The influence of communication on company culture

An opinon

Our workplace culture impacts our quality of life. This tight relationship becomes all the more relevant if we consider the time we spend at work, which rarely ends when we leave our workplace.

Many organizations believe that culture equals glamorous work gatherings with uncomfortable smiles of employees that 'had to join'. That, of course, can work in some cases. Yet, it all starts from the spontaneous, genuine interaction between people in an organization, across the hierarchy. These everyday interactions will ultimately determine if the company achieves its cultural goal, which is no other than sustained, unhindered performance and growth of happy individuals and, consequently, the growth of the company.

I don't believe in secret recipes, for a simple reason: taste is subjective. Each organization has a different favorite "meal" and all teams must strive to create their own secret sauce according to their needs and preferences.

Even so, certain ingredients are essential, and one of them is effective and healthy communication.

"Communication is Key" is one of the most common clichés when discussing business culture. For a good reason, though, because it describes and defines how well people interact and collaborate within the organization every single day. Communication encompasses many aspects besides the message conveyed, all of which can be developed by anyone who wishes to improve. Here are some Do's and Don'ts.

Gossip

Let's start with a solid DON'T. If there is one ingredient that messes up the recipe the most, that would be Gossip. Although expressing opinions about others is part of being human, undermining someone's reputation constitutes a serious problem that, if left unchecked in an organization, can cause irreparable damage by producing more gossipers, traumatizing victims of defamation, breaking down the body of the company in tribes, and consequently making the daily experience at work miserable for most, whether involved or not.

A remedy to prevent gossip from taking root is teaching people to be less tolerant of it, starting with managers and team leaders. Before anything else, humans are social beings, subject to peer pressure and capable of adapting fast to avoid feeling uncomfortable or excluded. If leaders consistently discourage gossip, others will take the hint and follow their example. This is considerably more effective than assembling people in a room and delivering verbose presentations about positive culture because it addresses the problem at the place and time it manifests. Furthermore, in occasions of evidently ill-intended gossiping, intervening quickly and decisively is necessary to limit the impact on others. 

Clear Expectations on How and What

Now that the elephant is out of the room, let's look into constructive practices. Experience shows that, when it comes to professional communication, setting clear expectations ranks high on the Do's list. Clear Expectations span two dimensions:  How we communicate and What we communicate.

The How represents the peripherals of communication; it refers to the way we and our counterparts expect communication to take place. This includes aspects such as frequency, structure, means, tone, confidentiality of information, timing, duration, and more. Initiating a discussion with questions such as: "Is email or a phone call more convenient to you?", "Do you prefer a quick video call or a detailed document?", " What format serves you best, text document or slides?", establishes functional boundaries and shows respect. As a consequence, the communication counterparts can better focus on the What.

The What represents the message. It is the core element of a discussion and needs to be treated accordingly. General good practices for the transmitter of a message are brevity, specificity, and adaptation to the audience. In a professional setting, communication is usually a means to communicate a situation and a proposed set of actions. If the topic is a risk in one of the projects, the message involves a set of suggested solutions, while if a team goes through a remarkable new business deal, there are kudos. A step that we often overlook is the scheduling of a follow-up. Scheduling follow-ups promotes accountability and efficiency. In summary, the simple principle for a complete message is to include roughly three parts: The situation, the proposed actions, and the follow-up.

Prioritization

We've all been in that situation where the to-do list suddenly grows beyond our capacity to meet all the deadlines. Contrary to the popular belief that the assigner of a task is the sole responsible for a reasonable workload, no balance can be achieved without the proper feedback from the assignee. In a high-velocity professional environment, the assignee is the primary responsible for her or his workload balance and capacity to deliver, by raising the overload flag and asking for prioritization.

Requesting the ordering of the current undertakings delivers a number of correct messages. First, it gently informs the assigner that the assignee is busy enough, without rejecting the assignment. Furthermore, the request for prioritization triggers the assigner to evaluate the urgency of a task (assuming that it was not done beforehand) and can help filter out unnecessary work, the so-called Muda 無駄 in lean process thinking. Finally, indicating that the additional work might put the completion of the rest at risk clearly defines where responsibility for the decision lies, that is, with the assigner.

"A man is as good as his word"

If you agree to take ownership of an endeavor, stay true to your word. Like all communication in life, its importance to individual reliability and the company's overall effectiveness can't be overstated.

A common misconception is that if we cannot meet the originally agreed objective or the deadline, we should avoid drawing attention and negative feedback. In practice, that is a dangerous course of action, where both the personal reliability and the outcome of the assignment are put at risk. Surprisingly, the result can be the opposite and may lead to reworking the task.

Instead, consider owning the task. Ownership means assuming responsibility to see the task through and deliver what you promised. When obstacles appear, raise them and propose solutions. When delays occur or your time estimates prove wrong, let the assigner know and renegotiate the objective. When unforeseen dependencies beyond your authority appear, ask for the help of your superiors. But always keep an eye on what you have promised to deliver and deal with hardships rather than quietly dodging them. A proactive response against impediments will make you a person to trust, an individual who doesn't need to be bossed around, but is the boss of oneself.

Clarity before Hierarchy

Climbing the organizational ladder comes with more responsibilities, or rather, more calls and multitasking. The phenomenon of managers and team leaders "not having too much time" is as old as the story of Exodus, when Moses had to appoint other "competent men" to help him resolve cases brought to him by the Israelites because he simply didn't have enough time! However, that is no excuse for discounts in communication clarity. The absence of clarity on objectives and tasks can have long-term effects on the productivity of the company, as a culture of frustration and avoidance of questions to superiors takes root. 

Employ Time-outs for heated discussions

Until AI systems start getting pissed off, anger remains a human privilege, which can occur in a professional situation as well. Naturally, different people respond differently to their angered feelings. If that happens, it is always a good practice to throw a time-out in the heated battle that is erupting. The reason is simple and fundamental: in a heated conversation, we might say things that we will probably regret afterward. In rare cases, we may even say something that might permanently impact our relationship with colleagues or even our growth path in the organization.

Time-outs are an opportunity to steam out without the above consequences, filter out the unnecessary or unflattering comments for others, and make sure we put the intentions of our counterparts in the equation. Experience shows that problems are dramatically smaller than they look at a moment of tension.

Looking back on company culture, emphasis on establishing effective communication habits is a key milestone on the way to "be better".

Simply reflecting on how often we return home with a troubled mind because of poor communication will be enough to convince us that it is worth the effort.

While the topics addressed here highlight common communication challenges, their solutions must be tailored to fit the unique culture each team aims to develop. Since communication extends to every possible aspect of our work, fostering an environment that values healthy and effective exchange of messages will directly influence the overall workplace culture.