Communication Culture is the Basis and Key to Corporate Development



Communication Culture is the Basis and Key to Corporate Development

Many companies are now emphasizing communication and creating a horizontal and flexible atmosphere.
However, it is not as effective as expected. So, here are some things that companies should know
if they want to create a proper communication culture:
Article. Editor’s Office


Companies need an active communication culture



You will see the direction in which the companies are headed by looking at the changes in the types of people that the top-100 companies want, as presented by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In the 2000s when the world was going through rapid changes in IT, innovation and challenging spirits were important. It was important to have ideas to start in a new field that no other companies have tried or succeeded in.

Around 2020, however, the talents that the companies prefer are changing greatly. Companies that sought creativity, challenging spirits, sense of ownership, and professionality started considering communication and cooperation as more important. Of course, communication was always important. Now, however, we need a communication culture that enables active cooperation, different from the old top-down manner.


There is a case demonstrating the importance of communication I would like to introduce. In 1987, a large fire that killed 31 people occurred at King’s Cross Station, London. The reason why this minor, avoidable fire developed into such a great tragedy was the lack of communication between employees.

The first person who discovered the fire, a ticket agent, did not think it was his responsibility. Then, the other employees could not use a fire extinguisher because they had not been trained for it. And the message alerting the senior manager was not delivered. If there was an active exchange of communication and cooperation, the tragedy would not have happened.

Also, there is another case that dealt with a crisis through communication. Alcoa, the world’s largest aluminum producer, was going through financial difficulties in 1980. When Paul O’Neill became the CEO and announced he would “make a safe company,” but the shareholders who expected great leadership from him were ultimately disappointed and sold a great number of shares.

There were five customs that Paul O’Neill practiced provoking the opposition and disappointment of the shareholders. Three of them were related to communication. First, review the safety performance of the executives; second, share the CEO’s home phone number with the employees; and third, call the CEO directly in case of work loss. The one thing that he emphasized for safety at Alcoa was communication. It was the CEO who considered non-reporting of risks as most important that made Alcoa the safest company with the lowest industrial accident rate in the world.

The reason why communication is so important in the new era



As the boundaries between industries become more transparent, and the lifespan of companies is shortened, a company cannot last without a single person’s message. Generation gap has played a role in changing the communication culture. Since working remotely and from home has become popular during the COVID-19 pandemic, companies that had to deal with employees working in various ways started to emphasize communication.

Upwork, a global platform, predicted that 73% of their employees will work remotely by 2028. According to a survey conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the working style of 300 Korean companies, remote working has actually increased by 34%. This is four times more than the pre-COVID-19 pandemic.

The downside is that there is a greater sense of isolation and fatigue. IBM, which practiced working from home for 40% of its employees in 2009, earlier than any other company, has disposed of Office at 2.4 trillion KRW. However, it brought back thousands of the employees after eight years because there were difficulties in communication and cooperation. After identifying problems like this, the companies had to further emphasize the importance of communication.


Efforts that companies are making for healthy communication



Accordingly, many companies are trying to enable flexible communication within the organizations through diverse ways. Not calling others by their titles, using English names for horizontal designation, simplifying reporting processes, and blind communication. Until now, it is only the beginning. Although the employees’ opinions are heard, important decisions are still made by the management. When it is established as a custom, the employees will feel free to voice their opinions when big decisions are made in the future.

There is an actual case like this. Intel pursues an equal corporate culture and even the CEO has to circle around the building several times for parking because he is not given his own parking space. In this horizontal culture, Intel encourages employees to actively speak up and give criticism.

When Intel considered exiting the semiconductor memory business, some of the middle managers raised objections to their existing business model when the board of directors hesitated, and claimed that they should shift to microprocessors, which were relatively profitable. These middle managers were even from different departments. The reason why they could give out their opinions and cooperate with each other was that they knew they were not intimidated by authority.

In addition to this horizontal atmosphere, there is one more thing needed. You need to establish a healthy feedback culture. Even if the communication is done in a free atmosphere, if the communication is focused on someone with a problem, it may be a big risk factor. You need a communication method in which the cooperative relations are maintained, opinions are criticized but not attacked, and they are allowed in a positive way.

Pixar Animation Studio is known for their collective creativity. The Pixar “Braintrust” is held every few months by the directors and the production crew to meet with an advisory group of writers and other directors to get candid feedback. They are not hurt by the frankness. Because even though they are based on frankness, the problem is not associated with a person.


Butterfly effect created through good communication



When this healthy, expansive communication culture is settled, collective intelligence will be raised with positive synergy. A new product or an innovation in process with creative ideas can result from collective intelligence. For this to happen, the employees need to understand that any idea can be respected in a free and equal culture.

In addition, communication based on mutual trust can be used as a tool for problem-solving and conflict resolution. The point can be reached faster when opinions are shared actively, and it is easy to talk frankly in a conflict situation. Harvard Business Review also stated that “employees who trust their organization tend to cooperate better with other members.” Therefore, if departments need to share work-related information or interact effectively, the organization needs to place trust in the employees.

This internal communication culture leads to communication with the customers. Customer communication can be considered the ultimate objective of a company because products and services that do not reflect the needs of customers are bound to fail. Companies that have problems with customer communication need to first examine if there is a problem with internal communication.

Opening a window to know about each other and communicate better



In the 1950s, American psychologists Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham devised a model called the “Johari Window.” It is a communicative framework that analyzes relationships of self with others in four areas. According to this, there are four types of windows among people. The first is an open window that is known to self and to others; the second is a façade that is known to self but not known to others; the third is a blind one that is not known to self but known to others; and the fourth is an unknown window that is known neither to self nor to others.

Through the Johari Window theory, they claimed that a person needs to expand the comfort zone to communicate well with others. The comfort zone that they emphasized is the open window. When there are more open windows between the leaders and the other employees, between the employees, and between the departments, the communication culture will expand. When this type of communication is possible, the company will stay balanced and keep developing during the current whirlwind of changes.


2021.05.01

Many companies are now emphasizing communication and creating a horizontal and flexible atmosphere.
However, it is not as effective as expected. So, here are some things that companies should know
if they want to create a proper communication culture:
Article. Editor’s Office

 

Companies need an active communication culture

You will see the direction in which the companies are headed by looking at the changes in the types of people that the top-100 companies want, as presented by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In the 2000s when the world was going through rapid changes in IT, innovation and challenging spirits were important. It was important to have ideas to start in a new field that no other companies have tried or succeeded in.

Around 2020, however, the talents that the companies prefer are changing greatly. Companies that sought creativity, challenging spirits, sense of ownership, and professionality started considering communication and cooperation as more important. Of course, communication was always important. Now, however, we need a communication culture that enables active cooperation, different from the old top-down manner.

 

There is a case demonstrating the importance of communication I would like to introduce. In 1987, a large fire that killed 31 people occurred at King’s Cross Station, London. The reason why this minor, avoidable fire developed into such a great tragedy was the lack of communication between employees.

The first person who discovered the fire, a ticket agent, did not think it was his responsibility. Then, the other employees could not use a fire extinguisher because they had not been trained for it. And the message alerting the senior manager was not delivered. If there was an active exchange of communication and cooperation, the tragedy would not have happened.

Also, there is another case that dealt with a crisis through communication. Alcoa, the world’s largest aluminum producer, was going through financial difficulties in 1980. When Paul O’Neill became the CEO and announced he would “make a safe company,” but the shareholders who expected great leadership from him were ultimately disappointed and sold a great number of shares.

There were five customs that Paul O’Neill practiced provoking the opposition and disappointment of the shareholders. Three of them were related to communication. First, review the safety performance of the executives; second, share the CEO’s home phone number with the employees; and third, call the CEO directly in case of work loss. The one thing that he emphasized for safety at Alcoa was communication. It was the CEO who considered non-reporting of risks as most important that made Alcoa the safest company with the lowest industrial accident rate in the world.

The reason why communication is so important in the new era

As the boundaries between industries become more transparent, and the lifespan of companies is shortened, a company cannot last without a single person’s message. Generation gap has played a role in changing the communication culture. Since working remotely and from home has become popular during the COVID-19 pandemic, companies that had to deal with employees working in various ways started to emphasize communication.

Upwork, a global platform, predicted that 73% of their employees will work remotely by 2028. According to a survey conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry on the working style of 300 Korean companies, remote working has actually increased by 34%. This is four times more than the pre-COVID-19 pandemic.

The downside is that there is a greater sense of isolation and fatigue. IBM, which practiced working from home for 40% of its employees in 2009, earlier than any other company, has disposed of Office at 2.4 trillion KRW. However, it brought back thousands of the employees after eight years because there were difficulties in communication and cooperation. After identifying problems like this, the companies had to further emphasize the importance of communication.

 

Efforts that companies are making for healthy communication

Accordingly, many companies are trying to enable flexible communication within the organizations through diverse ways. Not calling others by their titles, using English names for horizontal designation, simplifying reporting processes, and blind communication. Until now, it is only the beginning. Although the employees’ opinions are heard, important decisions are still made by the management. When it is established as a custom, the employees will feel free to voice their opinions when big decisions are made in the future.

There is an actual case like this. Intel pursues an equal corporate culture and even the CEO has to circle around the building several times for parking because he is not given his own parking space. In this horizontal culture, Intel encourages employees to actively speak up and give criticism.

When Intel considered exiting the semiconductor memory business, some of the middle managers raised objections to their existing business model when the board of directors hesitated, and claimed that they should shift to microprocessors, which were relatively profitable. These middle managers were even from different departments. The reason why they could give out their opinions and cooperate with each other was that they knew they were not intimidated by authority.

In addition to this horizontal atmosphere, there is one more thing needed. You need to establish a healthy feedback culture. Even if the communication is done in a free atmosphere, if the communication is focused on someone with a problem, it may be a big risk factor. You need a communication method in which the cooperative relations are maintained, opinions are criticized but not attacked, and they are allowed in a positive way.

Pixar Animation Studio is known for their collective creativity. The Pixar “Braintrust” is held every few months by the directors and the production crew to meet with an advisory group of writers and other directors to get candid feedback. They are not hurt by the frankness. Because even though they are based on frankness, the problem is not associated with a person.

 

Butterfly effect created through good communication

When this healthy, expansive communication culture is settled, collective intelligence will be raised with positive synergy. A new product or an innovation in process with creative ideas can result from collective intelligence. For this to happen, the employees need to understand that any idea can be respected in a free and equal culture.

In addition, communication based on mutual trust can be used as a tool for problem-solving and conflict resolution. The point can be reached faster when opinions are shared actively, and it is easy to talk frankly in a conflict situation. Harvard Business Review also stated that “employees who trust their organization tend to cooperate better with other members.” Therefore, if departments need to share work-related information or interact effectively, the organization needs to place trust in the employees.

This internal communication culture leads to communication with the customers. Customer communication can be considered the ultimate objective of a company because products and services that do not reflect the needs of customers are bound to fail. Companies that have problems with customer communication need to first examine if there is a problem with internal communication.

Opening a window to know about each other and communicate better

In the 1950s, American psychologists Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham devised a model called the “Johari Window.” It is a communicative framework that analyzes relationships of self with others in four areas. According to this, there are four types of windows among people. The first is an open window that is known to self and to others; the second is a façade that is known to self but not known to others; the third is a blind one that is not known to self but known to others; and the fourth is an unknown window that is known neither to self nor to others.

Through the Johari Window theory, they claimed that a person needs to expand the comfort zone to communicate well with others. The comfort zone that they emphasized is the open window. When there are more open windows between the leaders and the other employees, between the employees, and between the departments, the communication culture will expand. When this type of communication is possible, the company will stay balanced and keep developing during the current whirlwind of changes.