We met with our management team earlier this month with a pretty charged agenda. Typically, we talk about results but this time we included reports on progress and actions on various topics. Interesting stuff came out. Our challenges are clear.

In one of my comments during the meeting, I introduced a new measure. A measure by which I will monitor our progress. I called it ‘the buzz’. I explained that I won’t be satisfied until I feel the vibrations and hear the buzzing of the organisation when coming in office in the morning.

It is just a way of expressing my drive for ‘busy-ness’ and actions, fed by my hunger for performance and results ... My sense is the management team and my colleagues from the Executive Committee got the message and the medium is the message as Marshall McLuhan wrote in 1964. My year of birth, by the way. I hope to receive the message through the buzz…

Best,
Chris

Let's go further with this nice "buzz" image. Why can't you hear the buzz? I believe that the main reason is: there's simply too much noise to hear it! Communication effectiveness and efficiency is the issue. Clearly. Example: you need an information for your everyday job, you don't know who to ask, you ask 10 colleague: your message will be noise for 9 of them, double answers will be noise also. Other example: as there's so much noise, you've got to repeat them, so that people finally hear you; when they don't hear, you put their boss in CC and... this is noise for your boss.

Think about it. It's not only related to emails. It's about communication channels in general, established responsibilities, efficient links between processes.

If we want to hear the buzz, let's first try to hear the sound of silence.

Exciting, really!

Daniel