Step Six: Communication

NOTE: And now, the final step in the Six Steps to High Performance.

—M. A. “Ryan” Yuhas, Process Effectiveness Consultant

“More than merely a step, it is really an all-encompassing function…”

—Skip Kapur

RY: Skip, you say that this is “more than merely a step.” Can you explain?

SK: Yes, communication begins in earnest toward the end of Step 1, which you may remember is to establish a management team. It continues as an all-encompassing function in parallel with the remaining steps.

RY: You might say that communication is the method for bringing about the changes created through the other five steps.

SK: Yes, that's part of it. The key thing to remember is that straightforward and consistent communication will develop the trust required to make everything work together. Most people will respond to being treated as adults. You involve them in figuring out what you're trying to do, enlist their help in doing it, get their commitment for specific contributions, and hold them responsible for their commitments.

RY: Actually, communication can be shown as a component of every one of the steps when you get right down to it.

SK: Yes, but it is so absolutely critical that you must single it out.

RY: What are there characteristics that apply to this kind of communication?

SK: Well, I can think of at least four:

• Foremost, the communication has to be open and honest
  
• It has to flow all directions, not just from the top down
  
• Everyone must initiate it proactivelyIt must happen quickly
  
• Relevant information must be captured and acted upon
  

RY: Why is open and honest communication so important?

SK: It is almost impossible to maintain silos in an organization if you are doing the communication piece well. I know this may be threatening to some, but a siloed organization can only reach a state of high performance by sheer luck. With everyone's goals aligned and their compensation tied together to reflect the team's success, openness and honesty are absolutely required to make the method work.

RY: How do you mean the communication must “flow in all directions”?

SK: Communication is both telling and hearing. There is an old saying that we were given one mouth and two ears. That was so we could listen twice as much as we talked. Yes, we must communicate downward through the organization, and outward to the customer, but we must have communication coming in from the customer and up through the organization as well. How else will the organization and the upper echelons know what the customer needs and how well we're doing?

RY: What do you mean that everyone must “initiate communication proactively”?

SK: Everyone in the organization is both empowered and required to communicate. Several things could trigger communication:

• Formation or initiation of a plan
  
• Discovery of a problem
  
• Receiving complaints or determining dissatisfaction of a customer
  
• Receiving ideas from a customer or an employee
  

The Six Steps methodology places mechanisms throughout the organization that support a communication-based response to each of these triggers. It is up to the leadership on all levels to further reinforce and reward proactive communication within the culture of the company.

RY: Why must communication happen quickly?

SK: Obviously, you don't want delay your response to a problem. Your customer needs it addressed, yesterday. In other areas it's a little more subtle. Why, for instance, would you want to respond quickly to an employee's idea? At least three reasons: 1) to take advantage of that good idea faster, 2) to reinforce that employee's enthusiasm, and 3) to encourage more ideas to come forth.

RY: Explain what you mean by “relevant information must be captured and acted upon.”

SK: It's one thing to hear a customer's complaint or an employee's idea. It is quite another to respond to it effectively. We need to hear the information, understand it from their point of view, know what would address the issue, see if we can improve on it, and take action.

RY: Anything you'd like to add?

SK: I'd just like to summarize that effective communication is what makes the Six Steps methodology work so well. This is a program that could be implemented by any organization, but it takes a leader with exceptional confidence and even-handedness to pull it off. Reaching organizational High Performance doesn't require advanced math or innovative logic. It does require the implementation of steps that reinforce the psychology of how people work in an origination. We've seen it work, haven't we?

RY: Yes we have, which leads me to something I'd like to share with our audience.

I have worked with Skip to implement the Six Steps methodology within several organizations since 1998, and have become completely convinced that the approach achieves remarkable results. Over that time, we have often talked about one of Skip's dreams, to write a book detailing the Six Steps methodology. Because I have actually helped to implement the methodology and seen the results, I was compelled to offer my collaboration to Skip to make his dream a reality.

Over the next two years, we will expand on these initial interviews. The end result may take several forms, perhaps a primer, a consulting service offering, a full-blown book, or all of the aforementioned. In all cases, I expect my association with Skip will continue to be rich and fulfilling. I invite you to travel with us on our journey.

© 2002 M. A. “Ryan” Yuhas and Sunil “Skip” Kapur
InterDimension Strategies Inc.