The frustrating part is that this was supposed to be a fairly simple repair, but the crew failed to plan the job. They just showed up and started pulling things apart. They’ve had to make a run to Home Depot, pull out work and start over because they skipped a critical step, and even borrowed some screws from my personal toolbox.
This approach wastes their time and mine. It diminishes my confidence in their abilities. Though they’re likely to achieve the desired outcome (or they won’t get paid), behind the scenes and under my floorboards is a big mess that makes everyone look bad.
So it goes with many organizations’ communication strategies. An ad hoc approach gets limited results—often just enough to satisfy, but rarely enough to add value. The staff keeps plugging away. Tinkering. Making a big mess. And eventually getting a job done, but not the job we’d all anticipated.
Unlike my plumbers, most communications professionals know and understand the value of a good plan. It guides the ongoing process, makes priorities clear, and defines roles and responsibilities. It helps us know where we’re going, and signals when we’ve arrived. It builds credibility. It even works to assure our future.
Yet few of us take the time to create this roadmap. We blame the time constraint—a by-product of our understaffed and overcommitted departments these days. However, I suspect the real reason is fear. We don’t know how to start or compile; don’t want to show that this is a hole in our skill set; can’t answer the questions that form the basic elements.
I’m grateful, then, that I’ve been challenged by former employers to figure it out. I’m glad that managers and executives have considered any plan to be better than no plan, and been willing to work with me in making it better. I am always happy to have a newer, better, fresher template to follow. Every process and exercise grows my abilities and adds to my self-assurance.
I only wish my crazy plumbers shared this philosophy.
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