Communication is Essential

I don't believe that the need for communication can be stressed enough. When I got to work today, I had an email from someone saying that someone else in my office had contacted them regarding a project I am working on. Then a coworker walked in and mentioned that he had taken the liberty to get a sample of something that should be handled by me. Finally, another coworker cracked a joke about me being in charge of all the communication in the company. I lost it at that point and let him have it.

Communication must start at the top of an organization. If a company is getting poor communication leadership from the top, you cannot expect every other employee to communicate well. How does a company get beyond that? Well hopefully there is someone just below the top level that is an effective communicator and demands such from everyone in the company. If that is not the case, as in my company, then improving communication can be an exercise in futility.

In the case of my company, there are too many people who want to do whatever they want to do without regard for how those actions affect everyone else. This can lead to quality problems, service problems and even lower morale. There is no teamwork at all. And when you have a CEO who is missing in action, you just muddle through like we are doing now. This is a bad start to a week for sure.