communicationbokcms.appa.org/pdfs/57-05242012.pdfcommunication introduction communication is not...

Communication

Robert Hascall

Karen M. Salisbury

Communication Copyright APPA 2020

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Communication

Introduction

Communication is not just a core leadership skill; it is also anessential ingredient for leadership success. Effective communicationincludes speaking, writing, listening, and ensuring congruencybetween your words and actions so that body language does not sendan unintended message to your audience. All leaders speak multipletimes each day, so it's crucial that your message, information,thoughts, and ideas are transmitted in a way that is understood by alllisteners and that information is communicated in a caring and honestway. It is important to communicate with listeners in a way thatachieves the desired outcome that is, toeducate, acknowledge, motivate, or persuade the listeners.

Technology

In today's organizational environment, writing e-mails, presentations,reports, and correspondence to employees, customers, oradministrative leadership is a key expectation. All successful writingrelies on your ability to understand your audience, being clear in themessage you wish to convey and thinking carefully about whatinformation to provide and how best to structure it so that it is easyto understand and solicits the response you are seeking. Many peoplein today's technology-centered and fast-paced environment relyheavily on e-mail and text messaging to communicate with others.While these skills are certainly valuable tools for leaders in facilitiesmanagement, leaders should be wary of using these means asdominant communication modalities. There is absolutely no substitutefor the personal phone call or face-to-face interactions with yourcustomers, employees, or leadership. Thus, use e-mail and textmessaging judiciously to augment your personal communication stylerather than as a substitute for personal interaction because you aretoo busy or because you want to avoid personal interactions ordifficult topics or conversations.

Listening Skills

Listening is the most important of all leadership skills. As a facilitiesleader you need to get out with your people and your customers andlisten to their complaints and suggestions so that corrective action


can be taken. As an active listener you're giving a gift of your timeand attention to another person. Focus on responding verbally andnonverbally to the people who are speaking so they know you arelistening and understanding what they are intending to communicate.By asking probing questions and restating what you have heard, youare conveying a genuine interest and understanding in what is beingcommunicated.

Many employees in a workplace with declining morale say that all theywant is for someone to listen to them. They ask, why try to becreative or to make improvements for the sake of productivity, costreduction, or quality if no one listens? Why make an effort if theydon't care what I think? In other words, employees will becomefrustrated if leaders want them to leave their brain at the door. This iswhy being present to your employees so you can listen to theirconcerns and respond to their questions is absolutely essential toyour organization's service delivery success and to your effectivenessas that organization's leader.

Employee Feedback

Employee surveys can provide important feedback and giveemployees an opportunity to voice concerns about leadership. Attimes, however, the survey instrument may not provide adequatespecifics to act on that feedback. Focus groups within the organizationallow employees to explain why they feel the way they do about eachof the survey topics. Listen to what employees say and ask for clarityor examples as they speak about specific situations or personalexperiences. Employees can be amazingly candid and vocal in thisprocess.

It would be helpful to have someone take notes and record commentsso the facilities manager can stay present to the employees and be anactive listener. When you are finished with the focus groups, you cancategorize the comments into theme areas. Follow up on thesethemes during employee meetings and ask employees whether youheard their concerns. This process should provide overwhelmingagreement and validation with the results. Be sure to keep employeesinformed about the progress you continue to make.

Body Language

Have you ever been in a situation where you didn't believe whatsomeone was saying? In other words, you had a sense that somethingdidn't ring true or your gut was telling you that something was off.Body language is an essential ingredient in effective communication,and it's crucial that leaders understand that they cannot send mixedmessages that is, saying one thing while nonverbal body language


conveys something different.

Keep in mind that each person is unique and their signs or signalsmay have a different underlying cause than the ones you suspect.This is particularly true where people have had different lifeexperiences or where there are cultural differences. This is why it'simportant to ask questions to ensure your interpretation of someoneelse's body language is accurate and what they intended tocommunicate.

What Are You Trying to Communicate?

It is important to be able to articulate the message you want tocommunicate. Distill it down to one or two sentences that convey theintended message, and then write it down. Doing so will crystallizeyour thoughts, which will result in mental and message clarity.Consider message development: Whether someone reads themessage or speaks it at a departmental meeting, the communicationshould be consistent and accurate. The goal is to speak with one voiceon the message points you are trying to convey. If you arecommunicating complex issues such as flat budgets or budgetreductions, parking rate increases, or reductions in the workforce, youshould consider developing "talking points" or a consistent script. It isalso important to develop frequently asked questions (FAQs) toanticipate the common questions people will ask. These questionsshould be paired with the answers you will give to your audience or tothe media. This approach is also applicable to sharing good news.Examples include an energy grant, an APPA Award for Excellence inFacilities Management, an Urban Design Award, or a LEED-certifiedbuilding.

In bad-news scenarios, the media often see an opportunity to create aheadline news story, so they may contact the organizational leader torespond to questions. Some institutions will appoint a communicationexpert or spokesperson to respond to these types of inquiries, but onother campuses the organizational leader may become theinstitutional spokesperson. To prepare for this eventuality, the leadermust have his or her talking points, including FAQs, prepared inadvance. It is helpful to send the media person a copy of your talkingpoints and FAQs electronically, preferably in a Portable DocumentFormat (PDF). News reporters can be relentless in their questioning,especially when they have a subject on camera and the topic at handis a bad-news story. Organizational leaders should seek mediatraining, which will expose them to the dos and don'ts of on-camerainterviewing through practice and feedback sessions.


Good news doesn't travel quite as quickly as bad news does. Hence, itis incumbent on the facilities leader to ensure that good news getsthe coverage it deserves in publications on your campus. This willrequire reaching out to editors and reporters at various newspapers,magazines, or newsletters to share your story or achievement. Thesepublications could include Web sites, an alumni magazine, a campusnewspaper, a student newspaper, departmental newsletters,electronic media reports, electronic mailings to campus, and listservs.

Who Matters: Who Is Your Audience?

How you frame your talking points and FAQs depends on the audienceyou are addressing. Understanding your audience is the key totailoring all your communications more effectively. The message youwish to deliver may seem clear and obvious to you, but your audiencemay not process the information in the same way as you. Effectivecommunication is not only conveying information; it's also aboutdeveloping relationships and building trust with your audience. Onlineno one knows who you really are, but when you come face-to-facewith your employees, students, faculty, customers, and the like, thereal you is quickly revealed. Research has shown that audiencemembers”—

Would rather hear from people in their group or someone whounderstands their concerns and needsAre often mistrustful of people from other groups, particularlythose they perceive as a threat to their workplace stabilityDetest defensiveness and manipulation on the part of thecommunicator

It is important that the leader understands the audience he or she isaddressing, tailors the talking points to the topic or issue at hand andto the audience, is authentic in his or her presentation style, does notread the speech, maintains eye contact with the entire audience, andis prepared to answer any question posed by audience members.Making effective oral presentations takes considerable time and effortin preparation and practice, so be sure that you plan accordingly.

Preparing written documents requires the same attention to theaudience as does preparing oral presentations. If you fail to tailor yourwriting for the readers, you risk alienating or confusing them andlosing their interest and focus before they receive the message youare trying to convey. Your readers are the most important part ofyour writing, so keep them foremost in your mind by using thefollowing steps:


following steps:

Clearly state your message and explain your intent and aimswhen writing the correspondence.Anticipate the questions your reader will need answered. Forexample, what is the cost of this improvement, how long will ittake to complete the work, how does this project compare toother campus-wide capital renewal priorities, what are the risksassociated with waiting to do this work or postponing itindefinitely, and what funding sources should be used?Write as if you are talking to your reader.Keep sentences short and well structured.Use an active voice and avoid jargon or highly technical terms.

How Does Your Audience Receive Information: HowShould You Communicate to Them?

Distributing your message in the right format is important to reachyour intended audience. Not only do facilities leaders work withdifferent constituencies, but within each, leaders also have a widerange of age groups and technological sophistication. With the adventof blogging, podcasts, digital video, social media, and more, facilitiesleaders need to have the skill set to reach both the pre-babyboomers, the baby boomers, generation X, and the millennialgeneration (also known as generation Y). It is hard to keep up withcommunication in a digital world. Facebook and Twitter are forms ofsocial media, which Dictionary.com defines as.

“Web sites and other online means of communication that are used bylarge groups of people to share information and to develop social andprofessional contacts: Many businesses are utilizing social media togenerate sales.”

Generational changes in the workforce continue to expand our need toutilize the most effective way to communicate with our constituencies.One size does not fit all! To assist in utilizing social media to itsfullest, take advantage of the millennial generations’ knowledge andseemingly innate connection to social media outlets to help developyour presence and tools for communicating to a broad audience.‘Lunch and Learns’ can be a great tool to help share knowledge andfamiliarity with social media of all kinds to your employees, that havebeen successfully implemented on campuses across the country. Equally important to consider is that in facilities operations we have


employees who do not have access to, or an opportunity to exploreelectronic communications. If you rely solely on the computer to getthe message to your employees, you will not be successful – theall-employee e-mail blast may not reach the audience you intend, andthus a very important voice will be missing in the communicationchain. Take steps to bridge this gap! Developing specialized trainingprograms, utilizing tech mentors to provide one-on-one ongoingsupport, or simply having onsite assistance for employees can beinvaluable when engaging in required computer related activities suchas annual benefits selections, employee satisfaction surveys, onlinejob applications, etc. Remember if you don’t have an opportunity touse a new skill regularly, it is difficult to sustain.

Social Networking

Social networking sites like Facebook have rapidly engaged themillennial generation. For the aging baby boomer, this may bebefuddling. However, the sheer growth of social networking makes itsomething that facility managers should pay attention to, learn how touse, and embrace in our quest to communicate our messagesappropriately. Facebook has been used as a valuable resource by theBike Emory Program. The program director, knowing that a largenumber of bike commuters were active on Facebook, set up a pageand "friend" people interested in commuting, or simply interested inbiking. The page is used to share updates and new initiatives aboutthe program, and also is a place for those interested in biking to findeach other. It has been used to identify bike commuting partners, aswell as activities of mutual interest.

Web Sites

The Internet is the mainstay of electronic communication in today'senvironment. The challenge and expense of maintaining an interestingand useful Web presence has grown exponentially, but as anyone whohas gone to an outdated and ill-designed Web site will tell you, it isone of the most important vehicles for getting your message out tothe public. Maintaining an up-to-date Web site is not something that'just happens' it requires a good deal of persistence and commitment.If you have the resources internally to design and maintain your Website, that is optimal, but many campuses simply don't have thatluxury, so keeping current is a challenge, at best.

Just about every person looking for information about your campus oryour organization starts at your Web site. Reporters researchingstories on energy conservation, for example, likely will start with whatthey can find online. If that information is outdated, you may findyour institution's erroneous data listed in a local paper, or worse, in anational publication.


The reasons for keeping your Web site current are many andcompelling. If you have hired students to design and populate yourWeb page, it is likely that when these students graduate, you will beleft with a site that no one else knows much about. Designing a Website with bells and whistles is great, but it must be maintained to beuseful. A simple Web design will be easier to maintain. Even within-house resources, you need logical Web page organization. Eachinstitution needs to decide how creative and high-tech to go. Evenwith excellent in-house resources, you need good page organization.Look at other Web sites that you find to be workable. Why is that?How are they organized so that they are easy to navigate? Is theirdesign sustainable?

Written Communication

The most common way we have of communicating is via printedmaterial through your departmental newsletters, university news, thestudent newspaper, memos to department heads, or throughall-employee listservs and the ubiquitous e-mail. It may be best toask your audience what works best for them. Remember that utilizingmultiple methods to distribute your message is imperative to reachthe broad audience in a university community. Make sure that alluniversity newspapers and reports are distributed widely throughoutthe organization. Having distribution racks throughout the facilitiesoperations is a great way for your employees to have access to otherissues and activities on campus, and helps them feel connected to theplace where they work.

Community Outreach

Community outreach is an important function within facilitiesoperations throughout much of the country. Engaging the localcommunity in meetings and town halls, for example, to share futurecapital projects, land use concerns, real estate purchases, andconstruction plans may be an invaluable tool for developingtransparency that aids your communication and strengthens trust andrelationships. Town-gown relationships, in particular, can be achallenge.

In one example, Emory University has developed a series of quarterlytown hall meetings where all our neighborhood civic associations areinvited to listen to and ask questions directly of the executive vicepresident for finance and administration. The university's relationshiphas improved considerably since this program and other communityinitiatives started. Similar in nature to a focus group, these sessionsallow for a free exchange of information, and a sharing of ideas andconcerns.


Oral Communication

Oral communication is perhaps the most challenging way tocommunicate in the twenty-first century, but also the most important.Being able to see the people you want to communicate with is asignificant aide in ensuring your message is heard. More than half ofthe message we intend to communicate is conveyed non-verbally, sobeing face-to-face is important. Holding regular meetings at yourfacility can give the entire organization an opportunity to receiveupdates and ask questions. Answers to these questions can bepublished in a newsletter, which further enables the organization tohear directly from its leadership, and to get answers to any questionsstaff may have. Employees recognize this level of transparency, whichis important to developing trust.

When Should You Contact Your Audience? Timing forEach Level of Communication

Understanding the political environment in which you work is one ofthe most important aspects of delivering your message. Leaders mustbe decisive and respond to a situation with authority, but at times it isequally important to develop the conversation slowly, allow for othersto hear concerns, and enable others to come to their own conclusions.If leaders issue directives as though the decision were only theirs tomake, they will miss out on opportunities to develop the confidenceand good judgment of their employees, and will have stifled theirgrowth. Leaders should understand the importance of taking stepstoward what they want to see happen, but should allow the process tounfold naturally. By allowing others to reach conclusions, they cantake ownership of the results.

Department News

Within a department, always ensure that the supervisor is informedbefore something is publicized. As obvious as this may sound, thereality is quite different in day-to-day operations. The current pace ofwork is so quick that employees often respond to tasks immediatelyand forget to share information with the leaders. Many employeeshave experienced the consequences of this.

For example, consider how a facility manager would feel if he or sheheard of news within his or her own department from a colleagueoutside the department. If it were good news, the immediate reactionmight be positive. But this reaction quickly would be followed withconfusion. Why hadn’t the manager been informed about this initiative


by his or her own staff? What does it say about an employee whocontinues to forget to inform his or her manager? Does it suggest thatthe leader cannot keep up? Does it mean that the staff does not seethis level of communication as a priority, even if the manager does?

Nothing is more important than knowing how to manage expectationsand meeting them as often as possible. Each university environmentis different, and each will have its own hierarchy of communication. Itis important to spend time observing your organization, learning whothe decision makers are, and understanding their circle of influence.

Media

When working with media, there is more to the timing of yourmessage than just knowing the date and time of a particularpublication deadline. Often the question is not whether you can meeta deadline, but whether you want to. Considering whether or not nowis the right time is an important leadership decision.

At times, facility managers cannot control the timing of a messagegoing out, but sometimes they can. And doing so with forethought isan important consideration. Before publicizing your message, answerthe following questions:

Have I told those up the line from me about the issue?Are there consequences of getting this publicized immediatelythat I’m not prepared for yet? Is there additional work to be donefirst?Are we ready to answer the questions that will likely follow thisannouncement or piece of information?

University News

When communicating university news, electronic and social media canbe an excellent tool. For example, to control rumors, an onlinecampus newspaper can be used to explain a staff reduction. Bypublicizing the facts of a sensitive situation quickly, it is possible tomanage the fears and concerns of the university community. Waitingto communicate using printed materials can cost the universityvaluable time. Using electronic media can be a key to success incommunicating the right message.

Kinds of Communication

Caring Conversations

Inevitably, leaders will be faced with the need to give people critical


feedback on their performance or workplace behavior, discipline anemployee, demote an employee, eliminate a position, implement areduction in force (RIF), or tell people they are not a good fit for theirjob and ask them to seek other employment. How the leader hasthese conversations and how he or she conveys the message thatneeds to be delivered is crucial for organizational success.

Most leaders fear having these difficult conversations because theyare stressful and often are emotionally charged.The anxietyassociated with this important responsibility often causes long delaysbetween the actual performance deficiencies or workplace behaviorsthat need to be discussed and the discussion itself. Not giving timelyperformance feedback robs the employee of the opportunity to fix theproblem and erodes your credibility as a leader in the eyes of yourother employees. Unlike wine and cheese, bad news does not improvewith age.

Learning how to say "no" is an area of communication that peoplestruggle with. In itself, "no" should never be an absolute response toany situation. It always needs a context and explanation so that thereceiver can understand where you are coming from.

It is essential to be sensitive, respectful, and empathic to theemployee throughout these conversations. Be especially cognizant ofwhat you are saying and how you say it. Leaders who have littleempathy are prone to giving feedback in a hurtful fashion. Also,voicing your frustration to the employee or attacking his or hercharacter will usually cause an emotional backlash and undoubtedlywill escalate the tenor of the meeting. The intention is to provide thefeedback in a caring and respectful way, such that the employeeremains whole throughout the conversation rather than emotionallyscarred as a result of it. The steps to provide feedback in thesedifficult conversations are as follows:

Prepare your notes and bullet points for the discussion. Bespecific and pick significant incident(s) or events that illustratethe problem you are discussing or the reasons behind jobelimination. Being vague or oblique in this discussion isdemoralizing because it does not give the employee anopportunity to improve behavior or performance.Walk through the conversation mentally and think about how youintend to deliver the message. Consider the array of responsesyou might receive from the employee and mentally prepareyourself for how you would respond in each scenario.Meet with the employee and give him or her feedback in a simpleand straightforward manner. Do not beat around the bush.Tell the person how he or she needs to change performance or


behavior and what positive impact doing so will have for theorganization. Make certain the employee understands theconsequences of choosing to do nothing--that is, it means riskinghis or her job and career.Reach agreement about what the employee intends to do tochange the behavior. Set a due date or a time frame in which toreview progress.

A particularly difficult yet caring conversation, for example, could besitting down with a director-level person and telling him or her that heor she is not meeting performance expectations and furthermoresuggesting his or her skill and expertise are better suited to anotherposition rather than the one he or she occupies. Numerous examplesand leadership miscues that illustrated why it was necessary to makea change could be discussed, as well as how the person can besuccessful in another position. This example illustrates anotherexpected role of the facilities leader--getting staff on the bus and inthe right seats. On the bus means you're heading in the rightdirection and supportive of the leadership vision and direction. In theright seats suggests that your role in the organization is consistentwith the skill set and experience you bring to the institution.

Difficult situations, such as RIFs, require the same level of sensitivityto affected employees as the job performance example above. Butthey also demand that leaders be equally sensitive to the colleagueswho remain in the organization. RIF situations raise anxiety levels inorganizations to unprecedented heights because employees fear theymight be next or worry about retaliation for continuing to exhibitloyalty to affected employees. Remaining employees will want to knowwhy the RIF occurred; how the organization was sensitive to theneeds of affected employees; whether there will be more budget cutsand additional RIFs in the future; how decisions about employeeswere made; what criteria were used to decide who was laid off; whatalternatives to layoffs were considered.

Leaders need to be present to their remaining employees immediatelyafter the layoff notifications are made so they can explain thesituation and answer these and other questions that will surely arise.Leaders must be honest and consistent with their messaging whengiving notice to affected employees in this circumstance and whenmeeting with the remaining staff afterward.

Crucial Conversations

A team member has just missed a critical deadline-what is being saidto him or her? You disagree with your boss but you are afraid to pushback with him or her. Top-performing employees are leaving thedepartment because poor-performing employees are being


ignored--who do you speak to and what do you say about thissituation? Your boss is micromanaging your every move, but youhesitate to speak up. Every organization has problems similar tothese, and they play a significant role in the quality of the workenvironment and work life employees experience day to day.

When faced with these or similar situations, it is quite common toback away from discussing them. It is easy to fear that the situationwill become confrontational and that it will cause pain or escalateemotions or problematic behavior. In these situations, usually a lot isat stake surrounding the issue, opinions of the parties are varied, andemotions can be highly charged. Humans are experts at avoidingthese conversations. We send e-mails to nearby coworkers ratherthan speak to them face-to-face. We leave voicemails when we aredelivering bad news or trying to avoid contact with someone. We givethe silent treatment to a significant other or friend. We change thesubject when the topic gets too risky, and so on. Do any of thesebehaviors sound or feel familiar to you?

Most people in crucial conversations at work or in their personal livesresort to the "fight or flight" approach. This approach describes theway the primitive region of our brain responds to stress and anxiety.Flight in our environments usually means silence or absence. Fight, onthe other hand, often translates to pushing, yelling, screaming,slapping, and other forms of violence. To have successful crucialconversations we must shift from how we traditionally have faceddifficult situations and conversations to a dialog that encourages thefree flow of meaning between individuals. In the book CrucialConversations by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, and Switzler, theauthors outline seven tools that can lead to profitable conversations:

Start with the Heart. This means starting with yourself andexamining the role you play in the crucial conversation, includingyour real motives. Selfish motives like saving face, looking good,winning, being right, getting even, or punishing the other personwill destroy any chance of having a successful conversation. Sothe first step is to identify and correct your motives. You wantones that are honorable, like learning, growing, understanding,making the best decision, or getting the best result. Keep in mindthat "you can't fake an honorable motive"--none of us is thatgood at acting.Learn to Look. This involves learning to see any signs that thesafety of the parties is at risk from someone in the conversationresorting to either the silence or violence mode.Make It Safe. Making it safe for others enables them to speakhonestly and candidly without experiencing negative responses orresults from you. If either mutual purpose or mutual respect is


violated in the conversation, parties will revert to theirflight-or-fight behavior. Mutual purpose means you care aboutthe other person's goals and they feel likewise about yours.Mutual respect suggests that you each genuinely respect oneanother.Master the Stories. Being in control of your emotions andrecognizing the stories that create emotions in you is the essenceof this principle. The concept is that emotions are not passed offto you by others. They are of your own making. For example, weoften blame others for making us mad when the truth is we makeourselves mad because of someone’s comment or their behavior.Additionally, once you have created that emotion, you musteither find a way to master it or become a hostage to it byallowing it to control your future behavior.State My Path. This principle involves speaking persuasively andnot abrasively. In other words, you share your facts and shareyour story and what you've begun to conclude. State your storyas a story rather than a fact. Ask the other persons to share theirfacts and their stories. Make it safe to be candid in this sharingand to hold or express differing points of views.Explore the Other's Path. This encourages the free flow ofmeaning. Begin with an attitude of curiosity and patience. Startby asking about the other person's views. Acknowledge theemotions people are feeling. Paraphrase what you've heard toconvey that you understand and also that it's safe for others tovoice what they are thinking.Move to Action. This turns crucial conversations into action andresults. Turn your conversation into decisions and united actionby avoiding the traps of violated expectations and inaction.Decide on who does what by when and agree to a method offollowing up.

Customer Conversations

Customer conversations take many forms, but all require a sincereinterest in what customers have to say and a keen ability to listen, aswell as discerning underlying issues, responding appropriately,following up consistently, and then closing the matter. Regardless ofwhether the customer contacts you or you contact the customer,these steps are necessary for a successful outcome.

As discussed earlier in this chapter, listening is probably the mostimportant skill a leader must exhibit. At times, the words that arespoken appear to beat around the bush and dance around the realissue. Good listeners will seek to understand, ask questions, repeatwhat they hear, and seek clarification from the customer.


Consider a situation in which a key customer is regularly complainingabout service. After looking into the matter, you might discover thatyour response and action steps were right on the mark, and that theconstant complaint is a mystery. In this case, the customer may havean underlying issue that has not been clearly stated. This will requirea sharp focus on what really is at the heart of the matter. Afterdigging a bit deeper, you may discover the real issue. Perhaps thecustomer was expecting a significant savings, but it was not showingup in the financial statements. Their frustration manifested in theform of complaints about service, when the real issue had nothing todo with that. Active listening and asking questions can help you gainan understanding of the real concern, and this will result in morefocused dialog to resolve misperceptions.

The foundation of establishing strong customer relationships is builton effective listening and follow-through from the facilities operation.People tend to think that follow-up means to inform the customerwhen a problem is fixed. Although that is important, it is equallyimportant to make sure the customer receives communication fromthe beginning and possibly the middle of service delivery as well,depending on the nature of the request. Although staff may know thatthey are working to resolve an issue, the customers may not, andmay be left wondering if their concern fell into a black hole anddisappeared. In the absence of good information, people make upstories. In the world of customer service, that is not a good thing for afacilities organization, because inevitably those stories reflectnegatively on the service provider.

Nothing as important as face-to-face conversations, and customersvalue them as much as employees. Whether you pick up the phone tocheck in, schedule lunch to catch up, or develop a formalized processfor gathering information, personal connection is the way to go. Focusgroups with eight to ten customers are a great way to gatherinformation about service delivery, what we do well, and what weneed to improve. The group dynamic in a focus group usually providesa lot of valuable feedback in a short period of time. The selection ofthe right facilitator who can listen to the comments without beingdefensive is key to getting good results from the process. Ensuringthat everyone has an opportunity to contribute, asking probingquestions, and keeping everyone on track are responsibilities of agood facilitator. A surefire way to call a screeching halt to a focusgroup conversation is for the moderator to become defensive and notlisten to what the customers are trying to say. The result of a poorlyfacilitated group will be resistance to communication in the future andthe continuation of mediocre customer satisfaction rates, at best.

Disney's approach to dealing with customer complaints is intriguing,


and its philosophy is worth instilling in your organization. Disney'sapproach is based on the fact that if a customer comes to you with acomplaint, you are in the enviable position of being able to correct it.When you correct a situation for a customer, you have gained anadvocate and they will tell others. If the customer never came to you,but simply stewed over something that was broken and did not getrepaired quickly, you never had an opportunity to make it right or tomake a positive impression. This is why we work so hard to train ourstaff to welcome customer concerns and feedback. Be open toreceiving feedback, thank the customer for sharing, communicateyour progress, and complete the process. This is how your reputationas an excellent service organization will grow.

Contractor and Vendor Conversations

To meet the demands and responsibilities of a facilities organization,facilities managers must utilize contractors and vendors consistentlyand often. Although many organizations have skilled resources withintheir frontline staff, there are always times when someone fromoutside the university is called in to provide specialized service. It isworthwhile to spend some time exploring these conversations.

The current economic situation has hit the building industry hard andescalated the number of vendors pounding the pavement to round upbusiness. If you are like us, you have several vendors a week wantingface time with you. This can be a significant interruption in yourday-to-day work activities if not managed carefully. To better controlschedules, designate specific days each week on which contractorsand vendors can make appointments to make their presentation.When you receive a call, have the vendor routed to a specificadministrative staff person who schedules these half-hour meetings.Walk-ins also can be directed to this established process. It isimportant to be available for these types of meetings, but equallyimportant to manage the time to meet your needs rather than theirs.

Specific vendors may want to show you a product, which can beburdensome if not managed. Setting up a process to allow frontlineanalysis of the product can be a way to ensure that your time is wellspent. Not every vendor gets face time! For example, a particularvendor of LED lighting systems may want to conduct a demonstrationof their product in a building's elevator lobby. If you direct this call toa staff electrical engineer to look through the material and talk to thevendor, the engineer can determine whether the product has a returnon investment or cost-efficiency. This process not only helps with timemanagement, but also engages the expertise of the frontline staff inthe decision-making process for the organization.

Much of the information listed above is germane to all facilities


organizations, and should be an important part of everyone'scommunication skill set. There are different needs and expectedoutcomes depending on with whom we are in communication,whether a competitively bid contractual relationship, a single projectproposal, or a product vendor. Knowing the desired outcome helpsdetermine the direction you take. In all cases, transparency, honesty,and integrity are the fundamental values to maintain.

Executive Conversations

Top leaders in facility organizations are frequently called upon tomake presentations to the president's cabinet, the deans, the waysand means or budget committee, and the board of trustees. Virtuallyall these presentations are intended to update the group or seekapproval and endorsement for a new building site, a capital project,energy conservation, or capital renewal budget requests. Many timesyou are invited to these meetings to elaborate on a project or respondto questions or concerns the parties may have regarding a proposalyou are trying to advance. All of these presentations require excellentoral and technical skills plus graphics to illustrate the chosen site, theschematic design for a new building, a deferred maintenance problem,and the like. The combination of PowerPoint graphics or photographstogether with oral explanations and elaboration is crucial to theeffectiveness of these executive briefings.

For example, when managing communications with various board oftrustee committees, you may meet with the Real Estate Buildings andGrounds Committee. During these monthly meetings, you may makepresentations on new campus projects ranging from a $10,000 marblebench to a $1.2 billion health care redevelopment master plan andevery kind of project in between. Update them on all the projectsunder way on campus by using the same combined oral and graphictechniques described above. Trustees were not interested or engagedin the conversation during past presentations done orally withoutmany graphical aides. In fact, they appeared to be downright bored.Use photographs on the active project briefings together with a feworal comments. This approach will engage their interest to the extentthat you may now need to be prepared for questions about contractormeans and methods on some of the projects.

Transparency and Confidentiality

Transparency is a key attribute of an ethical organization. In anethical organization roles are clear, responsibilities are defined, rulesare understood by all, trust is fostered, fear is eliminated, and


situations and/or processes are openly discussed. This kind ofenvironment values individuals' right to express their opinion and beheard without fear of intimidation. In other words, people areencouraged to voice dissenting points of view, and the organizationvalues that level of openness and that type of dialog among its staff.In the daily business activities of any organization there will beconflicts between when to be transparent and when confidentialityshould be the prevailing principle. An example of such a dilemmawould be in personnel actions and decision making, whereconfidentiality must always take precedence. Conversely, fulltransparency should be expected, required, and practiced whenaddressing employee performance concerns, departmentalreorganizations, hiring new staff, opening promotional opportunities,discussing new policies/procedures, planning for budget reductions, orany similar aspect of organizational life that affects or addressesindividuals and/or the common good. Building transparent culturesthat make bad news safe to discuss is essential to earning andmaintaining a reputation for credible leadership. When it comes tosetting the tone for ethical behavior in an organization, all eyes areon leadership. Remember, what leaders do has greater import andimpact than what they say.

It is possible to have situations in which a leader must be bothtransparent and confidential. The following example illustrates thatpoint. In response to a recent budget reduction directive, it wasnecessary to begin planning for a significant reduction in force. Toaddress this requirement, the director worked with the department'sleadership team and appointed an advisory board of 21 frontlineemployees representing all the departments in proportion to theiremployee count. The purpose of this advisory board was to facilitatecommunication with frontline employees and to assist the leadershipteam in evaluating departmental policies, procedures, work practices,customer service issues, etc. When the magnitude of the budget cutand its potential impact on employees was known, this informationwas shared in detail with the advisory board. The leadership teamalso shared information on the areas and services most likely eligiblefor budget cuts: areas and services that are revenue dependent, suchas project management, interior design, and painting services. Theadvisory board was then invited to give advice about how to approachthe decisions regarding who would be laid off. Its response was to useperformance as the principal decision-making factor.

Given this advice, the leadership team developed an assessment toolthat would be used for ranking all like positions within a work groupusing seven different performance factors. This assessment toolinformation was shared with the advisory board for itscomment/input. The next step included review, comment, and input


from the supervisors and managers over the impacted work areas.They were asked to independently rank the employees in their area.Those employees with the lowest average assessment ratings wouldbe selected for the reduction in force. The affected employees werenotified as quickly as possible that their jobs were being eliminated.Once these notifications were completed, the director met with theadvisory board again and shared the number of positions impacted bythe RIF and the names of the people involved.

There is no question that walking the transparency vs. confidentialityline is challenging. It takes purposeful decision making and a highlevel of caring about the people within your organization. We all knowhow quickly rumors spread throughout an organization, and in asituation where accurate information is not available, inaccurateinformation is invented. It is probable that there will be greaternegative backlash by employees from what is circulating on the rumormill than what is being shared openly and transparently with them.

This is an example of a tough situation where some key guidelines areillustrated: Always deliver the news in person rather than via e-mailor memorandum; be transparent in delivering as much information asyou can at the time you do it; allow your audience to ask questionsand provide input; and deliver bad news as soon as you can. Yourcredibility will be at risk if you wait for the right time to share thenews.

Notes

1. Collins, Jim. 2001. Good to Great, Why Some Companies Make theLeap . . . and Others Don't. New York: Harper Collins Publishers Inc.

2. Patterson, Kerry, Joseph Grenny, Ron Mcmillan, and Al Switzler.2002. Crucial Conversations, Tools for Talking When the Stakes AreHigh. New York: McGraw Hill Publishing.

Recommended Readings

APPA. 2005. Creating a Service Culture: Making the Customer Connection. Alexandria, VA: APPA.Arbinger Institute. 2000, 2002. Leadership and Self-Deception - Getting out of the Box. San Francisco:

Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.Bennis, W., & Goldsmith, J. 1994. Learning To Lead. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Blanchard, K., Carlos, J.P., and Randolph, A. 1996) Empowerment Takes More Than a Minute. San Francisco:

Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.Budd, M., and Rothstein, L. 2000. You Are What You Say. New York: Crown Publishers.


Cannie, J.K., and Caplin, D. 1991. Keeping Customers for Life. New York: American Management Association.Costa, J.D. 1998. The Ethical Imperative. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Daniels, W.R. 1990) Group Power II: A Manager's Guide to Conducting Regular Meetings. San Diego: Pfeiffer

& Company.Dawson, C. November 5, 2008. The Importance of Communication. Retrieved from

http://education.zdnet.com/?p=1934.DeMars, N. 1997. You Want Me To Do What? New York: Fireside.Irwin, T. 2006. Run with the Bulls without Getting Trampled. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.James, C. (n.d.). Communication for the 21st Century.

Jellison, J.M. (1993). Overcoming Resistance. New York: Simon & Schuster.Kouzes, J.M., and Posner, B.Z. (1993). Credibility - How Leaders Gain And Lose It, Why People Demand It.

San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.Kouzes, J.M., and Posner, B.Z. (1995). The Leadership Challenge. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Inc.Lee, B. (1997). The Power Principle - Influence with Honor. New York: Simon and Schuster.Loden, M., and Rosener, J.B. 1991. Workforce America! - Managing Employee Diversity as a Vital Resource.

New York: Irwin Professional Publishing.Lundin, S.C., Paul, H., and Christensen, J. 2000. Fish! New York: Warner Books.Meyer, D. 2006. Setting the Table - The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business. New York:

HarperCollins Publishers.Murphy, K.R. 1993. Honesty in the Workplace. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company.Ottensmeyer, E.J., and McCarthy, G.D. 1996. Ethics In the Workplace. New York: McGraw-Hill.Pagano, B., and Pagano, E. (2004). The Transparency Edge. New York: McGraw-Hill.Regan, M.D. (1999). The Journey to Teams. Raleigh, NC: Holden Press.Sonnenfeld, J.A. (1995). Concepts of Leadership. Brookfield, VT: Dartmouth Publishing Company.Williams, R.L. (2005). Tell Me How I'm Doing. New York: American Management Association.


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