Whenever I talk about the importance of open communications in my internal marketing workshops, I’m frequently asked why some managers don’t share information with their employees.
Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that managers who receive top-down information, particularly info that’s meant to shared, will pass it along in a timely manner or even at all.
Financial services giant USAA uses training and practical tools to help its managers become better communicators. For example, as a follow up to its monthly management meetings, USAA staff distribute a summary in the form of a worksheet that outlines why managers need to communicate the info (“Taking Action”) and how to share it with employees (“Thinking It Through”). You can learn more about USAA’s communication tools (including its "Communication Channels Smart Cards” for managers) in Melcrum’s Internal Communications Hub.
I'm of the opinion that every executive should have an internal blog to improve communication of ideas throughout the organization.
Posted by: Charles | January 27, 2008 at 06:45 PM