Until
recently, organizational leaders had little choice but to rely on
one-way communication channels and on communication practices that were
one-way in spirit. The reliance on tools such as corporate newsletters
and executive speeches tended to create communication cultures that
favored monologue over dialogue.
That’s
now changing, thanks in part to the increasing availability of
interactive technology. Robust videoconferencing systems, dynamic
intranet platforms and software tools that turn executives into bloggers
are among the technologies that are enabling the growth of
back-and-forth communication within many companies and industries.
Interactivity
is one element of what we call “organizational conversation.” When that
quality takes hold within a company, leaders are able to promote
dialogue—between themselves and their employees, and among employees as a
group.
But
leaders can only be as interactive as the communication channels they
use. Here are four ideas that will help you become a more interactive
leader:
1 Show your face. Thanks
to the increasing quality and decreasing cost of network-enabled video
technology, leaders today have a powerful tool for interacting with
their people—even when company size and physical distance make in-person
communication impossible.
2 Reinvent your intranet.
Borrowing a practice that has become common on the Web, many leaders
have installed tools on their company’s intranet site that allow
employees to comment on much of the content that appears there. This
simple innovation can turn a static message, such as a letter from the
CEO, into the start of a companywide dialogue.
3 Cultivate conversation. Interactivity
can flourish only where leaders have nurtured a safe, open culture.
Sometimes the most effective “open channel” that a manager can use is an
open door to his office.
4 Pull the plug. Digital
technology can create two-way connections that wouldn’t otherwise be
possible, particularly in large, global organizations. Yet it can also
create barriers—walls of virtual chatter that take the place of true
conversation. Interactive leaders know when to leave their computers and
strike up conversations with their people in a direct, unmediated
fashion.
Use
digital communication tools to open up conversation within your
company. But don’t expect people to keep that conversation going if
you’re not committed to it.
Boris
Groysberg is a professor of business administration at Harvard Business
School. Michael Slind is a writer, editor and communication consultant.
They are co-authors of the book Talk, Inc.: How Trusted Leaders Use Conversation to Power Their Organizations.
No comments:
Post a Comment