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Communication Responsibility

Succession of the Family Business: A New Perspective

Communication Responsibility

Communication is the exchange of information between individuals – information that can be exchanged in a variety of ways; written, verbal, body language, gestures, drawings, signals art, literature, etc. It is so ingrained in who we are as humans that it takes a conscious effort to NOT communicate at all.  Effective, communication is non-judgmental.  the message and its implications are fully understood by both parties - remembering that approximately 75% of communication is non-verbal is essential in ensuring that what you intend to say is what is what is understood.  Effective Communication is hard work but the rewards of getting it right far outweigh the consequences of getting it wrong. 

The multiple modes of communication ensure that this is one of life’s most enduring frustrations with the populist catch-phrase ‘poor communication’ seen as the cause of all that’s wrong in the modern world.  Communication is the deliberate will to send a message to one or more people and have this received and understood  as it was intended.  This requires responsibility on behalf of the effective communicator to ensure that this message is clearly and accurately “sent” and that it was received and understood. Far too often this responsibility is abdicated in favour of the message recipients such that they become responsible to accurately receiving and correctly interpreting the message/s. thus the ancient art of Chinese whispers is continued. As a means of transferring information this is similar to winking at a girl in the dark and hoping she will come over to ask you out!

The responsibility of effective communication includes understanding the importance of and control over the non-verbal cues (including the increased challenge of accuracy when these are absent as in written communication) to ensure that there is agreement between the verbal and non-verbal message being delivered and how this is received. Understanding the different preferences for information intake is also an important part of the communication process. there is little to be achieved in sending written communiqués to those with poor or no literacy skills, yet it still occurs with an expectation of successful communication. Likewise, the practice of simply increasing the volume at which the message is given, without altering the method or mode of delivery, and expecting that the message will be made clearer when it is shouted out.

There is however a place for the recipient to challenge any discrepancies between the actions and the words being communicated. This can take courage, especially when there are intense emotions involved, but there is also a responsibility to not let these discrepancies go unchallenged or uncorrected. the saying ‘there is none so blind, as those who will not see’ is very apt when applied to communication.  This is also true when applied to not asking the ‘critical question’s’ due to a feared inability to deal with the answers.

It is the absence of personal responsibility for communication that is largely to blame for many of the things that go wrong in the process of succession and business continuance planning. People ignore the Importance and value of clear, concise, effective communication and underestimate the damage that unclear, imprecise and ineffective communication can do, especially when it is built up over time.  In many cases, inadequate communication is not a deliberate act of harm. behind every poor communication is someone thinking they are doing a good job of communicating! For example the man who said “I love my wife so much – why, I once almost told her so!’ thought he was communicating but was not taking responsibility for his wife receiving the message of love and would be disbelieving to learn that she felt unloved much of the time.

In planning of any kind, communication is the most significant factor that will determine the outcome of the plan. This is especially true when planning the future of family businesses – Effective communication is hard work.  However the hard work of effective communication, or the lack of hard work of effective communication will result in the success or failure of the succession and business continuance and plan.   The effective communicator takes the responsibility for the messages they send and the responsibility in that it was effectively received and understood.  When this is done many issues will resolve themselves and the process of getting on with the plan can occur with a much higher degree of success. You can’t win the game if no-one knows what the rules are or how to score a point!

Mandi McLeod

Silvanus Consulting Ltd