Workplace communication dysfunction

I'm currently working my second non-retail corporate job. My current job is with some of the same people as my last job, but it's a different company. The communication at this job sucks and it's driving me crazy. The communication at the last job sucked as well, so I'm not sure if it's carryover from employees, or if corporate America's communication skills are just shit. I didn't really pay attention to this type of thing when I was in retail because I went in, did what my boss told me to do that day, and left. Now that I'm managing a lot of information and helping in decision making processes, the lack of communication is evident and pisses me off on a daily basis. I bring this topic up in meetings every so often, but nothing ever changes. The unfortunate thing is the money this bullshit ends up costing the company. Does your workplace communicate like a dysfunctional family or am I alone in this?

 

Communication is a major issue here in Afghanistan. So is discipline, professionalism, loyalty and knowledge.

In my office, I keep a very tight schedule with all sorts of tasks for my employees. Unlike in developed countries, over here you have to be strict and extremely consistent. Any consistency issue will immediately be picked on by your subordinates and taken as another justification to slack off (not that they need any help with slacking off as it is).

Strictness rears its ugly head on the occasional time I see my employees willy-nilly change the tasks given to their own convenience (not for increased efficiency or effectiveness), so you have to really follow through with your threats. One of the major reasons I fired one guy a few days ago and will likely fire another soon enough.

Rampant miscommunication has in my experience (also in developed countries) almost always been a tool to impede fellow colleagues' and the company's progress in projects, forcing the project schedules to be extended/delayed, which is ultimately their goal. That way they can "legally" and morally take the workload easier and in turn procrastinate as well as slack off.

 

The interesting thing that I have seen where I work:
If you ask upper management whether they do a good job communicating they will positively gush about how hard they work at it, and the great pains taken to keep everyone informed.
Ask the people below them and you will hear that the executive team are A-Holes and don't communicate well at all.
And I think everyone is giving their honest opinion about the situation.

 

Communication, to me, is not just about communicating downwards. It is also not just about giving out information.

Listening, sharing common ground, disclosure and such-like are as important in communication as expressing feelings and providing information or setting out wants and expectations. Hierarchical organisations are usually less good at these things. From my experience of working in the USA, things are very hierarchical. However, it isn't always any better here. However, if people are engaged (instead of just told stuff) there is a better chance that they will understand (and, until understanding is achieved, communication hasn't happened). When all is said and done, more is normally said than done.

One of my bug-bears is the use of email. How often do people really need to email each other from across the office. I think that the majority of the time this is an ass-covering exercise and isn't about anything valuable. Same with texts. Talking and listening is under-rated.

Quite a lot of mundane communication can be subsumed into work processes, leaving us free to communicate about stuff that is actually useful.

 

Successful communication in any environment begins at the top. Upper management needs to set the example in communicating effectively. If they don't, they shouldn't be in their positions. There's no excuse for companies who fail to communicate properly within their organization or with customers and vendors.

As to Remixer's point - In the current working climate here in the US, miscommunication by employees with the intent of sabotaging a company's goals or reputation, won't fly very long. Unfortunately, upper management types who are inept, tend to linger on long past their sell by date. Some things never change.

 

And old one, but still good ..


In the beginning was the Plan.

And then came the Assumptions.

And the Assumptions were without form.

And the Plan was without substance.

And darkness was upon the face of the Workers.

And they spoke among themselves, saying, "It is a crock of shit, and it
stinks."

And the Workers went unto their Supervisors and said, "It is a pail of dung,
and we can't live with the smell."

And the Supervisors went unto their Managers, saying, "It is a container of
excrement, and it is very strong, such that none may abide by it."

And the Managers went unto their Directors, saying, "It is a vessel of
fertiliser, and none may abide its strength."

And the Directors spoke among themselves, saying to one another, "It contains
that which aids plant growth, and it is very strong."

And the Directors went to the Vice Presidents, saying unto them, "It promotes
growth, and it is very powerful."

And the Vice Presidents went to the President, saying unto him, "This new plan
will actively promote the growth and vigor of the company with very powerful effects."

And the President looked upon the Plan and saw that it was good. And the Plan
became Policy.

And this is how shit happens....

 

I used to work for a boss who wielded information as a weapon. He was threatened by all of his subordinates, and would withhold essential information until absolutely the last minute, making planning almost impossible and causing innumerable unnecessary delays. At one point in a meeting he asked if I had included the costs of a particular contract that had been signed; something I had expressly NOT done because to the best of my knowledge the contract had not been signed. When I asked when it had been signed, he replied over 2 weeks earlier. I asked him why I hadn't been informed (we had discussed it several times in that period), and he said I should be able to find these things out on my own. I suggested perhaps my source for finding out that information was appropriately him, and that I shouldn't have to go to him every day and ask if there was something new he knew about that I needed to know to do my function. He hit the roof. Mind you this was in a meeting with HIS superiors. He was moved shortly thereafter, and our team communication improved dramatically, as did our department's reputation.

 

I need to post that perspective poster on my wall at work. That and the Plan. I wish my bosses had the communications ability of Dilbert's boss. That would be an improvement.

 

The main problem we have here ( state government IT ) is that for several administrations the governors have been planning on consolidation, then outsourcing. We just have to work well enough to drag along and be effective, but we have been undercut, and over managed, and our cost has reflected this. I think this was done on purpose so that when the question finally comes before our legislators, it will obviously be more cost effective to outsource.

Problem is, so far we are still more cost effective than outsourcing. They keep trying to condition the numbers, and fail. But we have it from the CIO that we are going to outsource anyway. Morale is low here, for some reason.

 

Could you bid for the contract yourselves? That way, everyone could be happy (if you win).

 

This pretty much sums up my last workplace. That company was family run and the majority of the employees were family or close friends of the family. Everyone was suspicious of each other and there was absolutely no trust amongst anyone. The last person to know something was usually the first person who should have known, and this would cause last minute scrambles prior to every shipping sequence. My superior, the COO, would not speak to me unless it was absolutely, undeniably necessary. The power plays and passive agressivity was maddening. Had the economy not been in the toilet, I would have quit long before the company collapsed and I was let go.

My current supervisor is not a decision maker. He is a panicker and a flip flopper. He is actually very easy to talk to and I know I can voice concerns and he values my input, but the connect between needed information and passing it along just isn't there. He and his wife own the company; the wife is also very easy to talk to, but she is extremely unorganized. Between the two, the information just doesn't get to where it needs to go (it's not just an issue with me).

I actually like my job and I'm good at it. I like my employers, but I dislike their managing style. I guess no work environment is perfect.

 

The gov't has approved vendor lists. We'd have to start a contracting company, and get into the process somehow. As employees we wouldn't qualify to do this, so we'd have to quit first, then start a company. My guess is that we'd also have to be donating to the cause of the party(s) in power, but that is supposition... So, no, most likely not.