In a company, cross-departmental communication is very important. Employees and middle-level managers spend about 40%-50% of their work time on internal communication, and for senior managers, this ratio is even higher. How can we improve the effectiveness of internal company communication to enhance operational efficiency? Recently, I have conducted several trainings on "Cross-Departmental Communication," and I've found that cross-departmental communication has become a common issue in many enterprises. Here, I'd like to share some insights into cross-departmental communication.
In practice, I have discovered that as companies set up more and more departments with increasingly comprehensive structures, inefficiencies, blame-shifting, and even disruptions to normal operations often arise due to various reasons between departments. Given that the objective circumstances facing the company cannot be changed, and the current organizational structure and rules cannot be adjusted, how can different departments collaborate smoothly and work together?
For managers, cross-departmental communication is indeed an important task, but it's also a headache. Despite being cautious and constantly following up and confirming, various problems keep arising, leaving one overwhelmed. Cross-departmental communication is one of the most difficult forms of organizational communication because power no longer plays a significant role. When conflicts arise, they cannot be controlled by authority and are clearly evident. Effective communication involves many techniques and methods that allow us to bravely face various communication barriers, acknowledge human weaknesses, respond appropriately, and achieve ideal results. Mr. Tan summarized nine techniques for cross-departmental communication, calling them the "Nine Yang Divine Powers"!
Renowned management expert Ms. Tan Xiaofang stated that low execution caused by lack of effective communication is a problem that plagues most companies. A clear manifestation of ineffective communication is the finger-pointing between departments. In daily work, both managers and employees gradually lose direction, getting bogged down in various management details. In such situations, they often believe that their efforts completely represent the company's best interests. They gradually fail to understand other departments' work, leading to disappointment, which may even evolve into hostility. In other words, inter-departmental conflicts are chronic issues in corporate governance, and they are generally hard to avoid.
Currently, many companies are moving towards flatter structures, increasing the frequency of cross-departmental communication. Departments are equal in status without hierarchical relationships, so theoretically, communication should be easier. However, in reality, the cost of coordination between departments is quite high, affecting not only large organizations but also small and medium-sized companies. Many tasks are not inherently complex; rather, poor communication leads to the need for supervisors, or even higher-ups, to mediate. This creates unnecessary detours and delays, wasting valuable time. As the saying goes, wasting time is wasting money—this is essentially the high cost of communication. The direct statement that bringing in supervisors to mediate means our communication is ineffective holds true. Effective communication saves everyone's time and avoids occupying supervisors' time unnecessarily.
In a company, cross-departmental communication is crucial. Employees and middle-level managers spend approximately 40%-50% of their work time on internal communication, while for senior managers, this ratio is even higher. How can we improve the effectiveness of internal company communication to enhance operational efficiency? Through research and practice, Ms. Tan has also found that many rapidly growing companies, as their market expands, add more departments and clarify responsibilities. However, cross-departmental communication becomes increasingly difficult to coordinate, often affecting the overall operational efficiency of the company, causing much distress to leaders.
Specifically, Ms. Tan suggests that companies adopt the "Eightfold Path" of cross-departmental communication techniques:
1. **Job Rotation:** Ms. Tan recommends encouraging job rotation, allowing personnel from business backgrounds to serve as heads of support functions such as human resources, training, administration, and business management. For example, IBM and HP have had similar practices in the Chinese market in recent years. The CFOs of Motorola and AsiaInfo deeply analyze and actively participate in market operations, aligning the traditional "logistics" department closely with core businesses, thus fundamentally adjusting their team's perspective on problem-solving and behavior. This way, the "logistics" department can better meet the needs of core businesses from a market and competitive standpoint.
2. **Improving Communication Skills:** Communication is the lifeblood of management and a necessary tool for integrating essential functions such as planning, organizing, directing, coordinating, and controlling. Therefore, in my MTP course, I emphasize "communication is everywhere." Cross-departmental communication especially requires attention to the art of communication. Ms. Tan suggests that managers improve their communication skills, including effective listening and maintaining concise and accurate communication. In internal company communications, people often rush to express themselves without listening carefully. Through multiple team exercises and games, I have observed that if both sides or at least one side listens attentively, repeats key information, asks questions to confirm, and gives appropriate feedback, the effectiveness of communication (i.e., accuracy, time-saving, fewer conflicts) greatly improves.
3. **Flat Organizational Structure:** Introducing project management with flat-style communication and collaboration can increase efficiency, having a unified project manager make decisions, reducing disagreements and departmental silos (if this can be done one day, currently we can only try to strengthen communication between departments; upper-level managers need to focus more on mutual exchanges and reach consensus).
4. **Effective Performance Management System:** An effective smaller management system is based on clear responsibilities. Incorporating frequently occurring collaborative issues into performance evaluation criteria can be tried. I have improved some functional position assessment content within departments, but there might still be an issue: if not all the company undergoes improvement and only one department executes it, the result may be problematic.
5. **Never Complain About Troubles:** A key principle of cross-departmental communication is never to complain about troubles. Don't think that once a meeting is over, everything is fine. Ms. Tan Xiaofang suggests maintaining contact afterward, proactively monitoring other departments' progress, and staying updated on the latest situation. Don't passively wait for the other party to notify you when problems occur; instead, communicate proactively and continuously to prevent issues. Many people often complain: "How could this happen? Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Many have experienced this: the other party did not initiate contact, letting the problem escalate until it was unmanageable before coming for help. It's understandable to feel angry, but if others don't inform you, why don't you ask them proactively?
6. **Promoting a Communication Culture:** The effectiveness of communication is directly linked to corporate culture. No supervisor believes that continuous internal communication reform is unimportant, but the key lies in practical implementation. Supervisors are not just trailblazers, guides, and influencers but primarily doers. If supervisors never casually chat with colleagues in elevators or corridors, will employees enthusiastically respond after a speech at a staff meeting? I doubt it! Additionally, establishing a "client" service mindset, every department needing your assistance is your "client." Making your clients satisfied is your responsibility, which is not just constrained by principles but will eventually become a habit and part of the corporate culture.
7. **Effectively Integrating Department Goals:** Where there are departments, there will inevitably be departmental interests and small group benefits, an undeniable fact. However, we should integrate these siloed department goals and align them with the organization's overarching objectives. For example, many large enterprises set budget targets for departments based on internal accounting standards. While this makes auditing easier, these internal accounting standards are not market-oriented, meaning the department's budget target is not market-facing, whereas the enterprise itself is market-facing, resulting in obvious misalignment. This inconsistency in the company-set guiding principles directly leads to discrepancies between department and enterprise ideas, making communication difficult to sustain.
8. **Demonstration Effect:** One seasoned professional manager has deep insight into this point: "You expect employees to behave in a certain way, and you must demonstrate that behavior yourself. You advocate two-way communication, listening to the other party, stopping departmental conflicts, reducing internal coordination costs, and you must personally lead by example. You believe that quality, skill enhancement, and continuous learning are important, so attend classes with them, share good books you've read with them, and simply put, act, do, execute."
In summary, the goal of cross-departmental communication is to achieve cross-departmental collaboration, making large enterprises as agile as small ones! Only through communication can one grasp the whole picture, discern truth from falsehood, broaden the leader's perspective; only through communication can cohesion form, creating a strong team; and only through better communication can hearts be connected and enterprises flourish! Participate in Ms. Tan's cross-departmental communication training to help your company achieve barrier-free communication management!
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