Page 295 - leadership-experience-2008

CikguOnline
CikguOnline
276 PART 4: THE LEADER AS A RELATIONSHIP BUILDER
speed and reduced the cost of long-distance communication in particular. Rather
than playing “phone tag,” a leader or employee can send an e-mail message to
communicate necessary information. A recent survey by Ohio State University
researchers found that about half of the respondents reported making fewer tele-
phone calls since they began using e-mail. However, respondents also said they
preferred the telephone or face-to-face conversations for expressing affection, giv-
ing advice, or communicating diffi cult news. 41
Some studies have found that e-mail, instant messaging, and other forms of
electronic communication can enable reasonably rich communication if the tech-
42
nology is used appropriately. However, the proliferation of electronic media has
contributed to poorer communication in many organizations. Employees who
work in offices down the hall from one another will often send e-mail rather

than communicating face to face. One employee reported that he was fi red via
e-mail—by a manager who sat fi ve feet away in the same offi ce. 43
Other forms of electronic communication, such as video conferencing, rec-
ognize the need for channel richness, allowing for voice as well as body language
cues. A lower level of richness is offered by the World Wide Web and company
intranets, but these have opened new avenues for keeping in touch with employ-
ees and customers. An intranet enables leaders to disseminate certain types of
information to a huge number of employees simultaneously, such as a traditional
company newsletter might. Company Web pages and Web logs, or blogs, are in-
creasingly being used to keep in closer touch with customers, suppliers, employees,
and partners, and unlike print media, the Web allows for rapid feedback.
Written media such as notes and letters can be personalized, but they convey
only the cues written on paper and are slow to provide feedback. Impersonal
written media, including fliers, bulletins, and standard computer reports,

are the lowest in richness. The channels are not focused on a single
Action Memo
receiver, use limited information cues, and do not permit feedback.
Paul Stevenson, president and CEO of ATI Medical, Inc., banned
As a leader, you can choose rich forms of
the practice of writing memos to encourage employees to use rich
communication, such as face to face or
communication channels. He felt that memos substituted for human
the telephone, when an issue is complex,
interaction and wasted valuable decision-making time. Stevenson at-
emotionally charged, or especially
tributes the company’s yearly increase in sales to the productive and
important. For a routine, straightforward
message, you can use a written or
timely personal interactions that have resulted from the no-memo pol-
icy. Lacking memos as a communication channel, ATI employees must
44
electronic form of communication.
communicate in person to get their ideas out, and they build strong
relationships with one another in the process. Leaders recognize that in-
novation and teamwork are the byproducts of using rich channels.
It is important for leaders to understand that each communication channel
has advantages and disadvantages, and that each can be an effective means of
45
communication in the appropriate circumstances. Channel selection depends
on whether the message is routine or non-routine. Routine communications are
simple and straightforward, such as a product price change. Routine messages
convey data or statistics or simply put into words what people already under-
stand and agree on. Routine messages can be effi ciently communicated through a
channel lower in richness. Written or electronic communications also are effective
when the audience is widely dispersed or when the communication is “offi cial”
46
and a permanent record is required. On the other hand, non-routine messages

typically concern issues of change, conflict, or complexity that have great poten-
tial for misunderstanding. Non-routine messages often are characterized by time
pressure and surprise. Leaders can communicate non-routine messages effectively
only by selecting a rich channel.