Don’t Depend on Technology to Communicate

I remember talking to the head of communications for a large company who wanted to hire us for training.

At their offices I noted about 20 empty spaces for all the communications officers.

I asked Jim, “Where is everyone”?

He replied, “They’re all working from home. We actually don’t see each other that often. We send each other a lot of emails, we leave each other a lot of voice-mails but we don’t actually know what everyone looks like.”

I knew we weren’t going to get the job. We weren’t going to “connect.” No relationship would be built.

Getting together is often more important than why you’re getting together.

Technology is a great communication aid, but it won’t cover the whole spectrum of communicating.

© Canstockphoto

Companies that spend time and money getting together will be the companies that succeed.

Frankly, we believe companies who rely exclusively on communication technologies to communicate will get into problems they haven’t even dreamt about.

Nothing beats face-to-face communications.

Handling those “Personal” Appointments

Your company will likely have a policy on how to handle personal appointments (haircuts, dentist visits, etc.). Regardless of your company policy, it’s not a bad idea to try and handle those appointments on your own time, if you can.

Sometimes that is not possible with medical matters, and employers tend to be reasonable about it. Still, there’s a balance.

You don’t want to give the impression you’re entitled to “time off” for whatever reason. You’re not!

Communicate with your immediate boss. If you take time off, make up the time! And schedule “cosmetic” appointments outside business hours, please, always.

Do you believe employees are given enough time to handle personal appointments? 

Should some exceptions, other than medical or dental, be made?

Dress Code Communicates

How should you dress at work?

Look around your organization. What does everyone else do? Perhaps ask your manager for guidance. Check out the company policy on the matter. And respect it. Ignoring the policy will not help your cause.

In our case, 30 years ago, we tended to dress like our clients: fairly conservatively, leaning towards smart casual.

Over the years, we loosened our policy. Now we have a fairly flexible guideline: if clients are coming into our offices, we expect our team to “up the ante.” If no clients are expected and it’s snowy outside, we don’t mind your wearing jeans. Still, don’t turn up as if you’re coming to work in a car wash!!

Companies expect professional standards and evidence that staff care about their appearance.

You don’t have to spend oodles of money. You don’t have to represent the latest in fashion. You just need to look presentable.

If you care about your appearance, it communicates a powerful message: You care about your job.

Were you right? Wrong? What Company Policies Really Communicate

Companies issue policy manuals to save everyone time.

They are critical communications.

They spell out the “nitty gritty” of the little questions (and some big questions) that come up. Read the policies carefully.

I’ve seen people ask questions when the answer was already in the company policy manual. Clearly they had not read the document.

Tip: Read up on your company’s policies once a year as a refresher. Policies tend to change to accommodate new issues. They are living communication tools critical to all organizations.

Avoid tying up your manager’s time with questions that will likely be answered in your company’s policy documents, and you will clear another obstacle to success.