A Failure To Communicate Can Be Costly

What happened when managers didn’t communicate?

•     Productivity dropped 75% from 4.8 hours/day to 1.2 hours/day

•      Social chat and gossip increased more than 100% from 1.5 hours/day to 3.2 hours/day

Shocking, isn’t it?

 But hold on to your hat…

Those are stats from a 1997 study by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The study showed there was a direct consequence on workplace behavior due to organizational change, whether it was

• A changing market
• Downsizing
• Change in leadership
• Or – drum roll, please: a series of bad decisions.

Now remember, this was long before Twitter, before Facebook, before instant messaging and texting.  Now, news of pending downsizings or changes in leadership hit the rumor mill faster than you can say “Twitter!”  It only takes 140 characters to start the virtual water-cooler humming and productivity and morale plummeting.

The prevailing uncertainty, skepticism and cynicism in workplaces today means that  concentrated productive time is probably about 10 – 15 minutes before the next tweet or Facebook message.

So what’s a manager to do?

Leadership teams need to help managers be proactive informing employees of changes.  One way is to have prepared message points about organizational news that will help managers communicate information consistently and on a timely basis.  For smaller organizations, an all-employee meeting may be a good choice.

Next time you think that information only needs to be communicated on a “need-to-know” basis, think again.  That decision could cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost productivity.

What are some other ways to communicate important information to employees before it goes viral?  Please write your comments on this blog for others to learn some other successful practices.

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