clearer thinkiiMg amd better speaking in conferences. However, t h e training director will bave to adapt his instruc tion to individuals and company poli cies and purposes. Courses in com munication skills—drinking, observing, writing, reading, speaking, and listen ing—should 350 01a continuously, says Murphy. Arxci the* courses can be great morale builders, especially for those on To management falls the task of better communica routine jobs, i f tautght on the basis that learning is f o u . tions between all supervisory levels a n d workers A second step Involves organization planning. Kfiorts should b e made to shorten vertical communication l i n e s increase. Physical distance increases lessen physical distances and simplify JVLILLIONS OF DOLLARS are lost each year through poor intracompany com also with growth a s more levels of au complexities w h i d i bar good communi munications. Many companies spend thority are addedL Decentralization, cation. Surveys made by Sears, Roe money for better communication de accelerating over the last 2 5 years, at buck show a n organization with more vices and systems, but forget the basic tempts to shorten the physical distance emphasis on delegated authority rated skills for producing better messages. between supervisors and workers and higher in morale, communication, flexi Thus, Dennis Murphy of Service Pipe to promote better communication. bility, and executive development. Line Co., Tulsa, Okla., summarized the ^ Hows of Good Communication. This organization structure showed need for better business communica First step in improving communication about the same edfficiency and number tions to a recent American Institute of conies with training. Murphy says of sales as tlhe pyramid authority type. Chemical Engineers meeting. management should employ a full-time However, by the law of diminishing re Success or failure of communica specialist in communication skills and turns, adds Murphy, there is a point tions depends upon the supervisors have him set up a training program. where too loose arm organization can lose nearest t o the workers—group leaders Management earn check the results communication, jmist as it can with too and section heads who directly man through surveys, appearance of simpler, rigid one. Each company must adopt age smaller units of employees, says quicker, and correctly understood an organization structure best consider Murphy. The problem resolves to memos, letters, and reports, and by ing many factors» bridging the silent gulf between man agers and workers so that management will consider labor cooperative and labor will consider management com municative. All employees, managers, and work ers, need more and better communica tion. Managers need it—if for nothing else to live longer through release of pent-up emotional strain which brings ulcers and heart attacks. Instead of inhibiting their feelings, they need to **blow up" occasionally—but at condi tions and things, not people. Workers need self-expression in many ways—for the feeling that they belong, release of tensions on the job, and, when their opinions and suggestions are welcomed, as a creative outlet for their ideas. • Why Poor Communication? Ac cording to Murphy, poor communica tion comes from three basic causes:
ΙMANAGEMENT
Bridging the Silent Gulf
• Attitude of employees. • Increased size of the organization. • Increased complexity of work. While a secretive policy about con fidential matters is necessary and valid, a wholesale policy of telling nothing is autocratic, paralyzing, and dangerous. Mistrust begets mistrust. When man agers fail in sharing information which furthers common purposes of a com pany, says Murphy, workers become interested in little except the time clock and their pay check. As a n organization grows, informal communication naturally and inevita bly decreases and formal written types 3456
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100,000 Questions on Pharmacy A group of 150 specially-trained technicians at Parke. Davis & Co. take time o u t from their regular duties each year to walk thousands of miles and answer hun dreds of thousands of questions o n pharmacy. These employees are volunteer guides who annually conduct professional visitors througL· the 44 acres of floor space in the Parke-Davis Labs ( a t Jos. Campau and! the Detroit River). Each tour takes two days and 10 miles of walking to completer Here, one of Parke, Davis & Co/s volunteer guides explains the operation of an ampoule inspection machine to a group of visiting physicians. Each year, more than 10,000 physi cians, pharmacists, and students make the tour as guests of Parke-Davis.
