29 Indicators of Organizational Communication Mastery

Imagine that your organization is struggling. You’re not meeting goals. The atmosphere is tense. Everything seems harder than it should be.

You’re a smart manager. You realize you need help. After searching around a bit, you find my name and give me a call. You tell me your tale of woe and ask if I can help you figure out what’s going on and what you should do about it.

Communication needs to be a core competency

I accept your invitation because I already know one major problem you need to address. It’s communication. Trust me. After working with hundreds of struggling organizations, they all had communication problems.

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The funny thing is that many managers roll their eyes when I suggest we start with communication. They think communication is a soft skill, i.e., something that isn’t directly related to achieving their goals.

I disagree. Unless one employee is solely responsible for delivering all the value to your customers, success comes from coordinating the efforts of many employees. Coordination is all about communication.

A challenge

How’s that communication thing working for your organization?

Let’s suppose I send a survey to your employees with 29 statements that should be true in an organization that has mastered communication. But because the answers aren’t always cut and dry, I allow them a 5-point scale they can use to rate each statement:

5 – Almost always
4 – Usually
3 – About half the time
2 – Occasionally
1 – Almost never

How will your organization come out on this? Rather than totally guessing, perhaps you can rate the statements yourself. After all, you’re an employee too, right?

1. I know the company’s mission.
2. I know how my department contributes to the mission.
3. I know how my work contributes to the mission.
4. I can apply the organization’s values to my work.
5. I know the company’s top goals.
6. I know my department’s top goals.
7. I know my individual work goals.
8. I know how the company is performing on all major goals.
9. I know how my department is performing on all major goals.
10. I know what I’m supposed to do for my job.
11. I know what all my teammates are supposed to do for their jobs.
12. I know today’s priorities.
13. I understand what my authority is.
14. I have the information I need to do my job.
15. I share the information others need to do their jobs.
16. I know how well I’m doing my job.
17. I know my areas for development.
18. I know what my manager most appreciates about me.
19. I know where to get questions answered.
20. When I have a question, I ask it to the person who can answer it.
21. When I have a concern or objection, I voice it to the right person.
22. I provide coworkers with feedback.
23. When I have an idea, I offer it.
24. I let others know what I expect of them.
25. I’m willing to have tough conversations.
26. I end conversations only after I fully understand the other person’s point of view.
27. I know about major changes that are in the works.
28. I feel like I’m in the loop on all major organizational news.
29. I believe my opinions matter.

A gigantic opportunity

Master communication in your organization first. It will help you in so many ways:

• Faster, better decisions
• Innovation
• Problem solving
• Flexibility and adaptability

All your organizational effectiveness improvements flow from addressing this one competency. Seize the opportunity.