I recently came across an interesting piece on the Harvard Business Review that essentially deals with our own discomfort with the issue of race and how this discomfort can actually impede open and honest discourse in the workplace. If you have time, grab a friend and go through the short exercise here. I did this with a coworker and it ultimately lead to an interesting discussion about race, preconceptions and how we create unnecessary barricades in communication. In a broader sense, this is about how we fear being perceived.
This basic study got me thinking about the way we impede productivity by overcomplicating the way in which we communicate internally. I worked for an employer who believed that only 30% of e-mail sent was actually read and understood by the recipient, a percentage that goes down from there when you add multiple recipients. He believed that as soon as soon as confusion reared its head in such correspondence, a phone needed to be picked up or someone needed to walk over to a desk for clarification. I have also seen the way the same message could be interpreted differently by individuals in an organization based on their own filters and motivations. I found this study interesting, especially given the current heightened discourse on the extent to which race factors into our thinking. The lesson in this study I think, and I would be very interested in your opinion, is that often our own fear of touching on a perceived taboo hinders our ability to bring all of the pertinent elements into the conversation. The kids who did this game that were under nine years old performed better than adults. They don’t carry the baggage into this game that we do.
This writer is always intrigued by technology that facilitates communication, makes it faster and easier to talk, share and move initiatives forward. However, is still on human beings to ensure that the quality and substance of this communication does justice to the manner in which it is delivered and acted upon.
August 21, 2024
Fall is nearly here. That means students return to school, parents settle into their routines, and summer vacations are distant memories. It also means that the Volano Summer Internship Program is now a wrap. Our two summer interns, Daniel and Micah have packed up and returned to their Fall Semester of school. Before they left, […]
August 20, 2024
OMAHA, NEBRASKA, Volano Software Company Applications for the Nebraska Innovation Fund (NIF) Prototype Grants are open now for Nebraska-based businesses searching to take their business tech from a napkin sketch to a full-blown prototype. At Volano Software, we are highly familiar with this program. In 2023, we were awarded the matching grant for our software […]
November 27, 2023
Volano Software – ESOP Company Volano Software Company based in Omaha, Nebraska announced recently the employees are now co-owners of the software development company. This transition ushers in continued confidence in the team during a challenging time for employee retention for many other software companies. Volano Software, celebrating its 16th year as of 2023, demonstrates […]
June 13, 2023
Data is like a vast set of building blocks, each has different shapes, sizes, and colors. Just like each brick has its unique utility, every piece of data carries a unique piece of information. As a business owner, how can you possibly start understanding what all the pieces of data from those fancy reports mean? […]
June 2, 2023
For small manufacturing companies with less than 100 employees and revenues of around $20–50 million, several key factors contribute to their success. Here are some important considerations: By focusing on these key factors, small manufacturing companies can enhance their competitiveness, achieve sustainable growth, and maintain profitability. It’s important to adapt these factors to the specific […]
June 1, 2023
Several years ago, I was working on a product that required some attention from the software product teams. This happens to all software over time because a user’s needs change, features need to be added, and bugs happen (naturally). The undertaking was large enough, so our team agreed it would be ideal to talk with […]