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One of the most common complaints I hear from executives is that they spend more time and energy on internal politics than on finding new and better ways to serve their customers. It seems like we need to change the old adage "life would be so much simpler without customers" to "life would be so much simpler without those other people who work here".
One of the most important lessons life teaches us is that we need to take responsibility over our relationships. You can't simply sit around and expect the other party to always take the initiative. Sooner or later they'll get irritated, bored or both. Corporate relationships require the same kind of responsibility. If the new head of sales doesn't respect the stress your engineering team is under, it's probably because she's never worked in an engineering department. |
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"People fear the unknown, and when the unknown is Pat from Sales or Rebecca from HR, that fear can translate into suspicion, disrespect and sometimes, hatred." |
If your R&D department keeps running late in introducing new products, it's probably not because they employ people who's mental acumen is below par. Chances are these problems have more to do with faulty communications than anything else.
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According to Drucker, now 94 and still considered the most important figure in the field of management, people "are afraid of being thought presumptuous or inquisitive or stupid. They are wrong. Whenever someone goes to his or her associates and says, 'This is what I am good at. This is how I work. These are my values. This is the contribution I plan to concentrate on and the results I should be expected to deliver,' the response is always, 'This is most helpful. But why didn't you tell me earlier?'" |
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"Even people who understand the importance of taking responsibility for relationships often do not communicate sufficiently with their associates"
Peter Drucker
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But what do you do when your organization has thousands of people? How can a sales team of 500 get to know the head of marketing? Luckily, technology has the answer. Videotaped interviews and webcasting have transformed the way people are learning about each other's capabilities, responsibilities and needs. One large bank I met with produced a series of executive interviews that described what a day in the life of an executive looks like, who his customers were and which resources he needs to be more effective. The interviews were then made accessible to members of other business units which until then hardly cooperated with each other. The results--an significant improvement in cross selling to customers, didn't take long to follow.
Unless your firm employs less than 10 people, chances are it won't be easy for every person to know what the other one does. But if you want to redirect some of that interpersonal angst into more productive angles, get your people talking about who they are, what they do and what they need to be successful. You'll be surprised at how quickly the results will follow. |
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