How to Communicate Information

One of small companies I know (not the IT company, but case is general) had a problem with a mess in a company’s kitchen. Employees didn’t care if they leave the place clean or not. Perhaps they’ve just believed, that it cleans itself in kinda magical way, who knows?

Company is small, so the one who felt as changing the situation was a boss. He set some advices or rules which were to make the kitchen clean. That’s OK. The problem is the way the information was announced – one morning in every room there was a sheet of orange paper (in case somebody wasn’t very perceptive) yelling on employees with some dos and don’ts about kitchen mess. Why was that a problem?

First, it was announced soullessly. Using a piece of paper as a medium of communication isn’t a best choice to talk about the issue. Second, I can imagine better ways to introduce new habit than ordering it. Third, was it really necessary to set up some rules just to ask employees to keep the kitchen clean? Definitely, it could have been done better.

• Talk, not inform. When you have a message for your company/team/whatsoever in vast majority of cases the best way to communicate is oral. You show your emotions, you can look like the mess is driving you crazy yet still just politely ask your colleagues for keeping the place clean. Neither paper nor e-mail would carry these emotions.

• Ask, not order. Asking usually works better than ordering, at least unless you’re in the army. No one likes to be given orders. Often more you can achieve by asking people to do something than saying they have to do something, because then they have positive motivation (making their boss happy) instead of negative one (not making their boss angry). And still, if asking doesn’t work you can switch to ordering.

• Say, not set a rule. The rule is needed when you’re prepared (and you want) to punish ones not complying with it. I don’t think the boss would punish in any way anyone who would have made the mess in the kitchen. His goal was to have the place clean, not to judge who better cleans it. It would be much better if he said what he’d wanted to achieve instead of communicating how people should have done it.

Just some will and a bit of ability to talk to the people is needed. Not a big deal to do it right but not that hard to screw it up also.