This aspect is communication. Even in this world of high technology we still have difficulty telling people what is really going on, what we really intend to do and what we really mean. All these great new technologies like e-mail, pagers and mobile phones help us to get in touch with one another, but its what we actually say once we're in touch that makes the difference.

Mincing one's words has its merits. You don't tell people you think they're ugly, even if you feel they are. It would hurt their feelings and make them work against you. But being honest to people whenever we can is important for several reasons but the primary one must be trust. "Why couldn't you tell me? You didn't trust me enough! After everything I've done? And we're supposed to be running a business together?" I think you get the idea, it damages the relationship.

It can also damage the business. You don't tell your employee about an important visitor you'll be receiving (for example, I'm sure you could think of many better ones) because you don't think they needed to know. On the day the visitor is supposed to arrive you are held up in a meeting and your employee gets a phone call from the visitor asking who is supposed to be picking her up from the airport. "Um, well, errrr I don't know if there were any arrangements made. I didn't know you were coming. Erk, hold on....(what do I do???)"

Again, you get the idea. Of course you couldn't possibly be expected to tell everybody about everything but people should be made aware of things more regularly than they are. And this is where technology comes back into the picture again. Intranets, if properly implemented, could become a big communications enabler. Back to our scenario, but this time with an intranet:

"Right, well let me check our system (or something to that effect while said employee fires up his browser and loads up a visitor list for the day. Click on this visitor's name and hey presto it says the company chauffeur should be on the way!) A company chauffeur should be with you shortly." End of problem and three cheers for the Intranet.

Before I can stop groaning about a lack of communication not only does our company need to install the Intranet infrastructure but they need to spend money on a team dedicated to maintaining the data on a daily basis to keep the pages pertinent to changes. Easy, huh?

© 1997 j-dom media. contact us.

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by Jason P. Kitcat [e-mail him]