Managers and executives get “blind-sided” by pieces of factual information that cripple their effectiveness as a manager/ leader.

The executive ponders many things- “How did I not know about that? Why wasn’t I told?” Or they go nuts when they hear about the “wild” rumors that float around the workplace. Why? Well, it starts with communications. Or, more precisely, the lack of it.  Unfortunately, it is not the lack of it on the employees’ part. It is the managers and executives who are not communicating.

It seems we are getting less productive with all this wonderful communications technology that is supposed to improve productivity and performance. When it comes to employee- manager- executive communications, the track record of late has been poor, and seems to be trending downward. Why? The excuse- and that is precisely what it is, an excuse- is that there are too many emails and voicemails to reply to. That’s bunk.

A few years ago, I was facilitating a PTRA (Power Transmission Rep Association) meeting in San Diego. There were both manufacturers and the independent PTRA reps in the room- about 250 plus. Guess what the “heated” topic of discussion was? Communications. What was the #1 key issue? “They” don’t return my phone calls or emails. The problem is “they” turned out to be the manufacturers in the eyes of the PTRA reps- and, ironically enough- the reps in the eyes of the manufacturers. What was the excuse- by both parties? “We have too much email and voicemail to return them all”.

Then a gentleman raised his hand and made a sage comment. This gentleman was rep attorney Mitchell Kramer. Mitchell said, “If you return your voicemails and emails with a well-thought response, then the number of emails and voicemails you get on a daily basis goes down.”

I don’t know how many people in the room “got it”, but it was a profound statement. Think of it this way: if you- as an executive or manager- don’t promptly return a voicemail or email, what happens? People start making decisions and doing things (or not making decisions or not doing things) that may or may not be in the best interest of the business. Does that help things, or make them worse? And what happens to the number of emails and voicemails when problems get worse??

Executive coaching guru and author Marshall Goldsmith did a study on 8,000 managers and executives. The study surveyed the managers’ and executives’ employees. It centered around communications feedback as it relates to leadership effectiveness. Survey scoring was based on a – 3 to a + 3 range. There were eight total different scenarios for management feedback, and five are summarized here:

1. No feedback at all: most leadership effectiveness scores were in the -1 to -2 range, not a good sign.
2. Feedback with action promised, but action not delivered: Scores were lower than case 1, averaging in the -2 range.
3. Occasional feedback with occasional action: Leadership effectiveness scores moved up to the 0 to + 1 range.
4. Frequent feedback with significant action: Scores were in the +1 to + 2 range.
5. Constant valued proactive communications, feedback, and action: Leadership effectiveness scores were the highest here: in the +2 to +3 range.

As you can see, feedback is directly proportional to leadership effectiveness- and a significant argument could be said that leadership effectiveness is directly proportional to productivity. Check the article on the Gallup findings in the 1Q 2010 Engaged Executive Newsletter on that subject. Finally, one other bit of paranoid information for the executive/ manager that doesn’t return email or voicemail: What do you think your people will start doing when you want information if your example is to blow them off? What is their work ethic going to be if they don’t matter? How productive will they be when they no longer care because they don’t matter?