Talk amongst yourselves for a moment

When a company is small (<15 employees), people talk to each other constantly, from the CEO on down to the interns. When a company gets larger, the interns may still be able to talk to the CEO, but not as often or easily as when the company was small. Why is this?

I believe that it's a few different reasons, and not just the ones I mention here. When you get a larger company, there are more lines of information to track, more people with different ways of communicating, and more ways for people to get upset. Some of the people aren't going to use the historical method of communication within the company (assuming there's been some stability in that arena). Some people are going to argue that the way people have been communicating is inefficient, which may be true, but instituting a change to "improve" communications may wind up alienating people, or fracturing the communication into a bunch of different methods.

Another side effect of growth is the apparent need to have the leaders in the company stop leading by doing and have them start leading by delegating. This may also create issues in the reasons why things have to be done a certain way. It's much easier to accept difficult decisions when you know the decision maker has to work under the exact same circumstances that you do. When you see your leaders suffering, it can create a kind of camaraderie. It can also create a lack of trust in their ability to lead, but that's another issue to tackle another time.

On the other hand, if you feel like decisions are being made without input from the people in the trenches, and you know the leaders and decision makers aren't doing the work themselves in the environment they create, that can definitely create a rift if there isn't a clear and consistent sharing of information. Typically that happens when management doesn't discuss the thoughts, ideas, and process that went into the decision, and how the decision can affect long term goals. Employees get upset, morale goes down, and a lack of trust in management may evolve.

But what if we turn that on it's head? Employees get upset, but don't talk to management? People talk amongst themselves, grousing, complaining, but never bring the complaints to the leaders. In effect, you get the Dilbert Syndrome. People stop caring, they don't work as hard as they used to, and management gets upset at the lack of enthusiasm from the employees. It's a dangerous cycle, and it can rapidly deteriorate into constant turnover and costs for the company.

How can we break these cycles? I've got a few ideas, but by no stretch of the imagination, all the answers.

1. Managers: Talk to your employees. Constantly. If they have an issue, it is your job to get to the bottom of the problem and fix it. There's always a solution, and always one you and the employees can agree on.
2. Employees: Talk to your managers. Constantly. If you have a problem, it is your job to explain it in as much detail as your manager needs to solve the problem. Be a part of the solution. If you don't give them input on the way to fix your work issues, they may not be able to fix it in a way that you are happy with. And then you have a new issue.
3. Managers: If you are aware of an ongoing issue, and you don't need an employee to come to you to explain it, just fix it. If you need guidance (and there's a good chance you do), talk to your employees to find out what you can do to help. No one is infallible, so by getting their input, you're more likely to solve the issue in a way that makes people happy.
4. Employees: Know that you're not going to be happy with every decision. It's a fact of life. If you were happy with everything that happened to you, there wouldn't be much a challenge to life and work, would there. Boring!
5. Managers and employees: Be honest with each other. Make keeping everyone around you full of information and assistance. This will help you and them stay happy, productive, and will help the company run smoother than it may be right now.

I don't run my own company, but I know that communication is key to things running well. I've experienced the difference on teams that always know what's going on internally, and teams that are run from the top down, without ideas being given a chance and team members not being given any free time or opportunity to self-manage.

Keep talking!

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