Bill and Mary work in the same department. Bill has a position that gives him access to upper-management and information regarding company issues that Mary does not have.
Mary has noticed that there have been times when working with Bill that he gave her information regarding company policies, future business ventures, and department issues that didn’t match up once the information was known throughout the corporation.
With the job tasks that Mary has, she needs to be able to rely on Bill to give her factual information, but is finding that it may be impossible. She is afraid that at some point it may affect her job if she trusts what he says.
Factual communication is necessary in every aspect of business, whether it is within the corporate walls or between company employees and their customers. Lack of factual communication may result in wasted time, lack of cooperation, distrust, and loss of business altogether.
Factual communication is very simple; it means to tell the truth. For some reason some people feel it necessary to hold back from telling the whole truth. Possibly they feel it will give them a “trump card” at some point, or it just makes them feel important that they know something that others do not.
In actuality, when facts are left out, these employees are hindering and destroying productive work time and work relationships. No company can afford this.
If you are in a position where others at work depend on you to relay important information to them, there are three key steps that you need to follow to insure that you are not leading your coworkers off base.
1. Facts: Speak the facts as they were presented to you. The facts and only the facts matter.
2. Opinions: Do not for any reason add your opinion or interpretation of what you think or feel was said.
3. Core Communication: You need to make sure that you know what was said and what it means according to communicator. If you have any questions you must ask them so that you do not pass on information that may be misinterpreted. Others depend on your accuracy.
Not only do others depend on your accuracy, but your reputation depends on it also. By sharing false information or inaccurate information you can cause serious issues for yourself.
If others depend on you to pass along company information, make sure you have a clear understanding of the information and know how to accurately pass it along before doing so.
Be the bearer of factual-based communication only; your co-workers will appreciate working with someone who they can rely on and trust.
08/27/14
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