Advantages of Open Communication

If your people aren't talking with each other and communicating openly and regularly, chances are good that your business strategy isn't being advanced, either. If communication is lacking, your people are likely waiting for you to dictate what needs to be done, or they're doing it themselves, the best way they know how. Effective communication is necessary for strategy execution because it ensures that everyone involved in implementing your strategy understands what they need to do. They must know what's expected and how important this is. The process must always start with your people. They must have clear, relevant, and engaging goals that align with and support your company's strategic objectives. Without clear communication, people will misinterpret and unknowingly derail any strategy. Their roles and responsibilities, timing, and sequence of actions will also be suspect, leading to confusion, disengagement, and failure to accomplish the required results. Clear communication aligns your people's efforts toward a common purpose and enables them to make informed decisions, collaborate more effectively, and adapt to changing circumstances. Effective communication helps build trust among your team members, which is crucial for maintaining high intrinsic motivation and commitment levels. Additionally, consistent communication provides a feedback loop from learned insights that tell us how we progress against our strategy. Issues and challenges are surfaced and get addressed and resolved quickly. This feedback loop can help to refine the strategy and adjust actions and behaviors as needed, leading to better outcomes. These reasons add up to why having a collaborative communication framework is essential for sustainable operating success. It ensures that everyone involved clearly understands what the organization is attempting to accomplish. Busyness and daily activity may make you think your people are getting along and functioning well together; however, looks are deceiving. If you're experiencing any of the aforementioned issues, you should take a second look. Collaborative communication is a key principle of effective strategy execution. #ceos #leadership #communciation #execution

Stop beating a dead intranet. If you’re leading employee communications, your job is NOT to shout carefully vetted messages from the ivory tower. Megaphones are for marching bands, not modern workplaces. The age of decreeing messages from the higher-ups with the expectation of silent compliance is over. We're in the era of dialogue, baby. The role of internal comms leaders is to create spaces where conversation flourishes—less shouting into the void and more stimulating discussion and debate. But organizations are still preaching from the corporate pulpit, expecting rapt attention from the masses. We're hoarding communication channels at the top while the rest of the organization starves for a voice. So why aren't companies democratizing communication? 1. Fear of relinquishing power: There's this stodgy notion that open communication equals chaos. In other words, fear rules the land, with lords worried about losing control if the serfs start having a say. 2. The illusion of open-door policies: Slapping an "open-door" label on a fundamentally closed communication system doesn't magically make it inclusive. 3. Hierarchical hangovers: The corporate ladder is still a thing, and it's casting long shadows over who gets to speak and who gets to listen. 4. Lack of tools (or will) to change: Either organizations are stuck with tools from the digital Stone Age, or there's resistance to adopting new platforms that foster open dialogue. But they should reconsider because… ⚡ Great ideas can come from anywhere, not just the C-suite. Open communication channels are where innovation thrives. ⚡ Employees who feel heard are employees who stick around.  ⚡A vibrant, open communication culture is the best kind of strategy an organization can hope to have. ⚡ When communication flows freely, trust follows. And in today's world, trust is the currency of choice. So, how can you get started democratizing your internal comms? 1. Adopt the right tools: Invest in platforms that are designed for the modern workplace, where dialogue, not monologue, is the default setting. Hint: your emailed internal newsletter and your creaky intranet site aren’t it. 2. Flatten the communication hierarchy: Encourage leaders to mingle in the digital town square, sharing, commenting and—most importantly—listening. 3. Train, don't just tell: Equip everyone with the skills to communicate effectively in an open environment. 4. Celebrate the voices: Recognize and reward those who contribute to the conversation. Make it known that every voice matters—and mean it.  #internalcommunications #employeecommunications #ThatAshleyAmber

𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐫 𝐈𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐍𝐢𝐜𝐞 – 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 Candor may be a personal goal, but it also brings real business value. Through honest, clear communication, we can become better leaders and encourage growth. Candor drives success by promoting efficiency, enhancing performance, and delivering results through accountability and open dialogue. 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 When teams work from the same set of facts, they can focus on context rather than debating strategy, leading to streamlined decision-making. Decisions flow smoothly when information and ideas are openly discussed using a "surface, debate, improve, decide" approach. Effective leaders want to learn and develop quickly. Time is wasted when you or others hesitate to communicate the facts and implications. When everyone understands goals clearly, performance improves and leads to better business outcomes and higher engagement. “𝐶𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑘𝑒𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑏𝑜𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦. 𝐿𝑎𝑐𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑑𝑜𝑟 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑦𝑠𝑓𝑢𝑛𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠.” – Edwin Catmull 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 Peak performance requires timely and direct input. People recognize genuine openness and respond more readily when they see you're willing to learn. By welcoming feedback, you create a growth mindset where mistakes become learning opportunities, fostering resilience and innovation. When others see you embrace feedback openly, they show more understanding when mistakes happen. This vulnerability/confidence encourages the team to readily share ideas, report problems early (when easier to fix), and stand by you during difficult times. 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀 When stakeholders grasp your vision and expectations clearly, they can better assess progress and offer valuable suggestions. Candor creates an environment where team members feel empowered to challenge existing practices, leading to breakthroughs. Broader input yields better options for founders making decisions. Additionally, candor encourages early communication of potential risks and concerns, allowing for timely risk management. 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨: Candor can be misused. Some people may use honesty to be hurtful under the guise of trying to be helpful. The key difference lies in whether feedback serves a productive purpose or stems from personal motives. While embracing openness may feel uncomfortable, the benefits of improved efficiency, performance, and decision-making far outweigh any initial hesitation. #leaders #founder #adapt #startups

Underrated leadership lesson: Be radically transparent. Feedback shouldn't happen just once a year. It should be a daily, continuous loop. During my 10 years at Bridgewater, I received 12,385 pieces of feedback. And, it wasn't just reserved for formal reviews. Feedback was given LIVE throughout the day. In the middle of a presentation? Feedback. Right after answering a question? Feedback. Truthfully, as an employee, I didn't always love it. But I valued it. After all, they're called blind spots for a reason. This was all the result of one key principle: Radical transparency. A system that integrates candid feedback into daily work life, Allowing employees to constantly assess and be assessed. Here's why it works: ✅ Good thinking and behavior increase ↳ Processes improve when logic is analyzed in real time. ✅ High standards are maintained  ↳ Problems get fixed faster when everything is visible. ✅ No more workplace hierarchies ↳ Continuous improvement happens when everyone is accountable. It's a principle that didn't just change my resilience to feedback. It completely transformed my leadership as a whole. So managers, Consider implementing radical transparency for these 7 reasons: 1. Faster problem-solving ↳ Small issues are easier to fix than big ones. 2. Openness saves time ↳ Less time wasted on gossip and tracking information. 3. Accelerated learning  ↳ Teams grow faster when they understand each other’s thinking. 4. Long-term success ↳ Ongoing feedback improves leadership and the organization. 5. Building an idea of meritocracy ↳ Transparency builds trust and rewards good ideas. 6. Reduced workplace inefficiencies ↳ Open communication cuts wasted time and confusion. 7. Proactive issue resolution ↳ Fixing small problems early prevents bigger ones. While getting scores live in the mid-presentation may not be for everyone: Becoming more transparent has real, tangible benefits, And can put you on a streamlined path to success. Leaders - are you brave enough to try it? ♻️ Repost to help other leaders become radically transparent. 🔔 And follow Dave Kline for more. 

Sunlight is the best disinfectant. In the context of high-performing teams, that means transparency, honesty, and open dialogue are essential for trust, innovation, and long-term success. When challenges, concerns, or differing perspectives remain in the shadows teams risk stagnation, missed opportunities, and even significant setbacks. This can be because of fear of conflict, hesitation to speak up, or an outdated mindset that prioritizes harmony over truth (aka the traditional way of thinking). The traditional way of thinking suggested that staying quiet was a way to protect colleagues from criticism, but in reality, the greatest disservice we can do to our teammates is to withhold valuable insights that could help them succeed. The strongest teams recognize that candor is not about tearing others down, but about a shared commitment to excellence, accountability, and continuous growth. When teams embrace open communication and operate in the full light of transparency, they unlock a level of trust and collaboration that makes it possible to achieve extraordinary results.

Being open and honest at work is still viewed by many as "being too risky" an undertaking. It's amazing to me that in 2024 we still hear stories where honesty and transparency are openly expressed but, not adhered to in practice. It's as if there are two policies; one that is publicly held and trumpeted by leaders and another privately held, that determines an organization's real behavior. People at work want to speak up because they know well the issues causing organizational dysfunction. These are shared continuously at the water cooler, in small group settings, and are universally known and understood. As a leader, these is the information that I would want / need to know. Wendy Hirsch, in a 2017 article written for ScienceForWork, shares three key points about psychological safety: 1) Psychological safety exists when people feel their team is a place where they can speak up, offer ideas, and ask questions without fear of being punished or embarrassed. 2) Perceptions of psychological safety are strongly related to learning behaviors, such as information sharing, asking for help, and experimenting, as well as employee satisfaction. 3) Things that may help to cultivate psychological safety include support from your colleagues and a clear understanding of your job responsibilities. Underlying all three of these points is the realization that we need consistent and collaborative communication with our people and teams at every level every day. Role clarity, peer support, interdependence, learning orientation, and positive leader relations don't happen successfully without this. Managing the execution of your business is similar in that nothing happens without consistent communication. Communication that occurs through: 1) Collaborative (written) development of job responsibilities and annual goals, 2) Goal development focused on driving key organizational initiatives and aligned with others, across business functions, and 3) Oversight and measurement of progress that drives the organization toward its desired outcomes. Without effective communication, none of these activities will matter. When we lack a framework for communicating with our people on a consistent basis and have no common language, we leave the door open to assumptions, misinformation, and other negative activity that causes conflict and erects barriers to progress. Ultimately these challenges delay or derail organizational success. Transparency and honesty require everyone on a team to talk with each other, no matter their rank, position, or title. If we can't call somebody out when necessary, trust is eroded, and we stand to lose the psychological safety we've built into our workplace. Psychological safety is a value worth fighting for. Does your organization have two policies on speaking out? #culture #leadership #psychologicalsafety #execution For more on this topic and other elements of leadership, check out https://lnkd.in/gXpc_pyu

I have learned that candor and transparent communication form the bedrock of effective leadership. Throughout my leadership career, I have applied these traits in times of growth and crisis. Candor enables transparent communication, even when it's uncomfortable. Cultivating a culture where issues are discussed readily, removes the fear of delivering bad news. Especially if there's a customer impact, the trust in transparent communication means you can immediately inform your CEO and business leaders without fear of reprisal or reprimand. It’s important to share not just successes, but also struggles and opportunities. This level of openness can be challenging, but it's essential for building trust. When a team has respect and trust with each other it means you can focus on solving problems rather than assigning blame. When facing issues, the conversations center on how we collectively solve them, who’s being impacted, and how to prevent similar situations in the future. Transparent communication isn't always comfortable, but it's crucial for building trust, both within teams and with stakeholders. This has helped me and my team, turn challenges into innovation and growth opportunities. #leadership #candor #communication