Unspoken Rules

Joining a new company is exciting but, at the same time, it could be a bit scary. Starting a new job is not only about the new tasks, responsibilities, tools or colleagues. A new workplace is an unexplored paradise (or hell) full of unwritten rules and protocols to be discovered and followed by the new employees. From discovering what the right time for a coffee break is, or understanding the working-from-home policy to getting to know how much open feedback the colleagues and the management are able to take, discovering all those new things might be a painful journey.

An unspoken rule is a rule that is not officially written down but, somehow is imposed in the company. To be honest, I have seen many work situations fail due to the lack of knowledge or lack of understanding of those rules. I am sure that all of us have faced a situation at the office in which we wished we would have known about an unspoken rule. The future of every new employee and his/her acceptance as part of the team will depend on how this person behaves and follows the company rules, particularly those unspoken ones. 

Avoiding the unspoken rules shock

Many companies have created clear induction procedures to make the new employee's landing to the new place an enjoyable journey. Creating clear procedures and rules can help your company avoiding surprises while simplifying the life of many managers and supervisors. Unfortunately, there is no clear way to officially teach the unspoken rules to the newcomers. Those can be mainly discovered by staying around and learning from others. Sometimes, we learn by doing mistakes, too. 

I have found useful getting to know the company already during the recruitment process. Using your network to ask about the company and its culture before joining the company is also a good way to go. I know, sometimes, we get the first impression only from the hiring manager or the HR representative but, some companies are already involving the rest of the team at the recruitment stage. When you get to know the team or at least some members in advance, you are able to see how they behave together, what kind of clothes do they wear and even how they talk to the recruiting manager. This might help a bit.

Written rules vs. unspoken rules

Incongruities between professed rules and actual practices are very common in the workplace. This means, that despite having clear policies or protocols to follow, people at the company have created their own way to proceed and that has been well accepted and implemented. There are also cases in which the official rules only apply to certain people and not to all equally. This can be a bit frustrating for newcomers.


So, how to learn the unspoken rules? Summing up, the best recommendation when you join a new company is to take the time to observe your surroundings and to watch how other people at the company behave. Prudence is essential. It is important that you take the time to get to know your colleagues and your managers before doing anything dramatic.

The Cost Of Poor Internal Communication

Internal communication is an unresolved issue in many companies, and again an underestimate competence to develop. Have you ever been in a situation in which you just receive unclear emails over and over again? Or do you feel like the communication in your organization is a good example of a circus? Have you been in a situation in which the team members do not understand each other although they speak the same language? Or employees do not know about a project or its results although all those emails, weekly meetings, CRM, and other available tools, but all the information is in somebody’s head? I believe you are familiar with these situations. And trust me, I understand your frustration. 

Is your organizational communication looking like a circus?

Poor internal communication is costly:

Poor communication or the lack of it is not just a disengaging factor but, it is very costly for your company, too. Don’t let poor communication be part of your company culture. Don't let poor communication be your way of doing things. Underestimating internal communication might have multiple consequences -from the basic misunderstanding among the team members producing for, example, some project fails and the dysfunctionality of your products or services, to affecting some safety issues and generating accidents.

Unfortunately, the cost of poor communication is not a number easy to report. However, many of us have experienced at some point in our careers the loss of productivity as a result of a poor meeting. Other times we have failed and lost a business opportunity due to the bad given information or misunderstandings. We have seen underachievement of a team due to the time they use deciphering emails instead of working.

Internal communication and the management:

The way managers communicate with their team has an impact on the company results. When employees understand what they need to do and they received enough information to do their job properly, they will just do it. However: 

- If the message is unclear, the result will be messy or there will not be a result at all.

- If the manager communicates poorly or not communicates at all, there is a high risk of disengaging employees.

- If your company is facing changes, and there is not enough information about it, this will increase misconduct.

Better than saying that poor communication is frustrating on many levels, I would like to emphasize how enriching good communication is. The communication skills are not just a job requirement. These skills can be developed. Communication should be an essential process inside the organization.

The Tone Of Your Internal Communication

During my days as communicator I (have) learned that managers don’t need to share everything they know but, they should always keep the communication open and positive. It encourages employees to take part of the company conversation and the development. It also increases their commitment. I know, I could go deeply and talk about the role of the cultural differences in this open and positive communication understanding, but let’s keep that for later…
 

My point this time is that even if the message is essential, the tone plays as important role as the message itself. If the tone is positive, you can see the results in the company atmosphere:employees are enthusiastic and optimistic. It is like they can get energy and good vibes from the message. However, if the tone is negative, everything will suck, as simple as that. 

The tone is the message:

• Keep the tone positive even in the most challenging times -especially in the most challenging times.
• Get the vision right and well explained: whatever you want to achieve with your company, with your team or even with your colleague, be clear. People cannot read your mind. Get it right, explain it, repeat!
• Focus: The only case in which you should be extinguishing fires everywhere is if you are you are a fireman. If you are not, quit this hobby. If you have problem focusing: select three main topics and talk about those. We humans cannot digest all the info at the time, we will not even remember more than three or four basic points.
• Share the right message in the right way: all your team members are different. Use different channels but, especially use the appropriate content and way of talking when you communicate with them.
• Increase urgency: If you are facing challenging time, don’t wait, prioritize communication. Use it for example, to push the team to get the goal, to inspire and to get the commitment. Don’t use the urgency as an excuse to talk about results or the lack of it. Don’t use urgency to be a pain or to push the limits (and the patience) of your team members.
• Remove obstacles: So if you see that something is not working. Talk! Stop ignoring the situation, stop complaining about it and find out –seriously- the obstacles. Take action.  
• Stop taking care of everything: the company communication is no a one man show. Let your team take part of it. Their way can be also a good way.
• Be consistent:  Sync your messages, tone and actions. Always!

Communication, formal or informal, should be a continuous process in any organization. Practice this often and seriously. If you are facing a challenge finding the right way to communicate or finding the way to develop your internal communication, look for advice. Communication is an investment.