leads to more frequent one- or
two-sentence summaries. If it doesn�t, well�that�s when the ton of
bricks comes in!�
Overhaul
voice mail and e-mail.
If someone is consistently wordy with you, odds are that person is
loquacious in most other situations, too. Asking her/him to put the
bottomline upfront when reporting to you is a good first step, but
you must be sure that person is applying this lesson to other
aspects of the workday. A good place to start is with voice mail and
e-mail, since these forums are used frequently throughout the day.
�Survey your
team members� current responses for their business e-mail and
telephone messages, and prepare to be shocked by the content and
length,� Feuer advises. �Then supervise the shortening process. You
may even have your HR or PR department provide brief scripts for
employees who have trouble keeping their messages short. Each script
should be tailored to the person�s job function and provide an
alternate contact for emergencies. I think you�ll find that your
team appreciates the scripted assistance, because it gives them one
less thing to worry about.�
Talk through
conversations.
Now that you�ve tackled e-mails and recorded messages, it�s time to
move on to something a little less predictable � conversations.
While you can�t control every word that comes out of your team
members� mouths, you can establish standards of what is appropriate.
Tell them that brevity and clarity are key, and point out that these
things will set your organization apart from the competition. After
all, clients and callers will appreciate the chance to do as much
talking and question-asking as they want.
�Also consider
asking your employees to end all conversations and messages with a
tagline that expresses your organization�s best attribute,� suggests
Feuer. �Some tried-and-true examples are �Your satisfaction is our
number-one priority,� and �Getting to the point makes us better.� At
Max-Wellness, our branding tagline is simply �Be well.� I�ve found
that clients respond better to these than gratuitous endings like
�Have a stupendous day.��
Get frequent
updates from key people.
(Simply put, micro-manage.) Somewhere along the line,
micro-management has become a bad word. It conjures up images of
bosses who can�t delegate, who don�t trust their team members, and
who don�t give employees room to do their best work. No, you
shouldn�t do your team�s work for them, but according to Feuer, you
should get regular as well as succinct updates from key people.
These fast-and-frequent communications allow you to keep your finger
on your organization�s pulse.
�When you know
what�s happening in real time, you can accelerate your
organization�s growth and prevent garden-variety problems from
snowballing into disasters of epic proportions,� explains Feuer.
�During the first 18 months of OfficeMax, I required every store to
call my home seven nights a week to give me sales figures, which I
recorded in a ledger. This ritual helped me to manage our growth by
knowing our daily cash-flow, with an emphasis on accounts payable
down to the last few dollars. This protocol not only accelerated our
growth but set a management style for executives to operate in a
similar know-what�s-happening fashion. Don�t underestimate the
importance of remaining aware of the flow of factual information!�
Use your
negatives sparingly.
Say you�re telling your team everything they need to know, but you
still aren�t getting the results you want. What gives? Well, the
problem might lie in how you�re delivering that cut-to-the-chase
sound bite. Think about it. How many of your announcements start
with a negative, followed by a litany of unpleasant consequences?
(For example, �If we don�t increase sales next month, we�ll have to
start letting people go.�)
�Many leaders
think that this style is more forceful and expedient, but it�s
actually counterproductive,� says Feuer. �If you make too many of
these negative announcements, your employees will be motivated only
by fear and desperation � at least in the beginning. As time goes on
and a majority of your threats don�t come to pass, your team will
come to see you as a knucklehead. Consequently, they�ll start to
ignore your message altogether.�
Look in the
mirror.
The Golden Rule � �do unto others as you would have them do unto
you� � definitely applies to leadership and business. It�s always a
good idea to treat your team as participants and partners in
whatever you�re doing; not just as people to blame when something
goes wrong. Remember that they appreciate appropriate amounts of
respect and praise, and that they also enjoy being given credit for
having the ability to grasp the obvious.
�If you�re not
getting the results you want, you might be the problem,� Feuer
claims. �Leaders, especially those nearer to the top of the
organizational hierarchy, sometimes forget how it felt to be
directed. Ask yourself how you�d want to be told to do something
important. Chances are it wouldn�t be to do something or else face
dire consequences, without any further explanation. When you�re open
about what�s at stake and use a logical positive tone, you�ll
probably find that your communications take root and grow.�
Remember
that the medium is the message.
If you�re like most leaders, every minute of your day is more than
spoken for. Thus you may tend to tell your team what they need to
hear, regardless of the overreaching circumstances. Despite your
busy schedule, always try to keep in mind that the vehicle or venue
you select to deliver your directive is just as important as the
point itself. Good news should be presented in an upbeat setting,
and more serious subjects should be broached in a setting that�s
strictly business.
�Delivering a
serious concern about sales would be an inappropriate announcement
to make at an awards event, for instance,� says Feuer. �Knowing when
to say the right thing will lend your message credibility and
significance.
�Yes, there
will always be some people who will require the ton-of-bricks
approach when it comes to giving and receiving appropriate
communication,� Feuer concludes. �But if you�re open about the level
of succinctness that you want and model those behaviors yourself,
you�ll find that most of your team will get on board quickly. And
chances are, they�ll also be grateful that you�ve cut out all the
background noise.�
Michael
Feuer cofounded OfficeMax in 1988 starting with one store and
$20,000 of his own money, a partner, and a small group of investors.
As CEO, he grew it to more than 1,000 stores worldwide with annual
sales topping $5 billion. He is also CEO of Max-Ventures, a venture
capital and retail consulting firm, and founder and CEO of
Max-Wellness, a comprehensive health and wellness retail chain
launched in 2010.
