Communicating at the Right Level

A manager gets frustrated because Bob, one of his technicians, is continually out of uniform. One day he wears sneakers when the policy requires work boots. The next day he has on boots, but his name badge is missing. All the other techs generally follow the guidelines without issue. The manager decides to make the company dress code a topic for the next team meeting.

This is a classic example of communicating at the wrong level. There are three levels of communication:

Organization Level. Information that needs to be communicated to the entire organization should be announced through appropriate organization-wide channels. Examples might include upcoming benefits enrollment meetings or deadlines, a new company-wide policy change, introduction of a new senior executive on the management team, or company performance news. 

Appropriate methods for disseminating organization level information might include an e-mail blast, an all-hands meeting, a letter or newsletter, an internal social-media board, or some other type of electronic portal easily accessible by all employees and commonly used for organization-wide announcements.

Team Level. Information that is unique but appropriate for every member of a team should be communicated to the team through appropriate channels. A team could be a division, department, cross-functional team working on a specific project, or two guys in service truck who work together everyday.

Appropriate methods for disseminating team level information might include a formal team meeting or an informal huddle to discuss the issue at hand.

Individual Level. This seems to be the level of communication that managers work hard to avoid. When an individual, like Bob, has a performance issue, managers frequently decide to address it at the team or organization level. They justify it by convincing themselves that everyone needs to be reminded, but in reality they are just avoiding a one-on-one meeting because they perceive a group setting to be a safer environment.

Here are some problems that arise when you address individual level communication at the team or organization level:

1.  It wastes time - spending 10 minutes in an all-hands meeting reviewing a policy that is only being broken by one or two individuals is 10 minutes that could have been spent talking about something that affects everyone in the room or on the conference call.

2.  It is demotivating - I shouldn't have to sit through a reprimand that is really aimed at Bob. I follow the rules but I'm still listening to a lecture.

3.  It may miss the mark - Bob could be looking at his phone the entire time the manager is reviewing the policy during the meeting. After all, Bob is not a highly engaged individual.

So the next time you have an individual or a team with a performance issue, make sure you're communicating at the right level. "Bob, you're out of uniform - clock out, go home and get yourself dressed according to our standard, come back and clock back in!"