Miscommunication has reached the monumental proportion of being a dangerous epidemic. Our "Tower of Babble" is something we desperately need to topple, if we are going to achieve excellence in anything. Executive excellence demands an effort toward superior communication. This effort can start by exposing and eliminating major obstacles to our goal of good communication. Below are ten such barriers we should start removing immediately:

Verbabbling.

There is mass miscommunication and misunderstanding going on today, because we have forgotten the original purpose of communication. We invented communication in order to be able to tell somebody about something important by showing them a like resemblance of the real object. Our words have expanded exponentially to the point of distorting such resemblance into oblivion. We talk for hours and write reams, without showing much of anything.

One quick and easy cure for all this nonsensical verbabbling is to remember and re-practice the Five C’s of good communication: Clarity, Conciseness, Concreteness, Correctness and Completeness. When we are vague, long-winded, too abstract, wrong or incomplete, we are not showing anyone a like resemblance of anything. On the other hand, we improve resemblance greatly by carefully picking the right words, getting to the point quickly, using realize examples, not being wrong and not leaving out critical information.

One-eared listening.

Whenever we over-attend to how something is being said at the expense of missing the actual what of the message, or only hear what is being said, without catching what isn't being said, we are being guilty of not using both ears. Too often, how something is being said overpowers what is being said, or what isn't being said is much more important than what is being said. In either case, at least half the message is being missed.

The cure here is to make a concerted effort to listen aggressively. Two-eared, active listening requires us to stop talking and listen for good understanding, rather than just superficially hearing the end of a sentence so we can add to it, just to keep the dialogue flowing. Unfortunately, many genuine opportunities for productive communication are lost, through the unproductive habit of one-eared listening.

Analogicalizing.

This strange word represents the futile activity in which we try to translate non-verbal (analogical) communication verbally (digitally), and which usually results in much frustration, hard feelings and misunderstanding. In reality, these two systems of communication are mutually exclusive, play by entirely different sets of "rules," and cant possibly "communicate" with each other. Such an event would be like a mathematician attempting to communicate arithmetic symbols to an artist, who thinks and hears in pictures. There is no possibility of any accuracy in the exchange of information between the two.

The cure to removing this obstacle is to never assume what any non-verbal communication means without first asking and trying to clarify it. Even this won't usually work, but at least it interrupts an automatic uproar. One important realization is that verbal communication is defined as being "permanent." Non-verbal communication is most often ephemeral, and not seeing that is missing the whole point.

Reality zone-surfing.

There are four primary reality zones we can communicate from: (1) the materialistic/sensory zone, which includes objective observations of real things, without any need for interpretations (2) the psychological zone, which includes subjective interpretations we can think and feel about the other reality zones (3) the artificial zone, which includes the control that words, drugs, time, "big brother" institutions and other people have over all these realities, and (4) the spiritual zone, which is ultimate reality that is difficult to describe, but never-the-less, contains the only truth which we can trust without knowing it for sure.

A great deal of miscommunication occurs when people are trying to communicate with each other from different zones. The ultimate goal of peak communication, only occurs within same-zone communication, and this event is rare, given all these other obstacles. The cure is to know where you and your "audience" is communicating from and try to be in the same place at the same time.

Misconnecting.

There is usually a much wider gap between us and our "audience" than we see. We often forget that the audience may not think or perceive things like us, process information the same way, be able to interpret what they hear the same way as we meant it, or even be in the same reality zone as us. Add all these other obstacles to the communication equation, and this gap becomes monumental.

The cure for our communication myopia is to practice aggressive, two-eared listening, before talking, in order to make some important determinations, as to who we are communicating with, and then make the appropriate adjustments. For instance, we may improve connection by getting answers to some key questions: What topics should be approached or avoided, will mental pictures or details have more impact, what words are hot buttons, etc. Taking the time to close this gap between our audience and us is a sure way to improve accuracy and impact of communication.

Defending.

Any communication that brings on defensiveness is one of the worst things that can happen, because it shuts down communication. When we become defensive, our feelings interfere with the clear expression of our thoughts. We are too busy defending "ourselves" to communicate accurately. It is important to always guard against doing anything, which may contribute to a defensive climate. If we know we are going to be talking to another person who has a tendency to be defensive, extra effort should be made to set the stage for a more relaxed, easy-going exchange.

Activities, which typically produce a defensive climate in communication, include being overly judgmental, controlling, superior, neutral or too certain. We should all make a promise to know when these things are entering into our communication and to stop them immediately. All communication should be non-judgmental, free from control, equal, empathic, and tentative, whenever possible. Friendly facial gestures, attentive listening and warm eye contact can help too.

Assuming.

Assuming is lazy thinking where our minds answer questions, which our mouths should be asking. The usual result is a head full of questionable information; and unfortunately, we usually act on this information as if it were always correct. In communication, wrong information perpetuates miscommunication. Here are just a few assumptions we typically make, which can produce a lot of wrong information: We assume we are expressing ourselves clearly, that how we say something matches what we are saying, that our words are being interpreted exactly the way they were meant, and that there isn't any misunderstanding.

Granted, we do have to make certain assumptions. It isn't practical to verify everything and always check all details for accuracy. But, we should probably stop automatically putting our minds on auto pilot in assuming things before we at least ask a few more questions. Clarifying assumptions increases chances of improving the accuracy of the information we are acting on, and heads off much unnecessary misunderstanding and miscommunication.

Missing Communication "P" points.

There are certain perturbation points ("P" points) in any communication, where small, but well-timed and well-placed efforts produce major results. Unfortunately, the outcomes can be both positive or negative. These ten obstacles are the negative communication "P" points which form our tower of babble. In not attending to these negative "P" points, we pass up valuable opportunities to correct potential misunderstanding.

A few positive "P" points which can improve communication are: Seeking feedback about the effectiveness of our communication, matching style to demonstrate message content better, listening more than talking, waiting for critical questions to apply our answers, developing the artful use of silence, using odd words or word connotations strategically, and studying examples of excellent communication. Of course, focussing on the Five C’s is always the most powerful intervention to improve the quality of our communication.

Paradigm-morphing.

We all have established certain paradigms, or viewpoints, from where our communication originates. Often, we even communicate about these viewpoints themselves. The danger is when we over-identify with our own particular point of view, to the point of not being able to see that. Unthinkingly, we allow our viewpoints to limit our realities, instead of directing them to locate bigger and better ones. The result is the classic example of the tail wagging the dog.

Since it is frequently our own viewpoints that are contaminating communication, it is wise to become more sensitive as to when this might be happening. At some point, we need to force ourselves to slow down to a dead stop and exercise brutal honesty and critical thinking to put some distance between ourselves and our viewpoints, so we can evaluate their accuracy and usefulness. This effort will produce some major gains in improving communication.

Controlling.

The animal kingdom has one main rule: Eat or be eaten. We humans have one tacit rule too: Define or be defined. A central paradox to all humans has to do with the issue of control. We do not want to be controlled by others, and yet we are quick in our efforts to strip others from their freedom. Most important communication involves the attempt by the writer or speaker to shape the reality of the audience. The more personal things get, the more we try to define each other's reality. "You are there and I am here. No, I am here and you are there." This level of intensity in communication can produce rageful defensiveness, in which the only things getting communicated, are hurt and anger.

The cure to this dangerous foundation of our tower of babble, lies in the important realization that in any reality-defining communication, the most productive results occur when both parties modify their own realities slightly. The biggest and most important improvement in communication occurs when this happens. This is superior communication where both talking and listening are occurring at their best. It all starts with the right attitude of having an open mind.

Copyright by William S. Cottringer, 1998.

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Maintaining Likability as a Leader

Many may question the value of studying or writing about likability as a management skill, but I beg to differ on this issue. I think likability is a subtle but valuable enabling skill that complements other essential management skills such as communicating with employees, selling ideas to upper management, interacting with customers and building effective teams. A security manager may get by without worrying too much about likability, but the
manager who cultivates this X-factor is bound to become more successful.

When we get into a management position, it is too easy to allow the overwhelming responsibilities and duties cause us to stop nurturing an important characteristic which helped us get to where we are: Our likableness. Without a certain degree of likability we couldn't have attracted followers to help us move up the ladder or mentors to help pull us up. We shouldn't forget about this valuable characteristic entirely.

Success as a security manager requires some degree of likability to improve communication and selling abilities. For instance, we may be required to sell unpopular policies to subordinates or expensive equipment to corporate management. Moreover, we may be required to communicate the specifics of an inconvenient new security procedure to corporate employees or unwelcome change in costs to customers. If we learn how to become a likable salesperson and a likable communicator, we will get better results. Are your own listening skills best with someone you like or don't like? Do you often buy things from another person you don't like?

Recall What Likability Is.

The first thing we must do is to remember what likability is all about. I am not talking about a personality contest here. I am referring to the general characteristic of being genuinely liked for who you are, how you act and what you stand for. Likability is congruence between your attitudes and actions. In a management role, likablility starts with your basic attitude towards work and people.

The right attitude to remember is one of friendliness, helpfulness, positivism and openness. The wrong one is being unsociable, disruptive, negative and difficult to get to know. Likability involves remembering the importance of being open and enthusiastic to employee suggestions, not being afraid of rolling up your sleeves and pitching in, and taking the time to be friendly and find out more about your employees. It also means avoiding the natural tendency of showing a "been there, done that" kind of closed, negative attitude which pours ice water on enthusiasm. You start this renewed attitude by re-practicing your own likability and trying to get rid of some the unlikable thoughts you have about yourself and others.

Try to start out each new day without an old agenda. For instance, avoid your natural tendency of tuning someone out who usually bores you with uninteresting conversation. Try to listen to valuable information that he may be revealing between the lines, such as where he read about the new access control system or hear something important that he may be avoiding, such as the item's cost or maintenance record. Put the new job you are applying for aside and concentrate more on the present one you are being paid for. Leave unresolved family conflicts at home. Re-arrange your schedule to allow more time with individual employees. Set up some free time to just walk around and talk to people.

Re-energize Yourself.

The next step in revitalizing your likability is to do a quick self-inventory on your present energy level. Are you coming across with enough positive energy in your everyday activities? High, positive energy is an attractive force in any social interaction, including work situations with subordinates, superiors or colleagues. On the contrary, dull energy can be a turn-off, which inhibits any positive impact you may be trying to make within your organization.

For instance, if you anticipate not getting your budget approved you may present it in an incomplete and negative fashion without the detail and enthusiasm that might improve your chances. Low energy may also ruin an otherwise excellent training presentation or corporate progress report. Positive energy may help make your job instructions or explanation of a new procedure more appealing to employees. With this appeal comes more support and better performance.

Unless you are confronted about the impact of low energy on work relationships, you may go on thinking everything is fine. Fortunately, maintaining the right energy level is really not that difficult. Having high energy is nothing more than a can-do attitude. It doesn't cost anything and always gets positive results. It is not something you should even have to think about doing.

By demonstrating high energy you will be perceived as more likable, command more respect and cooperation, and get more done at the same time. You can't wait around until you feel the inspiration and energy to do these things. You have to start practicing being energetic now whether you feel like it or not. If your lack of energy is due to working too much, not eating right, not exercising or any other aspect of an unhealthy lifestyle, then some changes are in order.

Communicate Your Likability.

The third step in increasing likability is to communicate it in a likable way. By not making a conscious effort to remain likable, you can slip into some fairly unlikable communication habits. Some of these include not really listening to others or not paying enough attention, not showing respect or genuine concern, and over-attending to the big picture at the expense of an individual employee's personal concern. Others include not being aware of negative perceptions employees have of you, forgetting about the natural intimidation your position carries, or talking too much.

When you don't pay enough attention to some of the details a salesperson is pointing out regarding a newer, less expensive piece of equipment, you may end up having to spend more after buying something that won't work with your present computer software programs. If you don't take the time to help an employee feel more relaxed and comfortable around the "boss," all your valuable words may fall on deaf ears. Without knowing how others perceive you in the organization, it is difficult to know how to correct failed presentations of a valuable, timesaving scheduling program.

We can also create defensive office climates, which inhibit work productivity by practicing unnecessary over-controlling behavior, showing an attitude of superiority, being too aloof, or slipping into judgmental biases. We can thicken the air with our over-seriousness, lack of empathy or intolerance for mistakes.

By not paying attention to making yourself reasonably likable through good communication habits, you could be undercutting your success potential. For example, such underlying unlikability brought about by appearing to not listen may in turn interfere with the respect you need to have when trying to conduct effective training or present an important report. By not appearing to be genuinely concerned with an employee's personal problem, you may be losing out on hearing some valuable ideas she might want to discuss with you. When you appear too aloof, no one will keep you informed about things you need to know such as low morale or people not following important security procedures.

Our actions always speak louder than our words. However, any likability we have established by previous actions can get drowned out by these unlikable communication habits. It is helpful to start each day with a self-pep talk on the rules for good communication: Talk less and listen more, take the time when talking with employees, listen to understand, and ask a lot of questions instead of imposing advice nobody listens to. Project friendliness, helpfulness and approachability, keep an open mind and relax your grip on things. More than anything else, try to remember what it was like being an employee yourself. Follow the simple rule of communicating with employees in the same way you prefered when you were one.

Don't Stop Making Improvements.

Another important way to improve likability is to show a willingness to make improvements. To be most successful, you have to be at your best physically, mentally, socially, emotionally and vocationally. Personal development in these dimensions is the main game plan to maintaining leadership excellence. You expect the best from your employees, so you have to be willing to make the same effort to be your best as their leader. Take inventory of your personal assets and liabilities and develop a plan to eliminate destructive, negative behaviors and practice positive ones more.

Start exercising regularly, dress stylishly, learn about a new technological development, practice speaking and writing with more flair and impact, and be positive and pleasant socially. Develop new interests and cultivate your best skills. Stop the subtle negativity, favoritism toward certain employees, public complaining, and unnecessary worrying. Cut back on micromanaging, over-reacting, denying your own mistakes and any unhealthy excesses. After all, the main purpose of your role is to lead your department or organization to maximum productivity.  You can only accomplish that by continuous self-improvement. Subordinates will follow your positive role modeling behaviors more than anything else.

Slow Down.

We live in a fast world where everything is becoming blurred. There is no time to notice anything long enough to enjoy it fully and we never seem to have enough time to do all the things we would like to be doing. With all the other things we have to do, being likable can easily slip down on the priority list, but we should make a conscious effort to keep this from happening. Unlikability can contaminate too many other things, reducing your over-all effectiveness significantly.

The process of understanding the connection between your likability and ability to lead others effectively requires you to slow down in order to study where you've been and to think about where you are going. It also involves fine tuning your sensitivity to "P" Points. These are critical points where a small but well-placed and well-timed effort results in the most gain. Examples are remembering an employee's birthday, paying a private compliment at a time when it is needed most, or applying a problem-solving strategy to a real live situation at hand to help get the group unstuck.

Another "P" Point opportunity lies in answering the questions people ask during a training seminar, proposal meeting or report session. People tend to listen closest to the answers you give to their questions. When someone asks why it is important to make regularly scheduled building checks, you can inform him about the graphic specifics of a time a single missed check resulted in a million dollar fire and three lives. When a customer asks why your product is better, you can demonstrate firsthand how it can improve an inventory system at her company, which has been a serious problem. "P" Point opportunities are the moments at work you don't want to run past and you will miss them if you don't slow down.

Live Now.

You have to focus on what you need to be doing right now to get in a better position to regain likability, rather than waiting for something else to happen. By thinking too much about the past or worrying too much about the future, you are wasting valuable time you could be using to restore likability now. There are choices you may need to make now and if you do not make these choices, the opportunity may not be there later. You also have choices now, that if made wrongly, will determine what choices you get to make in the future. If you put off correcting an employee now, it may result in the need to terminate him or her later when you may need the manpower most. If you delay making a voluntary change in a particular procedure now, it may be imposed on you later or you may have to spend more money than you have. These setbacks will certainly take something away from your likability.

Pay attention to what you need to be doing now to become more likable. A good starting point is to realize how you may be trying to live your life in response to trying to please or displease others. This is really living in the past and future, rather than the present. Whoever you have been in the past is gone and you have a continuous opportunity to start over again each moment that comes along. Start taking advantage of that opportunity now. Yesterday is history and tomorrow is a mystery; today is a gift, that is why they call it the "present." If you need to stop over-reacting then start now.  If you need to upgrade your knowledge about technology then do it now. If you aggressive sales approach isn't working as well as it use to, try being more assertive or listening more.

Enjoy What You Have.

There is no getting around the truth that we never get what we want until we learn to want what we have. This is a dismal reality, which we cannot deny no matter how hard we try. If we have an unproductive employee, we want a productive one. If we have a productive employee who can't get along with anybody, we want a productive employee who can get along with everybody. If we are making 10% profit we want 15%. If our overtime rate is 4% we want it to be less than 2%. The more we get the more we need and it never ends. Such ongoing disatisfaction does not communicate likability.

We are often too quick to look toward greener pastures when the ones we are in become unappealing. But the game of musical chairs we then engage in doesn't solve the problem either. Firing unproductive employees, changing office locations or inventing new services or products only postpones inevitable failure. Everything can become unappealing eventually, unless efforts are made to prevent that from happening. Admittedly, it may be difficult to accept mediocrity in employee performance or the results of economic recession.

What is needed is an attitude of understanding. This is one of life's most important paradoxes to try to understand. You can't improve any situation you are in, until you accept it as it is, completely. The best you can do is to become as likable as you can, enjoy what success you do have, demonstrate your preferences as clearly as you are able, and be patient. In the meantime, learning to enjoy what you have produces quick results with immediate value.

Control Reactions.

A major source of unlikability is our wrong reactions. For example, when you are too quick to tell somebody that his idea for limiting building access to one central location is unworkable, you may miss learning how it can work or why it needs to be done that way. When you allow your impatience with a customer's trite objections to show, you will probably lose a potential sale.

Often our reactions are brought about by our frustration in not being able to control things we think we should be able to control. One example is the behavior of others. The best way to have a positive influence on others is to control our own reactions. When your favorite employee succeeds, do you make others feel inadequate? When you get a minor business setback, does you mood spoil the day? Do you let personal concerns dictate business decisions?

The only thing you can really control is your own reactions to your employees. If an employee has a legitimate illness, try to exercise more patience even if you don't have time to get sick yourself. If someone else suggests the need to upgrade to digital CCTV, try not to show contempt because you suggested the same idea a year ago. Paying attention to your own reactions will go a long way in improving likability and pave the way for future successes. When you don't over-react with anger, especially when it may be justified, such as when an employee loses a building grandmaster key, you earn much respect from others. Anyone can point the finger of blame when someone makes a mistake, but the leader who quietly criticizes the employee in private and then takes the time to demonstrate how it can be done better, will gain a follower.

Examine Expectations.

The quality of our expectations can also affect our Likability. As managers, we can make two costly mistakes when it comes to our expectations of employees: (1) not communicating our expectations clearly or promptly and (2) having unrealistic or unfair expectations.

Managers should always make time to meet with new employees to have an open discussion about such things as which work behaviors are okay and which ones aren't, what an acceptable work performance level is in concrete terms and where the employees can go to get help when they need it. If you expect employees to be available during the noon hour, then you need t let them know that. If you want everybody in before 8 O'clock, then that rule has to be told to everyone. If missed Detex clock rounds result in fines on your contract, then that fact along with individual employee consequences should be clearly spelled out. If Casual Friday means no jeans then say that.

Managers should avoid expecting employees to do their job well if they don't have adequate resources to succeed, don't understand precisely what is expected of them, or if they may have clever and workable ideas how to get the job done more efficiently and effectively. For example, you may need to explain why rounds should to be made in a random sequence or you may need to ask if everyone has an adequate supply of report forms or flashlight batteries. And don't always assume your way is the best way.

Achieving leadership success involves knowing your own valid expectations, being able to communicate them clearly to your employees, and not imposing unfair standards. This simple action will increase likability and attract much respect and cooperation from employees when you may need to call upon it later.

Restore Balance.

A final area that can improve likability is in maintaining good balance. A constant battle all managers must fight is the one to keep things balanced. It is all too easy to slip into bad habits of getting out of balance. We begin talking too much and not listening enough, doing all the taking without any giving or orchestrating constant change while neglecting stability.

We may be imposing our own best security solutions too often and not listening close enough to newer ideas which may have more merit. We may try to introduce yet another new piece of hardware before everyone has mastered the basic computer. This all effects our likability in negative ways. Most productivity is based on compromise and if we are doing all the taking, then the giving from the other side eventually runs out.

A wise manager knows the importance of being somewhere in the middle on a continuum to be able to use whichever approach might be most productive at the particular time. For instance, sometimes change is productive and sometimes it is not. A new building entry point may cause significant problems with employee or customer parking. Sometimes employees need more supervision in their report writing, while other times they need more autonomy in greeting customers or closing the building. Sometimes it is beneficial to push employees toward an ideal performance standard and other times it might be time to accept more realistic limitations. A balanced leader is always doubling his or her chances of being likable and successful.

Exercise Patience.

Maintaining a healthy level of likability is not an easy process. Patience is an essential virtue when it comes to projecting likability, until it becomes a natural thing. It is easy to become impatient when you know where you want to go and how to get there. Empowering employees involves inevitable failures and lack of progress, which can be upsetting. The problem comes up when we neglect our most important role as the leader: To be a role model. We are over-focussing on our employees and under-focussing on ourselves.

Being an excellent leader involves maintaining likability. Develop yourself fully in all the physical, mental, emotional, social and vocational dimensions. First remember what likability you have lost and energize yourself to get it back. Then develop a plan to make personal improvements. While you are doing those things, learn to slow down and control reactions. Finally, examine your expectations and restore balance in your life in rebuilding likability.

Copyright by William S. Cottringer, 2000.

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Managing Fairness

 Sometimes it is good to put all the newer management gimmicks aside and get back to some basics. The first and most important rule of good management is fundamental fairness. This is the management golden rule: Treat employees the way you want to be treated, as if it were your very last opportunity. This requires an attitude of openness and a keen sensitivity to know when you are approaching the point of no return in crossing over the line of fundamental fairness into unfairness. Fundamental fairness involves achieving a workable balance between valid opposing behaviors. Below are ten such pairs for managers to work on to increase openness and sensitivity toward:

Giving vs. Taking.

Mangers who constantly take in the way of mandating new rules and procedures and making isolated management decisions, without considering employee input and concerns, will eventually lose support from employees when they may need it most. The manager who gives a little to employees, especially when the issue is important to both management and employees, will gain tremendous respect and support from them. For instance, suppose a ten week window for a critical task accomplishment is a cost-effective method, felt doable by management, but not by employees. Adding two weeks could buy a lot of productivity and good morale, without jeopardizing effectiveness. Arriving at a fair balance in this area requires checking pride and ego at the door, and just answering the question of, what will I lose by giving in on this one and what will I gain?

Autocracy vs. Democracy.

Every good manager knows when it is time to lead and act, and when it is may be more appropriate to listen from employees to get a consensus, before taking action. A general rule is that management gets to choose the "what" of the organizational direction, leaving the "how" do we get there to the employees. Management has the better foresight and vision to establish the mission, primary goals and values of the organization, but allowing employees to use their own creativity and abilities to figure out how to actually get things done, is really what genuine empowerment is all about. And of course, during emergencies, management has both the obligation and right to take over and dictate which way the cow eats the cabbage, without consulting employees. Furthermore, when any important policy changes will be unanimously unpopular, it will pay to be firm, with some explanation and good propaganda proceeding the fiat to come.

Autonomy vs. Supervision.

Arriving at a smart balance between under- and over-supervising employees is a not any easy task. The effective manager will take the time to know the competency and motivational level of each new employee and even the cycles of older employees, in order to apply just the right amount of instruction and motivation to get maximum productivity. Of course, taking the time to be very clear on both spoken and unspoken expectations for performance and outcomes, will always have big payoffs. Another fundamental fairness rule here is to never delegate responsibility without assigning authority with it. "Letting go" of the reins and delegating responsibility with authority to employees, is an area managers, and especially effective ones, need to make efforts to improve. Trust is usually the main issue, and that only comes when you have take the time to know your employees and the time to fully explain your expectations. Also, don’t bother delegating only the things you can’t do well yourself, that is very unfair.

Change vs. Stability.

Most employees fear and resist change, preferring familiar routine and stability. Change can be very scary and disruptive to productivity. But, sometimes change is absolutely necessary to help an organization get unstuck and make real progress. Often, change gets dictated externally by society and consumer trends and all these changes aren’t necessarily good. An effective manager will learn how to orchestrate and facilitate the specific types of changes that can help the organization and get support from employees. The tricks are in knowing what routines and stability to preserve, which won’t inhibit productive change and to manage change so that it isn’t counterproductive. The urgency of good and frequent communication during changes, is too often overlooked, even by the best of managers. Usually, a good technique to employee in facilitating needed changes, is to encourage the open dialogue of imagined fears by the employees and to dispel needless myths. This catharsis can smooth the way for more productive, un-resisted change

Aloofness vs. Approachability.

Management positions tend to foster aloofness as a self-preservation defense. This is very normal, because it can be very lonely at the top, and nobody really understands the unique pressures of management, so you tend to rely on your self as your own best counselor. Self-sharing may even be seen as a weakness. But, when this aloofness keeps employees from approaching mangers with genuine concerns and issues, this self-defense mechanism has crossed the line of fundamental fairness. A good rule of thumb is to preserve aloofness for private and social matters, while presenting an approachable personality when it comes to professional and business matters. Approachability in the workplace can result in learning things you need to know to be an effective manager. The critical informal communication and power networks of the organization can only be accessed by this approachability, and without correct information from that source, there can be no real "management."

Idealism vs. Realism.

An effective manager has to choose "wars" of pushing ideal standards of employee conduct and performance carefully. A sensitive manager will learn when ideal standards are just not achievable or when more "realistic" results are just a cop-out. Most employees want to achieve the best results in what they are doing and even want to be held accountable for getting those results. However, as they approach the threshold of doubting their ability to achieve what may be expected, they tend to get very resistive and very un-idealistic. They will fight tooth and nail over resisting doing something they claim can’t possibly be done, when they don’t really feel that way. The wise manager has to be brave and err on the other side of realism, constantly guiding and gently pushing employees to achieve more than they think they can. This idealistic flavor, tempered by real realism, is the way the universe operates, and being in sync with that process, can never be wrong.

Talking vs. Listening.

The natural tendency is for the manager is to do most of the talking and have employees do most of the listening. After all, all those years of schooling and management training had to teach something worth talking about. But, in terms of how many employees there usually are, as compared to managers, a reverse sequence of listening more and talking less, might be fairer. Not only that, but careful listening always gives you an edge on saying the right thing. Careful listening can alert the manager to important perturbations points, where small, but well-placed and well-timed comments can have a major impact on what employees hear and do. Moreover, when you don’t say much, people tend to listen very carefully to what you say, when you do talk. The constant talker doesn’t really get listened to. More time spent listening can lead to "two-eared listening," where you pick up on both what is being said or not being said and how it is being said and what that means. There are a lot of important clues there, which will help determine what really needs to be said in response.

Simplicity vs. Complexity.

Every effective manager has evolved through the cycle of starting out doing things the most simple way possible and then getting things so complex nobody understands anything, only to realize the necessity of simplifying them again. Unfortunately education tends to teach us to make things more complex then they really need to be, by dividing everything and over-analyzing it all. It is probably the time to start putting things back together again. There will always be some tension here between management and employees. Simple things scare managers, who "know" there are no real shortcuts and that there is always a bigger picture to attend to; things can never be simple enough for employees. The object is to identify and sell simplicity just on the other side of complexity. That point is difficult to get to, but once there, it is one of those things everyone can agree upon. A good balance between thinking and acting (see # 10 below) can be a good way to get to this place.

The Organization vs. Individuals.

Traditionally, the good of the group and organization is always more important than the welfare of individuals. This is a very difficult position because it interrupts two fundamental but exclusive human drives: To be treated fairly in line with the rest of the group, but to be seen as unique and different from all others. Pure numbers dictate that general rule of organizational morality. While this rule is not likely to change, the way it is carried out may need some attention. Listening to and trying to understand individual employee’s issues and concerns, is a good practice, even if you know beforehand you cannot honor them because of bigger and more important priorities. So is explaining why you are unable to bend and accommodate them. Sometimes employees just want to know what is going on behind the scenes.

Thinking vs. Acting.

Nothing is more unfair to employees than a manager who will not take action on reasonable requests. That conveys a lot of potential messages which can be very counter-productive, like not being important enough to get concerns acted on. There is a built in fear that once a decision is made and a precedence has been set, nothing can ever be changed and negative results will be forever haunting. This fatalistic thinking is only true for those who believe it to be so. The other side of this problem is that we have all been brainwashed into believing the ultimate rightness of consistency. Reality, however, is rarely consistent. In fact, inconsistency may be the only thing that is really consistent. A smart manager will soon sort out what needs to be consistent for fundamental fairness within the organization, vs. what just needs to be consistent for the sake of convenience. Consistency should probably just be reserved for carrying out the most important consequences effecting employees.

Copyright by William S. Cottringer, 1999.

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Teaching Problem-Solving Strategies

Teaching effective problem-solving skills to employees is an integral part of management delegation and empowerment of those employees. However, actually teaching these skills is an extremely complex and difficult "problem" itself. It is a problem requiring the cooperative efforts of both hemispheres of the brain working together and then moving to a higher level to metacommunicate about this process itself. Quite a mental activity!

To teach problem-solving to employees, we have to: (a) invent and discover various problem-solving strategies through a mixture of creative, intuitive, deductive and analytical thinking, feeling and "knowing" (b) gain experience by applying those solutions consistently and completely in getting results with real live problems (c ) learn to talk about all this abstract process in simple, clear, concrete and meaningful ways, and (d) demonstrate and practice those skills in the real world. Each step along the way is a real challenge.

Below are ten useful problem-solving strategies, along with examples of practical applications.

Identifying the Real Problem.

Frequently, when a difficult problem haunts us, it is because we really haven’t identified the hidden "core problem" from the visible "symptoms". We spend considerable time and effort temporarily suppressing symptoms and nothing much changes. The way to apply this strategy is to keep working backwards with the "why" question until there isn’t anywhere else to go. For example, recruitment may be a serious problem. Typically we blame a shrinking labor pool, low unemployment rates, poor wages or competitors offering more benefits. But, what if the real problem is the way in which the quality of the job itself is being perceived by potential applicants? Or, what if we aren’t looking in the right places for applicants? Or, what if recruitment is more of a "program," rather than a one person job?

Realizing the Problem May Be Unsolvable.

Some problems are never going to get solved completely or go away and never come back. Temporary or tentative solutions are best applied once such a problem is identified, along with the open attitude of getting ready to deal with it again when it re-occurs, as it inevitably will. Hence the wisdom in the saying, "Life is not a destination, but rather a journey." Bottom line type goals such as business growth, usually fit into this category. The recruitment problem above may also be such a perennial problem. Eliminating the "mandate" of permanent resolution of these type problems, can reduce unnecessary frustration and free energy for more constructive problem-solving.

Ignoring The Problem.

Every once in awhile, when we ignore a problem, it will in fact go away. Don’t count on this happening very often though, and then it is usually because we have over-focused on something to make it seem more of a problem than it really is. Temporary staff conflicts due to changing priorities may fit into this category. If the problem isn’t going to hurt the company or the employees and ignoring it won’t aggravate things, then this approach is worth a try. If It doesn’t work, there are plenty of other strategies to apply.

Brainstorming.

When a certain problem may require the creating of an abundance of possible solutions, then this free-wheeling technique is suitable. Brainstorming requires explicit permission to think wildly without qualification or judgement. The more different the viewpoints, the more the variety of solutions. When there is a problem with sales, brainstorming can come up with 50 or more possible solutions. The same process can work with getting ideas to reduce employee turnover.

Problem Break-down.

Complex problems can be overwhelming unless they are broken down into manageable parts. The tendency is to wander aimlessly from subproblem to subproblem without every finishing any resolutions. Complex problems such as employee turnover, require a combination of strategies and consistent, systematic analysis of each part, one by one. Another thing to realize with complex problems, is that part of the solutions may be interdependent and thus require some sort of sequencing. The key, however, is to see how one solution may open the door to solving another part of the puzzle, piece by piece. For instance, improving employee retention will decrease recruitment efforts.

Changing Languages.

Sometimes the "language" in which a problem is presented is most of the problem. Remember those difficult math word problems? The most effective solution in that situation was to translate the words into numbers and equations. When we get the feeling that we can’t see the forest from the trees, it is time to step back and try another "language" to help distance ourselves enough from the problem to get a clearer view.

Making a Picture.

We are very visual people, and sometimes seeing the problem as a picture wakes us up to an obvious solution which was hidden from our mind’s eye. Diagramming a flow chart on how a process actually works, can quickly identify bottlenecks, unnecessary duplications or other inefficiencies. Organizational charts are also the best way to spot communication problems. Furthermore, more efficient delivery routes can be seen better on large wall maps with colored pins.

Analogizing to Other Fields.

In our professionalism, we often tend to be territorial in our own area of expertise. However, our colleagues in mechanics or engineering or social work, are probably working out the solution to a similar problem we may be groping with, having a slightly different twist. Or, they may have already resolved the problem. Most great inventions such as cameras, stereos and computers looked to the human body parts for solutions. Today, Government is following the business world in decentralizing, right-sizing and entrapreneuring for more efficiency, and advertising has always studied psychology for solutions. The "forest from the trees" analogy plagues effective problem-solving a lot, so this is just another way to gain access to a better vantage point and get a clearer picture. Sometimes we need new information to go past where we are stuck.

Working Backwards, Upside Down & Inside-Out.

Sometimes there is no logical flow to a problem and starting at the back end may be easier in removing the obstacles to resolving it. A good example of this is in improving the golf swing by working on the mechanics of the follow-through before the initial approach or backswing. Also, some core problems hide themselves well in between surface "causes" and end results. This strategy is useful in producing novel perspectives, which may be needed in dealing with "newer," unfamiliar problems from the "Information Age."

Re-applying Older Solutions in New and Unusual Ways.

There just might be something to the saying, "Nothing is new, it is just old and retold." Present criminal justice solutions of community policing, court diversion programs and industrializing prisons are older solutions being reapplied more effectively the second time around. Sometimes, the older solution to a difficult problem was very logical, but the timing or something else just wasn’t right then, but it is now. What else is employee "empowerment" but delegation of responsibility, this time with authority, direction and training? Sometimes, the renaming of an older process is all that is needed to approach it with the needed vigor to make it work.

Problem-solving cannot be taught abstractly. Strategies such as those listed above have to be demonstrated firsthand and practiced on the spot with real live problems, to be adequately transferred and learned for later use. Practice , in the case of problem-solving, does "make perfect," in the sense of building confidence in approaching problems. And of course, the larger the repertoire of strategies, the more likely the successful resolution to the problem will be.

Copyright by William S. Cottringer, 1999.

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Developing Intuition & Creativity

Success in any type of organization today requires managers to tap into their intuitive and creative powers. Problems today do not get solved by using yesterday’s prescriptions. Things are moving so fast that we have already arrived at uncharted territories without any maps. Unfamiliar organizational problems now require intuitive and creative problem-solving skills. Below are some practical guidelines to increase the intuitive and creative energy flow in yourself and your organization.

Copyright by William S. Cottringer, 1998.

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Professionalizing The Selection Process

Many of us have been on both the giving and receiving end of a variety of management selection processes, ranging from being very shallow to extremely elaborate. Our conclusion is probably the same: Things could be improved.

Given the present inconsistencies of management selection processes and today's abundance of highly qualified and competent candidates, it would seem to make good sense to develop a standardized professional approach.

I would like to suggest a model which includes six ideal criteria to strive for. These criteria are: explicitness, objectivity, thoroughness, accuracy, consistency and fairness. Below is a discussion of each of these criteria.

Explicitness.

The first and most important step in the selection process is for everyone involved to converge on a very common and clear picture. This picture identifies exactly what education, training, work experience, responsibility level, special knowledge and skills, related abilities, personal characteristics, and even chemistry, are: (a) essential to best job performance, and (b) most advantageous to the organization as a whole. These factors must then be translated into very explicit requirements to be used as the criteria to evaluate all candidates against, consistently throughout the entire selection process.

Most professions have major unspoken preferences. In our particular industry, it is important to define such critical criteria up front, including the issues of law enforcement vs. security backgrounds, public service vs. private business careers, contract vs. proprietary experience and narrow specialty vs. broad general orientation.

The more explicit the selection criteria are, the better are the chances for a positive outcome to the selection process. All too often though, this is the weak link, and frequently involves such dreadful practices as undefined or very vague criteria, private preferences and interpretations, hidden agendas and changing criteria. Of particular difficulty in meeting this ideal criterion is the issue of defining personality or chemistry factors. However, with a little effort and open and honest dialogue, even these things can be defined clearly and objectively.

Objectivity.

The entire selection process should be quantifiable all along the way from initial screening to the final short list, ranking candidates with cumulative point totals. Each criterion and each phase of the selection process should be weighted in importance and assigned point spreads with corresponding measures to allow for the objective evaluation of the applicants. Reducing each of these comparable factors to definite values is especially important during the initial screening phase, where sheer numbers of applicants can make things very blurry and where differences in resumes and application materials can differentiate applicants too subjectively. Using any criterion or evaluation technique which isn't completely objective and measurable, jeopardizes the entire selection process.

Thoroughness.

All management selection processes should involve a minimal four phase system. The object is to look at each candidate from several different vantage points in order to get a comprehensive picture of just whom the candidate really is and what he or she can bring to the job, in relation to the specific factors being looked for.

The first phase, or initial screening of all applications, is aimed at selecting candidates who are at least minimally qualified according to stated criteria. The usual technique is the ABC one, where A=Definitely, B=?, and C=No. The second phase should involve refining this list of qualified applicants further by gathering information which can be used to assess the depth and scope of their experience, knowledge and abilities in the most important areas of the stated job responsibilities. It is helpful to ask for references who can verify particular experiences and abilities under each of these areas.

The third phase of the selection process is the formal interview committee. Members of this committee can be from diverse backgrounds and viewpoints, but they need to be knowledgeable about the position requirements and in agreement as to the selection criteria and evaluation techniques. The interview should be highly structured and geared specifically toward finding out how the most qualified candidates are likely to perform the job and fit in with the team and what unique things they can bring to the organization. Again, connection to the stated requirements is a must.

The fourth and final phase can involve a more informal chemistry check with the boss and/or close associates to reach mutual closure on the comfort zone, in making sure all things are as they seem to be. This is where unwritten expectations need to be openly discussed in detail to assure a beneficial fit on both sides.

Accuracy.

The main objective to never lose sight of is to match the best person to the explicit selection criteria of the job. After clearly defining precisely what the selection process is looking for, the task then becomes designing the best system of finding it. This can be done through supplemental questionnaires, testing, interviews, mini task assignments, formal presentations, reference checking or whatever else it takes to get the most accurate information to verify the connection. Defining and sticking with the "what" involves most of the hard work; chosing the "how" is a quality assurance job.

Consistency.

There should be continuity of people, purpose and procedures throughout the entire selection process. Each phase is connected and each should provide information which gets further refined by the next. Adequate time needs to be allowed for planning and discussion in order to build consistency and avoid any natural tendencies to the contrary.

Fairness.

If all the above criteria are met, the selection process becomes much fairer. Additional requirements of fairness include prompt notification of every candidate's progress in the process and a reasonable degree of useful feedback about performance when asked.

A few admonitions on the fairness criterion are: (1) National searches aren't in anyone's interest when there already is a favorite candidate or highly qualified in-house candidate who could serve in the job for a brief trial run. (2) Selection criteria aren't changeable in the middle of the process. (3) One person shouldn't have undue influence on swaying other members of an interview committee. (4) The role of initial screening shouldn't be assigned to someone who won't be intimately involved in the other phases. (5) Applicants shouldn't be asked to jump through all sorts of hoops during initial screening just to limit the number of serious applicants. (6) Any information about or from a candidate which might tend to go misunderstood and contaminate consideration needs to be clarified.

In conclusion, a fully professional selection process must be used for filling today's management positions. There are many highly qualified candidates who require an effective and fair process of being evaluated against clear, objective, complete, correct, consistent and fair factors which are related to job performance and the organization's goals. Such a professional system of management selection is a win-win situation for everyone.

Copyright by William S. Cottringer, 1996.

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Staying Focused

If there is one action verb that can best define the most important aspect of the management process, it is the word focusing. To achieve excellence, a  manager must stay well-focused. It is through this intense and steady focus, that he or she communicates important things to help the department or organization become as productive as possible in achieving it’s purpose. Without such intense and steady focus, the manager is reduced to wandering and reacting, neither of which are conducive to productivity. Below are ten critical areas for  managers to focus on:

Mission.

Every productive organization has a powerful and clear purpose which directs all activities. All departments must also have a clear mission, whether it is to protect assets from loss, reduce accidents or increase employees’ productivity, sense of safety or well-being. The best missions are those that are simple, admirable, practical and widely beneficial, and ones that communicate a vivid image.

The  manager has to hold this mission in intense focus and communicate it passionately and frequently to motivate employees to embrace it fully and carry it out enthusiastically. The mission is the big picture which always has to stay in the background of a manager’s general focus. All these other focus points need to stay in the foreground.

Values.

Every good mission needs a few core working values to help make it alive and workable. The simpler the mission, the simpler the values and in some cases a single value is all it takes. Sometimes the tendency is to try and do too much and then nothing much gets done.

The chosen values, such as "extra mile" customer service; long and disciplined work hours, or 110% integrity and honesty, are what define the culture of the organization. When these values are not in line with the mission or not supported by all employees, then the  department starts going sideways. The few core values are what the  manager has to keep in focus to enforce and reinforce consistently and persistently, in a variety of ways.

Results.

Excellent  managers set goals, measure progress and get results. They are excellent time managers who set priorities right and always work on meeting deadlines. It is the results which help the department achieve it’s mission, not the activities along the way which may or may not be getting those results. Being busy is not always being productive.

Focusing on results, can open up a reasonable amount of freedom which employees want and need to determine how to get those results. Focusing too much on processes, or the way an employee does something, wastes valuable time and time is one of the most valuable resources any manager has.

Training.

A manager must focus on when employees need what training and on how to make training opportunities available at the right time to have the most effect at the least cost. Because of shift work or other odd working schedules, some industries have a special challenge of scheduling multiple training sessions, and it is like trying to hit a "moving target." The difficulty is reason alone to keep training in sharp focus, because the tendency is to put it on the back burner until an easier time.

It is also important for the  manager to know when to take advantage of critical situations to teach employees how to do something, such as applying problem-solving strategies, by working on an actual problem-solving situation at hand. Finally, it is important for the  manager to focus on his or her own training needs, for the purpose of improving skills, demonstrating credibility and strengthening self-motivation.

Employees.

A great deal of a  managers’ time should be spent focusing on individual employees. This focus involves paying close attention to employees’ productivity, competencies, motivations, needs, preferences and problems. Employee focus means knowing the whole employee.

The more the manager knows about employees, the better the department will function. Although the  manger must always keep the big picture of the over-all company in focus, it is equally important to also keep the individual concerns of employees in focus, because those concerns are their main focus. Taking the time to let them know you know that, has big payoffs in closing the gap between what management wants from employees and what employees want from management. Too often, this gap is wider than imagined.

Details.

The knowledge of details of how things are done, or how they actually work, offers real power to the  manager to teach others, gain credibility and win cooperation. It is also an important way  managers can stay tuned into what is actually happening out there in the field, and avoid the "ivory tower" syndrome.

It is the hands-on focus on such details as how to actually fix a piece of malfunctioning equipment, fill open orders, or schedule a shift more efficiently, which helps identify procedures which need improvement or ones which could be effective in other areas. Granted, in complex organizations and departments, a  manager can easily get lost in too many details, but getting too far removed from being hands-on has worse consequences. You have to actually know how to do something before you can talk about it.

Feedback.

With all that may be going on in an organization, it is easy for the  manager to not even seek feedback or if it is given, not to listen to it too carefully or apply it. However, the importance and utility of feedback must be kept in sharp focus, because it is often the precise information which can help the manager avoid going in the wrong direction, wasting time or making a destructive mistake.

Solicited feedback from stake holders is extremely important to keep in focus for timely application. No organization, department or individual can move forward without using some sort of feedback system from it’s stake holders such as employees or customers, and it is the manager’s responsibility to not lose focus on this very important operational element.

Improvement.

Excellence in anything requires a dedication to always looking for ways to improve. Many departments are especially vulnerable in this regard,  being under the microscope for ways to be more efficient in justifying expenditures. The feedback system discussed above will provide the necessary information to identify the areas which need improvement.

Excellence in  management involves using feedback to improve employees’ productivity mainly by focusing on the removal of obstacles to that productivity and on identifying more efficient means to reach goals and get results. One special area of improvement for  managers to keep in sharp focus is self-improvement, because improvement efforts always have to start at the top.

Trends.

We are living in a world of constant change, so management excellence requires constant focus on important trends which can effect productivity in the workplace and success of the organization. Not paying attention to important changes such as employees need for more meaningful responsibility, more flexible work schedules or better benefits, could leave a manager with a serious recruiting problem.

Also, failing to focus on trends of the marketplace or of the competition, such as new technology, can leave the organization in the dust. Growth and improvement are two main goals for any organization, and focus on external trends can offer valuable clues when the inside view becomes too familiar or complacent.

Self.

The smart  manager realizes something very early in the game: His or her own activities are always under a microscope and consequently, actions do speak louder than words. Unfortunately there usually isn’t any room for mistakes, when it comes to things such as integrity, personnel procedures or bottom line results.

When managers fail to keep the importance of their own role-modeling behavior in focus, core working values in the organization can easily get contaminated and start disintegrating. An important aspect of this self-focus, is accurate awareness of employees’ perceptions of the manager. Another part of the self which is as equally important to keep in focus is wellness, in avoiding stress overload. The pressures of  management are unique and need special relief.

By focusing on these ten areas alone, the manager will avoid wasting time doing other unproductive things. He or she will be busy leading the department or organization to a place where all the stake holders will enjoy and benefit from.

Copyright by William S. Cottringer, 1998.

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Practical Psychology
Fundamental Human Relations

Psychology is just practical common sense about people. Here are some very basic psychology principles about people to practice when you are dealing with others, in either a professional or personal level.

Fundamental needs.

All people have very basic needs that have to be met before they can function at their best. These are physical comfort, safety, a sense of belonging, being loved, having hope and finding meaning. When a person isn’t meeting these basic needs, he or she won’t be very happy or able to function productively. These are very concrete things that need concrete action in the helping process. Another very fundamental drive in human beings is a contrary one: To be free, independent and treated like a uniquely different person, and yet, at the same time, wanting to be dependent, part of the group and be treated the same in consistent fairness. In a sense, we all want to eat our cake and have it too. In the helping business, we have to deal with people’s differences and similarities, in acknowledging these needs.

Self-esteem.

Probably the basis of any success is a healthy level of self-confidence, and with every failure, there is probably a poor self-image. Positive self-confidence is built up by successful achievements in life and like-wise, poor self-confidence is developed by repeated failures in life. Self-esteem can only be improved in very gradual doses and the little successes have to occur frequently and be rewarded consistently. Everything we do in helping another person should be aimed at helping restore self-confidence to a healthy level. The trick here is to teach the person to help himself, and regain the self-confidence he or she gave away. One useful skill you can teach people is assertiveness, where they balance aggression and passivity, in standing up for themselves in a polite, non-offensive, but firm way.

Attitudes.

Simply put, attitude is everything. Without the right attitude, there is no success at anything. Having the right attitude about life and people is the only thing that makes sense, but a lot of people don’t understand that important truth. Being a helper, it is most important that you have the right attitude towards the person you are trying to help. There is nothing "wrong" with the person, he or she just might not be seeing things as clearly as need be. A positive, healthy attitude, will outspeak any great clinical verbal skills you can ever develop. The block will come when you are trying to deal with a person who has a lousy attitude. The solution will be in your own attitude toward that lousy attitude in the other person.

Learning.

We all learn differently because our brains are different. We take in new information differently- some of us have to "see" the information in pictures or written form, some of us have to "hear" it in verbal instructions, and some of us have to actually "feel" it. When you are trying to explain something new to someone, it is helpful to know which of these styles he or she uses most and try to match that. The other two important things about learning are: (1) people learn best when the are rewarded for the new behavior, and (2) nothing new ever gets learned unless it has something similar to attach to in a person’s present knowledge. Old, unhealthy behavior tends to linger on when it is slightly "rewarded" in either a positive or negative way. Learned unhealthy behavior, which is most "addictive" and resistive to unlearning, is that which simultaneously rewards and punishes the person with "opposite" effects, e.g. smoking.

Motivation.

We are all motivated one way or another, but we are all motivated differently. In fact, we are each even motivated differently at different times. To "teach" somebody something new, or to try and influence changes in attitudes and behavior, you must know what really motivates the person at a particular time. But, the first step, is to always remove the obstacles which are actually "de-motivating" the person. For instance, one person may just want private recognition, where as another might want some physical prize. Before any of these motivators can work, you may have to eliminate some everyday nuisance concerns such as other people’s interference. Taking the time to understand these two important aspects about motivation can greatly improve the chances for success by helpers.

Thinking and feeling.

These two things are so closely related that we often get them mixed up. They interact so much, it is often hard to know which is producing which. Usually, when thinking and acting are over-active as a result of some stress, a vicious circle is formed where you feel bad about feeling bad and then think badly about yourself for allowing that to happen, and then feeling even worse because of that. However, bad feelings are like a toothache: They are signaling that somethin’ ain’t right. What isn’t "right" is usually the wrong attitude, such as "life is picking on me in particular," or an incorrect thought, such as, "this crap is going to go on forever and I’ll never get it sorted out." The best thing a helper can do to intervene vicious circles of thinking and feeling, is to help the person separate the two apart from one another, so they can begin to identify wrong attitudes and incorrect thoughts.

Perceptions.

Most of the time reality isn’t really that important. It is a person’s perception of that reality. People respond to you from the way they perceive you to be. Unfortunately perceptions usually aren’t very accurate because of a variety of things. For example, the brain plays tricks on perception by finishing unfinished things and filling in gaps. Also perceptions are unduly influenced by our backgrounds, our levels of intelligence, our values and even by what we expect to happen in a situation. It is very important for helpers to be aware of how they are being perceived by clients and also how the client perceives life in general. Being able to see things from the other person’s perspective often gives valuable clues as to what needs to be changed and what doesn’t need to be changed.

Communication.

Communication is the main way we interact with each other. Unfortunately, poor communication is more the rule than the exception. In the helping professions, excellent communications skills are an absolute necessity. And, they don’t happen without a lot of hard work. The safest assumption you can ever make is to realize that anything you say is highly likely to get misinterpreted, in some way or another, no matter how hard you try to be clear, simple and accurate. Probably the best communication skill to learn is good listening. Good listening skills are usually blocked by our own prejudices, distractions, wanting to get a response in and by about a hundred other obstacles. Something to remember is this: Our brains rarely ever interpret what our own ears hear somebody else’s mouths saying what their brain’s meant. You can learn most of what you need to know to communicate better, by listening well first. Then strive to use the 5 C’s: Clarity, Conciseness, Concreteness, Completeness and Correctness.

Values.

We all have certain values which drive our behavior. Unfortunately, values are not always based on productive motivations, and even more unfortunately, unproductive values are very resistive to change. Often, the values we have behind certain attitudes and behavior may even be unconscious. Another way to look at values, are that they are our "priorities." If we would focus on our most important priorities (fulfilling our basic needs, developing the right attitude, learning to communicate well, practicing productive thinking, etc.), we would be happy and successful. But, we allow our priorities to get out of whack. In fact, society today is undergoing a values revolution which is effecting us all. Part of the helping process is to encourage the client to examine their own priorities and how their "disorder" may be a big part of the problem (a perturbation point). Life often has it’s own way of doing this, by a major event shaking us up to the point where we start realizing what is most important. Too often this is very uncomfortable and difficult for us to get through. Helping at this point is plain and simple compassion and empathy.

A very important caution about values is that you really can’t tell someone else his or her values aren’t "right." Values are very personal and our own private signature from our own life experiences and upbringing.

Change.

Most people are fairly resistive to change. This is because it is easier to do what is familiar and safe. Doing things differently is threatening and may make us think or act in ways we aren’t familiar with. But, today, you either change or get changed. So it is important to help people un-resist themselves to change. The best way to influence change with someone else, is to be a good role model and demonstrate firsthand what it is you want them to do. It is equally important to understand that big changes don’t happen over night, and that sometimes the best you can ever so is plant tiny seeds, that may grow and trigger other more important changes later on. A very useful concept to understand and use is perturbation point. These are points where a small, but well-timed and well-placed intervention produces major results. For instance, pointing out how you might not be understanding someone explain something to you, may help them to understand how to communicate better. Another example is assertively telling another person how their actions make you feel. Here again, with change, is the importance of attitude. The helper will have to be an expert at adapting to change.

Copyright by William S. Cottringer, 1999.

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Writing a Business Plan

     A good game plan is the foundation of any significant accomplishment, whether it be in the area of personal development, athletic competition or business growth. In order to organize the activities of the security program and show contribution and value of the security program expenditures, the security manager must learn how to write such a plan for his or her company or department. The security business game plan must be detailed, concrete, practical and measurable. All components should flow smoothly in an integrated fashion. The essential components of a written business plan include: Mission, Goals, Obstacles, Activities and Outcomes. Each of these basic elements are discussed below:

Mission.

Every organization or department must have a clear and concise purpose which is intended to direct all activities. This is the starting point in writing a business plan and the bases for all that follows. For a contract security company, the mission might be purely a bottom-line matter of increasing profits for the coming year by at least 15%. For a loss prevention department of a retail establishment, the mission might be to reduce shrinkage to less than 2% of revenue. For a security department on a college campus, the mission might be to improve the perception of safety and security by teachers, students and the public.

Wherever the setting, the mission needs to clearly reflect the primary focus and purpose of the organization or department. With a security department, the mission needs to be a major contributor to the "parent" organization’s over-all mission. Whenever there is any incongruence between the two, such as is the case with the different branches of the public criminal justice system, accomplishment of goals becomes confusing. Goals may be in direct conflict with one another. For example, if an organization’s primary mission is complete customer service, a security department’s purpose may be in conflict with that mission with it’s own goals and activities which may create inconvenience or even customer complaints. Care must be exercised in writing a mission which supports and contributes to the mission of the over-all organization, rather than one which creates opposition or obstacles.

Goals.

In writing the business plan, certain measurable milestones must be stated in specific terms, which will be part indicators of successful achievement of the mission. These are the critical goals. With the bottom-line mission of contract security companies, examples of appropriate goals might be: To maintain client terminations at less than 5%, to reduce employee turnover by 25%, to gain 20% new business and to keep overtime at less than 2% of revenue.

In the retail establishment, the loss prevention department’s single goal might be: To establish a reliable and accurate method of measuring shrinkage.

With the university security department, goals may include: To reduce serious campus incidents by a minimum of 10% over the prior year, to attain a 75% attendance rate at monthly dorm security awareness meetings, and to improve positive perceptions by 10% from the beginning to ending of the school year on the safety questionnaire.

A useful technique is to state each goal with three levels of attainment possibility: "Below expected level, expected level and above expected level". For instance, reduction of employee turnover can be stated "below 20%, between 21-30% and above 31%". This can allow for a fairer assessment of over-all business plan achievement, where some critical goals get accomplished and others don’t, but the whole plan is not a failure. Attainment levels should be attainable, but set on the high side to encourage achievement excellence.

Obstacles.

One area which is typically neglected in writing business plans is identifying likely obstacles which may interfere with achieving the stated goals. Often, the simple act of identifying such obstacles in writing may very well eliminate them. In this sense, it is not a "negative" activity in anticipating failure or making excuses, but rather doing something positive to smooth the path to the goal. Specific activities can be designed to eliminate prominent obstacles.

Typical obstacles to contract security company goals might include recruiting droughts, tax or licensing law changes, minimum wage increases, or economy fluctuations. Obstacles confronting the retail loss prevention department might be management reorganization, flawed inventory control procedures or unforcasted seasonal revenue shortages. With the campus security department, such obstacles might be school budget cutbacks, one serious incident over-contaminating general perceptions and student and teacher apathy in participating in security meetings.

Activities.

The pool of various activities needed to remove obstacles and achieve goals can be best generated in a team brainstorming session. After a large pool of potential activities is identified, then refinement of such considerations as cost, likely success, logical connection to the goal, available resources, etc., can be evaluated to finalize a short list.

Activities should be stated in very specific language and responsibility should be assigned to a particular employee with a deadline for accomplishment. The estimated cost and economic contribution for each activity should also be stated.

An example of contract security company activity to achieve the turnover goal might include conducting exit interviews on all terminated employees and keeping statistics to spot unproductive trends or "red flags" needing to be addressed in operations, training or the selection process itself. Another activity might be to assign a seasoned staff member to "mentor" and check in on new hires during the first 90 days of their employment in order to make the new employee feel welcome or to head off minor issues before they become major problems.

With the loss prevention department’s goal of measuring shrinkage, activities can include conducting a thorough initial inventory to establish a baseline, monitoring each department’s daily financial outcomes or getting department heads to review weekly financial reports showing variance to objectives.

For the university security department’s goal of improving teacher, student and public perceptions of campus safety and security, activities might include producing a crime prevention video, writing a weekly safety column for the school paper, increasing nightly dorm patrols or assigning a student dorm security monitor on week-ends.

Expected Results/Outcomes.

The final touch to a good business plan is to state what your specific expectations are as to what should come about by successful implementation of the activities and successful achievement of goals. This is the unspoken mission in reverse. The importance of this subtle component can’t be understated. It is a very critical part of the business plan equation which ties everything together in a logical and complete fashion. Putting it in writing helps shape it’s reality and may even improve it’s probability of happening.

General expectations for our three examples might include increasing the next year’s budget, getting a salary increase, winning a trip to the "President’s Club" for high achievers, increasing training resources or getting a promotion.

Writing a business plan according to these guidelines can be a very time consuming activity requiring considerable thought and effort, but it will net valuable results. Without such a plan, there will be no results. Given the increasing urgency of security organizations and departments having to "prove" their worth, that is no longer an option.

Copyright by William S. Cottringer, 1998.

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Conflict Management

In Organization A, Security Officer Williams is on his rounds and discovers a homeless person sleeping by the dumpster in the parking lot. Post Instructions indicate that the security officer is to keep all unauthorized people off the premises. How does Officer Williams approach this situation?

In Organization B, Security Supervisor Jones walks onto a site she is inspecting and the client complains angrily that two of the security officers were having words earlier and that they were being very disruptive and abusive in front of company visitors. He wants to cancel the security contract. How should Supervisor Jones deal with this situation?

In Organization C, Security Manager Smith is in a budget meeting and upper-management wants to cut the security budget in half in order to implement a new career development program for employees. What does Manager Smith do in response to this plan?

Conflicts similar to these happen routinely in the security business. Managers need to become experts at resolving conflicts which occur in their own interactions. They also need to learn how to teach security officers the necessary skills to deal with a variety of conflict situations that happen on the job and negatively effect productivity of the organization. Conflict management is both a science and an art. The science involves understanding the common elements of a conflict and gathering accurate data, while the art part involves the sensitivity of framing the most appropriate strategy and then applying the right technique.

A "conflict" is any situation which tends to cause disruption to the "normal" routine . Conflicts can range from very minor, such as a change in meeting time, to very major, such as downsizing an organization. Conflicts often involve the necessity of change, and change is something we seem to have a natural tendency to resist. Because of this, we try to avoid conflicts whenever possible. However, conflicts are very much a part of the natural growth process of any relationship or organization. And, no relationship or organization can ever hope to mature productively and be successful, without being able to get through conflicts effectively.

Managers must learn the art and science of conflict resolution as an important part of their management skill repertoires. But, make no mistake about it, this is a difficult are to master, because most conflicts do not pose a pattern we can practice a response to and get better at it. Each new conflict brings a whole different scenario and characteristics requiring a unique solution. Most serious conflicts are very complicated and have elements that make them "unsolvable" in a way we might prefer them to be resolved. Actually "resolved" is probably not the best term here, because the conflict situation has never been "solved" in the first place, or it wouldn’t continue to be a conflict.

The art and science of learning, applying and teaching effective conflict resolution involves four stages: (1) Understanding the anatomy of a conflict in general (2) Assessing critical aspects of the conflict (3) Framing the most important strategy, and (4) Selecting and applying to right technique to use. Each of these stages is discussed below:

The Anatomy of a Conflict

                                          High

                                                                                          Low

Every conflict has four values, each ranging from low to high in relation to the issue and outcome: Importance, Impact, Investment, and Implementation. It is important to be aware of these four elements and how the particular conflict at hand fits into these values.

The degree of importance the issue has to all the stakeholders is always critical. Examples of high importance issues are random drug testing of employees, changing primary business focus from pricing to customer service or changing security guard uniform style. Examples of low important issues are re-arranging lunch hour schedules, selecting stationary vendors and a misspelled word on a routine report. Sometimes issues are important to some of the stakeholders and not important to others, and this difference must be exposed and worked through.

The impact the issue outcome will have on all the stakeholders is another primary concern. Examples of high impact issues are downsizing, moving the organization to a different state and declaring bankruptcy. Examples of low impact issues are temporary work schedule changes, making a minor payroll error change for a single employee and adding another stop on a patrol route. Again, the issue may impact different stakeholders differently. The key is to identify all the stakeholders and what the impact will be on each.

The amount of time, effort, personal values and money already invested in a certain issue/outcome or that which will be needed to make a change, will always be an important priority to review. Unfortunately, we often invest too heavily in the wrong issues and correcting those situations are usually more costly than we can afford, until it isn’t an option. A good example of this dilemma is spending more money to replace expensive access control systems that can’t be serviced quickly. Examples of high investment issues are changing payroll programs, changing security systems and updating computer equipment. Examples of low investment issues are making a temporary procedure permanent, following the recommended maintenance schedule for equipment and terminating an unproductive employee during probation.

The degree of effort and "cost" of implementing a resolution is a practical but critical consideration. The more planning that goes into high implementation issues, the better the success. Examples of high implementation issues are organizational re-engineering, changing security contract services and starting up a new satellite office. Examples of low implementation issues are changing the front door lock, removing an ineffective security officer from a site or requiring bi-weekly activity reports instead of monthly ones.

Accessing critical Aspects

With each conflict that occurs, it is important to do an objective assessment of the value of each of the above conflict aspects. Many hard questions need to be asked. Who is the issue really most important to? How is the degree of importance determined? What actual impact will the issue outcome have on the whole organization or on the individuals who are involved? Will the potential impact spill over to external stakeholders? What kind of investment has already been made in the way of time and resources toward a particular outcome? Is more good money being thrown on top of bad money? What kind of personal values are involved in the investment? How difficult will it be to apply various resolution options?

Obviously, the strength of the conflict and the difficulty of resolution are tied to the value strength of these critical aspects. The tasks involved during this stage of conflict resolution are mostly asking the right questions and getting honest , accurate and thorough answers.

Now let us go back to the first of our opening scenarios. In Organization A, with the homeless person, what are the questions which Security Officer Williams may want to ask and answer to determine the values of the four critical aspects?

Importance

As far as assessing importance goes, here a just a few questions which Officer Williams may need answers to: Is the area where the homeless person is sleeping a very visible, public area or is it pretty much hidden and out of the way? Has this situation happened frequently in the past or is it a first occurrence? Has this particular person been doing this all along? Are there valuable assets the person could have access to? What is management’s philosophy regarding the homeless?

Impact

Some questions to ask to assess impact in this case may be: What positive impact could an effective resolution have on preventing this situation from re-occurring? Will any action be an effective deterrent? Will "cleaning up" the parking lot help the image of the business? Who all will the action involve? Will resistance cause Officer Williams to miss making other more important rounds such as locking up?

Investment

To assess the value of investment in this situation, these questions might be asked: How long as the policy been in effect? What is the history of problems with this type of situation? What have been some of the negative consequences of past attempts to get somebody to leave? Have warning signs been posted? Has there been any serious damage done because of this type of situation?

Implementation

In assessing implementation value in this scenario, the following questions can help: Is the person likely to just move when asked politely? What approach has worked best in the past? Will the police or management have to be called in? Does the security officer on duty have good experience with this type of situation? Is the public going to witness the planned action? Is the homeless person inebriated or mentally ill or will he/she be combative? Is backup readily available if needed?

Framing a Strategy

Once the four critical aspects of the conflict are assessed then the next task becomes framing the most appropriate strategy of resolution. Table 1.0 outlines the four basic strategies with practical application examples. These four basic strategies are Acting, Adjusting, Accommodating and avoiding. Acting is exercising an authoritative position to resolve a conflict quickly without discussion or input and is generally most appropriate to emergency situations when all issue aspects are running high and a quick solution is mandatory. Adjusting is compromising to get to common agreement and is most appropriate in situations when important goals are incompatible or where both sides have valuable contributions. Accommodating is yielding and is most appropriate when one person is wrong, when temporary solutions can buy time for more complex resolutions to be worked out, or when you can give in to gain more in the long run. Avoiding is walking away from the issue and is most appropriate when all the issue aspects are low , when time alone can resolve the issue or when you just can’t win.

Table 1.0 Management Conflict Resolution Strategies.

Assessing critical aspects by asking the right questions and getting the correct answers, will help assure the framing of the most appropriate conflict resolution strategy. Let us go to our second opening scenario with Organization B and the angry client. Assessment of all the four critical aspects of this conflict will show all of them as high.

The incident with the security officers arguing in front of others at the client’s facility was high in importance, investment, impact and implementation. The very chance of cancellation of the contract is very important to all the stakeholders. It is also high in investment for all the stakeholders, including the client, contractor, security officers and supervisor, and the public. The outcome will impact all concerned in a very costly and time consuming manner, as some employees may lose their jobs, there will be lost revenue, the client may lose valuable business and the supervisor will be judged on his or her performance. Implementation of a resolution will involve such difficult actions as disciplining employees, trying to convince the client not to cancel the contract, finding suitable work for those laid off if it is canceled, making up lost revenue, and renegotiating another contract.

The primary strategy in this situation will dictate Action. The security officers must be removed from post and replaced and the client must be convinced that the situation is being corrected and that it will not occur again. The supervisor must investigate the situation thoroughly, write a serious incident report and notify his/her superiors. In time, this situation may involve some adjusting and some accommodating, especially if the client was working off of incomplete or wrong information about what did or didn’t go on with the security officers.

Adjusting generally involves making compromises when the issue is high in importance and impact and the goals are exclusive. The art of adjusting is to view the concessions as the only available means of gaining the desired outcome (keeping the contract), and not giving up something (billing adjustment, replacing the security officers). More than likely, this situation will also require accommodating the client in anyway possible to buy time to save the contract with impressive actions. What it probably won’t involve is any avoiding (unless of course, it is a lost cost because of repeated past disasters).

Techniques for Applying Strategies

When a conflict requires the manager or security officer to act, there are certain techniques which can help bring about effective action. For instance, it is very wise to anticipate any likely fall-out and potentially destructive consequences beforehand and to have a contingency plan ready to activate. For instance, what if one of the security officers you are trying to discipline just walks away from you? Or what if he or she presents different evidence than what you have found?

Another good technique in acting, is to focus on your own state of calmness. In the majority of conflicts, emotion runs high and the uncontrolled expression of feelings makes resolution difficult if not impossible. When the other person is ranting and raving and you can remain calm, you can eventually calm the other person down long enough to get him or her to see important points about the situation which might be wrongly contributing to those feelings and preventing a successful resolution. Half the battle in the majority of conflict situations is to listen well enough to really understand the other person’s position. It is that lack of understanding that might really be the conflict itself. Furthermore, it is both imperative and fair, to speak precisely what it is you are going to do and why. Finally, effective action is carried out with precision and decisiveness. In times when action is the only recourse, there is no room for hesitancy or confusion.

Adjustingoften requires mediating the conflict with an impartial, objective third party "referee." This technique involves identifying the pros and cons of all the giving and taking. For instance, in our third opening scenario, what will the organization be gaining with the new career development program and what will it be loosing in cutting the security budget in half? Can the security program actually save the organization enough money to implement the new program in stages? What relevance does the fact that the company has just doubled it’s assets and number of employees, have on downsizing the security department? These pros and cons need to be explored and discussed in depth.

When a conflict is best resolved by adjusting , it is critical to get both parties to prioritize and buy into the exchanges and concessions. Agreement is essential on the most important compromises and less essential on the less important ones. A good way to end such mediating is to summarize common agreement, ask for recommitment on carrying out the required actions and to set a date for a follow-up meeting to check progress.

An accommodatingstrategy can be useful in several different situations. One such situation is when one of the parties is wrong. If the security officers were not actually arguing in public, but rather behind closed doors, then the strategy for approaching the client will shift. The object becomes getting the other person to admit it when he or she is wrong. There are a few ways to do this including the presentation of indisputable proof in the way of facts, separating feelings from thoughts to allow for objectivity to set in, and the careful introduction of appropriate humor. Sometimes all we need is a good laugh at ourselves and how we over-bond to issues.

Other situations lending themselves to this strategy are when the issues are much more important to one person rather than the other or when temporary solutions can buy some time until a more permanent long term solution can be applied through careful adjusting. The best techniques for applying this strategy include explaining why one person needs to yield and how it will be beneficial, interpreting the accommodation in a positive light rather than negative one and consciously thanking the person doing the accommodating.

There are certain situations which will deserve an avoiding strategy. These include when all the issue aspects of the "non-conflict" are all low, when the apparent conflict is just a symptom of something bigger or deeper, and when time alone will bring about the desired outcome naturally. A good question to answer is this: If I don’t do anything right now, what is the worst that could happen? Or, put another way, what is the least I can do and still keep my options open? Before an avoiding strategy is chosen, it is wise to make certain all the issue aspects are in fact low. Going back to the homeless situation, how would importance increase if the local newspaper was out researching the homeless situation in the client’s neighborhood? Or in the second situation, say our two security officers arguing, were armed? And, in our third scenario, how would the fact that the new program wasn’t that popular with the company employees, effect the values of that issue?

Good techniques to apply with the avoiding strategy are to always explain why you are not dealing with the issue at the present time, to let people know you are separating them to let time and distance cool them off and to identify the superficial symptoms from the core problems to be worked on later.

It is quite feasible that very complex conflicts may require a combination of all four of these strategies and several of these techniques. When such conflicts are so complex, it is best to break them down into more manageable "mini" conflicts and attempt to resolve them part by part.

In conclusion, successful conflict resolution involves a process of first assessing critical aspects of the conflict issue’s importance, investment, impact and implementation , then framing the most appropriate strategy of acting, adjusting, accommodating or avoiding and finally applying the right technique. Security managers who follow this process will improve their conflict management skills and help their organizations to grow productively. Subsequently, the value of the security program will become more tangible.

Copyright by William S. Cottringer, 1997.

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TQC: Total Quality Communication

Introduction

"Tell me quick and tell me true,
Or else, my friend, the Hell with you.
Less of how your product came to be,
And more of what it does for me."

                                                                                                                -Sonny Harris

Today's Information Age is bringing us all more and more information with less and less time to consume it. This situation is especially critical for anyone like managers, teachers, helpers or service providers, who must use communication to affect positive change, frequently with resistive, hard to reach audiences. In order to successfully navigate through this new age, we must all learn to become superb communicators. Information must be gotten and given with maximum speed, accuracy, ease and impact. Anything less leaves us further and further behind in the progress curve.

Good communication is not only a primary interpersonal tool, but it is also the most critical part of the total quality movement. Mediocre communication can jeopardize most, if not all personal relationships and organizational outcomes. The importance and urgency of this matter make it a top priority on everyone's do list.

The Total Quality Communication (TQC) Model is a useful system for helping anyone to develop superior communication skills. Below are the ten basic tenants of this model:

TQC Model

"I am easily satisfied with the very best."
                                                                                         -Winston Churchill

Total Quality Communication involves understanding, thinking about, planning and practicing ten rules to assure the very best communication. These ten rules are:

1. Understand The Dynamics Of The Communication Process.

Gaining insight into the human communication process is the first step toward TQC. A very misunderstood fact is that human beings have a unique dual system of communicating: Digital and Analogic, or report and command aspects.This is similar to the computer, which uses digital numbers and analogic commands as to what to do with those numbers. Digital communication involves reporting information through the use of words which represent objects denotatively according to clear logical syntax rules. Digital communication has no real meaning in and by itself. For example, the word g-u-n actually has nothing in common with the mechanical object which it represents.

Analogic communication is all other non-verbal information which is conveyed along with the digital information. Essentially, it is information about the information. Analogic information helps define the relationship between communicants by providing connotative meaning to the report, but without definite syntax rules for accurate digital interpretation. Digital communication is thought of as having a permanent quality, whereas analogic is generally more ephemeral in nature.

These two systems are exclusive of one another: One can't communicate with the other because each plays by a different set of rules. Unfortunately, we think they can and try anyway, and this is a major source of miscommunication and interpersonal conflict. The effort is like an attempted exchange between a mathematician and an artist using formulas and paint.

Interestingly, human communication has evolved from analogic to digital to the present dual system. We originally communicated analogically, by showing things or referring to close likenesses of them. There was very little room for confusion or misinterpretation.

Two important axioms about communication are: (1) There is no such thing as non-communication: One cannot not communicate, and (2) We do not initiate communication as in starting a cause and effect chain, but rather participate in the circularity of the communication process which is already going on.

Problems with the communication process itself can only be resolved at the next higher level, which is metacommunication, or communicating about both the reported information and the relationship aspect of how this information is to be taken. Communicating about this level is extremely difficult, but it is where all the most important breakthroughs usually occur.

2. Become Aware Of The Extent Of Miscommunication.

"I know you believe you understand
what you think I said.
But I am not sure you realize that
what you heard is not what I meant."

                                                                             -graffiti

In the beginning, we invented words to conveniently represent real objects which we couldn't carry around to show firsthand. Today, there are more words than objects, words have taken on their own separate realities and the once clear representations have become too uncertain and abstract. Some words, such as "justice," "rehabilitation," and "right" probably have as many meanings as the number of people who speak, write, hear or read them.

There are dozens of obstacles contributing to miscommunication, other than the ones discussed above. Just a few of these include differences in communication content and style between gender, age, ethnic and other groups, perceptual processing, the unique way each of our brains are programmed differently to hear, poor listening habits, environmental conditions, language differences, exclusive frames of references and many other violations of the tenants listed below.

And, to make matters even worse, all this is in addition to the very nature of the criminal justice system itself, which like the courtroom scene, isn't exactly user-friendly when it comes to rules of good communication. Here, actual message content can get utterly lost because style is so visible and loud.

Given the many obstacles to good communication, miscommunication today is much more likely than not. This is especially true for the criminal justice environment, where the system itself, and the basic values and emotions involved, complicate the formula even further. Becoming aware of the actual extent of this problem is an important second step toward TQC.

3. Practice Aggressive listening.

" Man's inability to communicate is a result
of his failure to listen effectively, skillfully,
   and with understanding to another person."

                                                                                                -Carl Rogers

For this purpose we were given two ears and only one mouth- a fact we seem to frequently overlook. Aggressive listening, or listening to really understand rather than just to respond, can best shape the right initial response, which in turn always opens the door to good communication. We human beings have an almost insatiable need to be appreciated and understanding is always the first step toward appreciation.

In most situations, there is usually more that isn't being said that could be heard, which could improve communication. The other person's body language, voice inflection and intonation, facial gestures, doubletalk and shorthand, word choice, emphasis, posture or silence can all offer valuable clues about the real meaning of the intended message. "Yes" words with hesitant frowns can mean "no" and "Do you think that one will do?" can have a variety of meanings according to which word is stressed. Often, what is not said may be the most important piece of information being communicated.

We all know the importance of listening, but may need an occasional reminder of how to listen. Here are some basic guidelines to recall and re-practice: