Page 35 - MS Year in Review 2020

NATURE OF THE COMMUNICATION REQUIRED

This communication needs to be frequent, open, two-way and candid. It can be
as simple as:

 "How are you doing?"

 "How is your family taking all of this?"

 "Is there any way we can help?"

In a sense, the medium or very act of communication itself is its "message," as
originally proposed by Marshall McLuhan. Specifically, the act of
communication itself sends the message that the leader cares about the people

in the organization as more than mere "workers" but as people.

Thus the communication process is the method of treatment of for the underlying
problem of peoples' sense of threat. Although it cannot eliminate the threat, it can

make a difference by impacting the extent to which people feel they are "on their
own" in facing this threat.

The bottom line for leaders is: Remember the human and humane aspects of

this crisis! The three most important action steps are: Communicate!
Communicate! and Communicate! An ounce of effort in this regard can be worth
a pound of cure!

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