It is not unusual for me to drive 100 miles on any given day; 20 miles to preschool, 20 miles to my daily meetings, 20 miles back to preschool and 20 miles back home. Yes, I know that only adds up to 80 miles, so just toss in another 20 for random driving stuff and there you have it.
Suffice to say I now get to experience this thing called "traffic" on a daily basis, and I am pretty sure I can now say with complete certainty that the greatest single example of American inefficiency is our roadways. There is absolutely no reason for 95% of the traffic I see on the roads. No wrecks, no lane closures, no meteors falling from the sky that will kill people might they actually drive the speed limit and go 50 feet without hitting their brakes.
My partner at Austin Business Coaching has had a good impact on my in the last few months, helping me realize the benefits that come from a more stress-free life. About the only way I can manage that stress while driving is to search for organizational principles in the midst of my driving. That leads to today's topic and the main reasons for traffic jams; both on the road and in your organization.
Poor Communication. Our roadways are a testament to the effects of poor communication. What should be a free-flowing highway turns into a parking lot in great part because people are unable to enter, exit, and maneuver freely. This is, in large part, because they are unable to communicate with each other effectively.
I see people all around me, but I have no idea where they are going and what they are needing/expecting from me or the other drivers. Many organizations face this same issue as departments become silos and information becomes more and more separated. People who have worked together for years pass in the hall, each having no idea where the other is going or why.
Tasks are duplicated, decision making is slowed, and the overall efficiency of the organization drops.
Of course sometimes people do try to communicate on the road. They may turn on their blinker to tell people, "Hey, I would like to be in that lane you are in, can you help?" That leads us to the second, even larger, issue of Trust.
Trust. I learned pretty quickly that only fools actually use their blinker. Experienced drivers know that the best way to change lanes is to drive casually, pretending like you are perfectly content with the lane you are in... waiting for an opening. Then you jump into the next lane before anyone can see it coming and move to stop you! Ok, maybe that is not the best way to execute a lane change, but it only takes a few (hundred) times of watching people intentionally move to cut you off after seeing your blinker turn on before trust begins to erode.
Perhaps you have noticed the same thing in your organization. People tend to be closed, protective, perhaps even verging on deceptive; and most of that behavior is because they are not sure what will happen if they speak up. Questions go unasked because people saw what happened to the last guy who questioned a decision made by the boss. Problems sprout up and are overlooked as people work to protect their own position rather than risk being blamed for the problem occurring.
Trust and communication are linked. Trust requires open and honest communication, and that sort of communication does not happen outside a relationship of trust. In order to begin the process of growth someone has to take a chance and become vulnerable.
That is the role of leadership. A leader must be willing to act trustworthy by practicing open and honest communication in order to build trust with his followers. Only then will a culture of Trust and Communication take hold in an organization, allowing it to reach its full potential of efficiency and effectiveness.