"We can't tell them that."

The scenario:

A project is delayed. Employees haven't heard any updates in about a month and the manager realizes he's 'got to get something out soon' because his boss has been asking what's going on.

Manager: I need a draft message for the project update. How soon can you get it to me?

Communications Officer: How about tomorrow?

Manager: I kind of need it today some time.

Communications Officer: How about today?

Manager: Okay good.

Communications Officer: So the reason for the delay is other projects took priority but now it's time to return to this one, right?

Manager: "We can't tell them that."

Communications Officer: Why not?

Manager: Well because it looks bad.

I hear those words from a senior manager or executive and sigh.
There are precious few things we truly "CAN'T" tell employees:

private information about other employees
financially-sensitive information
the CEO's kid's cellphone number
and there are more...

However, usually when managers say they can't share something with employees, it almost always mean either:

they are afraid of something, usually the truth,
they don't want to look bad,
they don't want employees to know that somewhere along the way, management missed something, AKA made a mistake,
they don't understand what employees really need.

Employees need to know the real story. They will find out anyway. There is never ever an advantage to hiding information from them. In fact, the disadvantage of trying to hide info from them is the damage to trust once they figure it out...and trust me...they will. They always do.

Comments

What did I say yesterday?

Look at what messages have gone out before communicating new ones. A huge mistake managers often make is to communicate new messages without reviewing what they've already said on the subject in the past, hoping no one will notice. Imagine how far a politician would get using that approach. Unfortunately, we can imagine it all too well. The mistake is not in forgetting what you've said before; with all the messages coming from the CEO, the website, from various marketing and customer service campaigns, it's no wonder we cannot remember what we said yesterday. However, it is our job to either know or find out exactly how we characterize our messages and what we share, even long after we've shared it. For example, if you tell your team to focus on continuous improvement and then a week later, in a weak moment, yell at someone for taking too much time to reevaluate a process, you'll lose trust and credibility--probably two of the most important badges

Ah, yes... The "C" Word

In the Communications field, the "C" word can mean numerous things. In Internal or Employee Communications, we often refer to big "C" and little "c" communications. Big "C" Communications tends to include official communications tactics and products that get everyone's attention in an organization: posters, banners, advertising, website splash pages, e-newsletters, town halls and major 'memos', to name a few. Little "c" communications tends to be the internal, day-to-day business communications in a workplace about doing the work itself such messages about new procedures, processes, policies and plans, also internal emails, operational and tactical messages. The "C" word that is missing from this discussion is Culture. These are the ideas and messages that Culture communicates: How people behave in their workplace. What the culture tolerates as appropriate or inappropriate behaviour. For example, what goes

Be interested in your employees.

Walk around the office and chat one-on-one with people, ask them about themselves, their day-to-day work, their kids, how their weekend was. If you make time to also walk around your corporate office and talk to people individually, they remember that and will cut you a little slack when you’ve got to rush out the door the next time. It also allows you to get to know your people well, what makes them tick and what makes them successful or what makes them do their best. Knowing your people and having a relationship or personal connection with them, however small, allows your organization to want to perform better. Those employees become a lot more willing to go above and beyond the call of duty for you. Just make sure you are consistent. You don't want to be that manager who tries something once or twice and then gets too busy to keep it up.

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