Effectively communicate both the
vision and the mission. We do
the traditional things — we communicate in the company
meetings — but the key is to
be sincere about it and not just
make it a campaign where you
beat everyone over the head
with what you’re trying to do
because people just tune out.
If you send them an e-mail
saying, ‘Remember, our
vision statement is this, and
our mission statement is
this,’ they’ll put you on the
blocked senders list. There is
a problem with leaders and
CEOs not getting it and over-communicating it, and people
just block them out, whether
it’s a blocked senders list or
in their own mind. They just
say, ‘Yeah.’ They don’t pay
any attention to it. ‘It’s the
flavor of the month, it’s not sincere; don’t worry, it’ll
change next week, why do I
bother listening.’
The best way is to communicate with your actions. The
things that you do day to day
and the investments you make
in the company, you let people
know. You’re not beating them
over the head. You say, ‘We’re
going to invest in some new
software this year, and the reason we’re doing it this year is
because it’s a platform for
growth and part of our vision
statement,’ and everyone says,
‘Oh, OK, that’s why we’re
doing it.’
You don’t have to beat them
over the head with it and have
a big rah-rah thing. I don’t
think that works.
It’s a fine line — no communication to way too much communication, and you
have to find that sweet spot
right in the middle. I don’t
know how you define that
except with experience,
judgment and feedback from
your key managers. I rely on
them.
If I’m going to send out an
e-mail to the whole company
regarding a particular topic,
I’ll say, ‘Do me a favor and
look at this — do you think
this is a good idea?’ You get
some feedback from them,
but they have to be people
you trust, [who] know your
vision and know your mission.
And sometimes they say,
‘That’d be a stupid idea, Ron.
Don’t send this,’ and you take
their advice.
HOW TO REACH: Machinery Systems Inc., (847) 882-8085 or www.machsys.com
