Many executives complain about the difficulty in getting their corporate messages through to customers. It is likely that they would find their customers saying the same thing about getting their needs through to the executives of the company. There have been many attempts, techniques, structures and so on... but the communication of needs and solutions remains the beguiling issue of business. This feedback loop can be the source of success... or failure.
I like to think that this conundrum as the key marketing issue in our business cultures... be the company in America, Europe, South America or Asia. It seems to me that the solution lies between the company and the customer... in fact, I prospect the solution is in the ranks of middle management. I suspect that middle management is a big two-way filter... absorbing information coming from the company and the customer, interpreting it, and then passing it on... rarely in its original form.
In this case, middle management is defined as any position in the chain between the customer and the executive. However, the focus is on the manager who directly manages employees that interface with customers. I would like to use an analogy to the human body... the Middle Manager being the heart; communications being the blood; and employees that work with customers are the nerves (eg: service technicians, sales people, direct marketers, product developers) . So, if you want to check the pulse of a company, check the middle managers. Make certain they are communicating efficiently.
When I am working in the field with Middle Managers (as an executive, used to spend a large amount of time observing them interfacing with employees that interface with customers) I try to stay in the background in order to observe the way they listen and coach their employees. Typically, executives want to get involved in the discussions... even lead them. Normally however, we don't have adequate time in the field, and if one wants to know what is happening, an executive needs to spend time observing.
When Middle Managers ask me what their job is, I normally answer in two ways... first their job description functions... direct, control, measure, respond, develop and so on. But then I focus them on the critical aspect of communications. Getting the message to the customer through field operations, and from the customer to the executive through the same operations. Since executives need both sides of the communications in some form, it remains the Middle Manager's most critical function to ensure that the messages in both directions arrive in their purist form.
I tried many analogies over the years to explain this strategy. In the end, I arrived at the mighty HOUR GLASS. Below is a partial example of what I am talking about... I need some graphics help to put all of the necessary headings and notes on the drawing...
Mission, Strategy, Executive
..
..Customer, Sales and Service
The hour glass affect has the middle manager in the narrow area. The sand in the hour glass is information... going to and from the corporation and the customers. In many companies, the sand (information) is not flowing, or at best, flows slowly. This lack of flow is a problem in many departments that deal with customers... if it is not systemic, it could be a problem with the manager's performance... either way, it needs to be addressed.
Some companies are organized in a manner that does not encourage strong two-way communications. When this is recognized, it is usually a simple adjustment to structure, training or motivation.
The more serious problem is that many Middle Managers, no matter what part of the company they are in, don't have a primary function as a communicator... that's not what they are paid to do! But if information is what needs to flow, clearly they are in the position to achieve success. They need only open the narrowing of the Hour Glass ... this will let the flow occur more quickly, and unfiltered. They need stand in the narrow part of the glass and (figuratively speaking) put their arms out and consciously push... to widen the window.
There are strategies for Middle Managers to use to get better at this critical function... communications. First, they need to understand all of the functions for which they are responsible. They need to prioritize the functions with agreement of their supervisor. This way, when communication need to be improved, they will know which other functions are lower on the list, and need to be delegated or dropped.
Second, they need to organize their listening tools... the ones at hand for corporate communications... and those for customer communications. Adequate time and concentration needs to be planned for both. Phone, email, snail mail, video-link, and face-to-face are examples of how we consciously communicate. Each Middle Manager will have strengths and situations where one or the other will be best for their situations. There are also educational opportunities to improve these skills.
Next, they also need to ensure that they are hearing what is being messaged. They need a mechanism for storing and then passing on, unbiased, unfiltered, data based information. Listening skills are trainable, as is the ability to organize information for effective communication.
It is critical that the supervisors of middle managers also ensure that they have set appropriate communication goals. They too, need to observe the performance of the subordinates, and evaluate the performance through 'in-the-field' observation of managers working with their subordinates. When the flow of information is stifled, it is critical to manage the situation appropriately... based on targeting, job prioritizing and so on.
By emphasizing effective communications in both directions, it is possible to achieve dramatic improvements in performance of the various departments needing feedback loops to achieve success.
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