Page 52 - The Voice of Authority

follow-up information on key concerns or issues—espe-
cially after major announcements, a change in policy, or a
new procedure.

Don’t Hide behind the Technology

No doubt you could still function as a relatively normal
human being yet never speak to another person on this
planet. You can order food,
pay your utilities, do your
banking, buy birthday gifts, Pick up the phone or walk
and contact your represen- down the hall to the next
tatives in Congress online. I cubicle occasionally.
don’t recommend it as a
way of life, however.
Neither do I recommend it in the workplace. What takes
10 e-mails to negotiate or clarify can often be communi-
cated in a three-minute phone conversation. Pick up the
phone or walk down the hall to the next cubicle occasion-
ally.

Tell Bad News Promptly: Never Underestimate
the Importance of the Two-Minute Warning

Without the two-minute warning in a ball game, the trail-
ing team may miss their chance to redouble their efforts to
catch up before the final buzzer sounds. The game ends;
they lose. Ditto for communicating in business. The worse
the news, the sooner people need to know it and the more
effort should go into communicating it.
A director of operations at a client organization re-
members problems associated with the move-in to their
design research center. “When we design a new center, we

40 The Voice of Authority