Are You Getting the Best Information

Watch us on Twitter

Not getting this information sent to you directly? Sign up for your FREE monthly Smartmanager newsletter today.   Sign up now!  

-------------------------------------------------------------
Are You Getting the Best Information to Manage Better?

Why Good Information Is Sometimes Hard to Get

It seems that all companies tout their communication process as first rate. However, surveys and other research indicate that corporations overestimate their communication abilities, just as people often do. Excellent company communications are legends only in the corporate mind, not the real world.

However, there are also reasons that others don’t pass along information as they should. This is not a communication deficiency. This can be a premeditated act.

For example, one of your employees has a problem with a customer. After making every attempt to solve the problem, the staff member raises the white flag and gives up. Unfortunately, your employee neglects to advise you of this event. It’s unfortunate because the unhappy customer calls you to further note his dissatisfaction.

Since you never received the information about this incident, you have no clue about the problem and, obviously, have no thoughtful response. Your employee chose not to give you the information to avoid being perceived as a problem child. But, now you’re at a big disadvantage with your disgruntled customer. Had you received this information beforehand, you could have prepared a good management response and probably restored the customer relationship.

You need bad news, as in this example, more than good news. During these occurrences, you risk looking uninformed, out of touch, or, even, foolish. All of these potential problems are caused by a simple lack of information. Obviously, getting information like this late can be just as damaging as not receiving bad information.

You can understand why information like this can be hard to get. However, you must encourage your staff to communicate, communicate, communicate. Impress upon them that you need the bad information even more than the good stuff.

Understand Why Some People Don’t Easily Give You the Information You Need

To help you “turn on the faucet” of good information, you need to understand why many people do not communicate this needed data. There are a number of psychological reasons that some people have a problem giving you what you need.

  • People having a dislike for conflict are often reluctant to share bad news. They tend to perceive delivering bad news as a conflict situation and refrain from sharing this information.
  • Some employees are motivated to correct the problem by themselves to prove their value. Should the problem get worse, like the example above, they would rather have a root canal without anesthesia than share this bad news with you.
  • Corporate culture sometimes frowns on bad news delivery. This creates a psychological barrier for many employees to share news in this environment. Since corporate culture issues are seldom written or even discussed, it is easy to understand why you may only get good news from your staff.


How to Encourage and Get the Information You Need

  • Understand the difference between placing blame and solving problems.  Stress to your staff that you’re  not  going to play the blame game. Clearly state that you need information to solve problems.
  • Understand your typical responses and personality.  Are you wildly emotional? Are you reserved and laid back? Know who you are and how you publicly react to things in general. Do you wear your emotions on your sleeve? Do you react to a tornado the same way you handle a broken pencil? By understanding yourself, you can temper your responses to information exchange appropriately.
  • Reward staff that identify and attack the problem-solving function.  Make it clear that you appreciate and will reward those that deliver a constant stream of information, good or bad (particularly the less than good news).
  • Stress the importance of communicating, particularly the problems.  Most of the published text you’ll read stresses the importance of sharing good news and positive reinforcement messages. This is wonderful and useful advice. However, communicating everything – particularly the problem areas – can often be more important. Whether at a staff meeting or a one-one-one discussion, you can reemphasize the criticality of sharing information, regardless of its content. Giving your staff some comfort regarding information sharing will pay dividends over time as they become more confident in sharing.


You can only play the game properly if you understand the rules. By understanding the potential multiple causes of employees not sharing enough information – particularly bad news or problems – you can use this knowledge to encourage a change in behavior. Using one or more of the tips outlined above, you can change this behavior for the better.

You should also understand that you’ll probably need a good dose of patience, too. Modifying your personality or some corporate culture issues to improve your receipt of information will not happen in a few days. But, if you’re consistent in implementing your plan, your staff will become more comfortable and responsive over time. You should eventually get the best information you need to become a better manager.