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Press Cuttings - Communication lets me down

In the latest extract from the diary of a Gazelle winner; Allan Hunter discovers that a leadership course produces some unwelcome home truths

In last month's Gazelle diary, my partner Duncan, was espousing the benefits of training. After all, if we don't, who will? So, to practice what we preach, we signed up for a leadership course organised by Scottish Enterprise Forth Valley and run by the management consultyancy Matrix, based in Hamilton.

First, we were asked a lot of questions on time management, focus, setting goals, and coping with stress, among other things. Interestingly we also had to give the same questionnaires to some of our staff who (anonymously) completed them about us.

A couple of weeks later, we received the analysis of the compiled results - but surely they'd sent me the wrong report? Of course I communicate well. How could that be seen as a development area? Our staff share the vision, don't they?

They all know in what direction the business is heading, the immediate, medium and long-term priorities … don't they? They surely know our strategies for new business development and future focuses? They must do, because we talk all the time, we have sales meetings, monthly staff meetings, operational meetings.

Apparently not. The one key are where I think that I'm okay - but others clearly don't - is in communicating important things in a clear, unambiguous manner.

It's a bit of a cliché that people in organisations, both large and small, are generally not all that good at communicating, but I felt that I had progressed swimmingly over the past five years in dealing with this.

After a good deal of head scratching, these are my conclusions; communication is not just abut the transfer of data. It's not just about copying in all relevant people on e-mails. It's not just about relating the contents of telephone conversations. All these things are important, but the term "information overload" springs to mind.

No. Communication is about valuing the contribution of the people that you are communication with. Communication is a full duplex synchronous activity (sorry, can't completely forget my technical background) - in other words, it's a two-way, real time process and, unless you listen and assimilate others' responses, you cannot communicate meaningfully with them.

I hope that I will now adopt practices that will enhance this process, and I have no doubt that it will have a positive effect on how I speak and listen to those around me at work. My wife and daughter will no doubt benefit, too.

Finally, approaching the registration desk at the Corporate Elite Awards dinner at the Museum of Scotland the other night, the person on the desk asked for my surname.

Having replied, "Hunter", he then asked, Tom or Allan? All I can say is - Tom, you'll have to get out more!

Allan Hunter is the technical director of Learning IT.