THE CRAFT OF COMMUNICATION
BY HVACR BUSINESS STAFF
I
once had a boss bite my head off in front of all of my co-workers. The “crime” I committed turned out to be her mistake, and she later skulked into my office to offer a private apology for a very public flogging. Unfortunately, rather than opening the lines of communication, asking questions, and listening to the answers, she assumed she knew all the facts. Her knee-jerk reaction created tension (always praise in public and reprimand co-workers in private) and lessened my faith in her leadership abilities. In her defense, trouble rolls downhill and she was merely responding to a knee-jerk reaction from her boss. Had he effectively communicated his dissatisfaction with the project and
6
Imaginations run wild when the grapevine drips tidbits of information. Employees will piece together cryptic knowledge to form their own picture of what is going on. If they are left without official notice for too long, and you will be managing more than you bargained for. described what caused his blood pressure to rise, only one of us would have had to lick our wounds. Instead, he waved a piece of paper in her face and stormed out of her office. Unfortunately, this chain of events
HVACR BUSINESS JANUARY 2022
happens more often than it should because people assume they work with mind readers. As leaders, it is your job to shun that notion and practice effective communication. The best way to practice effective
communication is to learn from others’ mistakes. Fortunately for you, I have witnessed (and at times committed) my share of communication fiascos. Among the most significant blunders is the practice of not communicating - at all, especially when a company-changing event is underway. Sometimes the powers that be feel that such information is on a needto-know basis and only for a select few. While employees certainly don’t need to know every detail of mergers, acquisitions, financial results and downsizing before said events, some communication is necessary at the very least to stop the rumor mill. continued on page 8
www.hvacrbusiness.com
