By Michael DeVenney
"The internet has changed everything about how
an organization and its managers work - everything"
Maybe - maybe not.
A critical role a manager plays in an organization is to collect, translate, and transfer information throughout their internal and external network. Managers are a key lever for productivity by providing people with what they need to make decisions and take action. Intuitively, the contributions of the internet (email, social networking, etc) should greatly add to the efficiency and effectiveness of the manager's role.
However, in reality, the use of the internet - and email particularly - may often become a distraction or careless method to expedite issues and replace the need to talk in person with stakeholders. In terms of communicating to build relationships, the internet has not really helped the manager to be more effective, and it may have actually hindered this.
Research shows that 70% of communication is visual - we see the facial expressions, body movements, mannerisms and gestures, and posture to fully understand what someone is actually saying. For a manager to effectively interpret information, there is still the need to meet in person and cultivate the relationship.
Relationship Management 2.0 in our web-based world appears to be the same as the earlier version when we had less technological support. We need to see people to communicate most effectively. Technology is a support for the efficient distribution of information, but managers still need to invest in traditional face-to-face relationship building to effectively translate and communicate information.
Take the example of a manager who is situated in a separate geographic area from his other colleagues. He has an excellent relationship with his own reports (who he sees daily) but finds that his interaction with his colleagues is not effective. All of his meetings with the other managers was via conference calls and video conferencing. The relationships are professional but not collaborative - the manager's peers do not approach him outside the meetings for perspective and input. He feels isolated. However, after a business trip for several days with the other managers he could not believe the change in his relationships with them. Having travelled, eaten, socialized, and worked together, his colleagues saw him very differently, and his connection with them significantly improved. He really needed to be with his colleagues to be able to relate and connect with them effectively.
A further example is a manager who has reports spread among six different geographic locations. To save time and money, the manager's interactions with her reports are again entirely by video conferencing, telephone, and email. The end result is a real lack of teamwork among the reports. The manager has difficulty interpreting motivations and feelings of the reports. Despite the level of regular interaction, the manager cannot "read" the reports, and much time is spent trying to assess how to work better together. The manager finally decides to meet face-to-face with each report on a monthly basis and bring the team together each quarter in person. Although more expensive, the resulting improvement in teamwork and commitment is amazing. She can now understand what her reports mean in their communication and they can connect meaningfully with each other.
As a manager, you have a circle of influence - those people around you who will impact your success. To be most effective in building relationships that work, we still need to connect in person. For most managers, the network is critical to achieving both individual results as well as outcomes for the team. Typically, the network would include key reports, colleagues and peers, the boss, and potentially key external connections and senior organizational stakeholders. Without a doubt, communication in person provides a greater advantage to cultivate the best working relationship. With face-to-face, you understand each other, pick up on non-verbal clues, and interpret what is really being communicated. Although you can have working relationships at a distance, the most effective ones include communications in person.
The advice and observations received from so many senior leaders - who have achieved proven success - confirms the value of the network and the need to cultivate that network in person. Relying on email, Twitter, and other digital means of communicating will not replace the need to get in front of someone. Technology can significantly improve our ability to transfer information, but it will not replace the need for personal communication to interpret that information. Technology can expedite, but it does not connect in the same way as personal interaction.
For managers to be most effective, our advice is to invest time in personally meeting with your network to develop and enhance your key relationships. Define your Top 20 Farm Club - the key people who support your success. People on that list may not have the best relationships with you right now, which reinforces the need to find ways to work better with them. The key to creating a good list is to identify those people that can either help or hurt your work. These people are the ones that you need to invest time in. Look at the priorities in your work and the goals you are trying to achieve and ask yourself who will help you achieve your desired outcomes. For your Top 20 Farm Club, your objective is to invest time to cultivate and develop the relationships to the most effective level. Connect with them to understand what they need from you and how they can help you. Set time aside each week and month to meet and talk in person with them - find ways to make this happen. If not, you risk losing or not having a connection that will help you achieve your goals, and you will waste time and energy trying to get where you want to be. Investing eight to ten hours each month in these relationships is more than reasonable. Your time commitment is probably about 5% of your total work time - and what a difference that 5% makes to results! As managers, we need to see people, talk to them, and be with them to understand them.
Building and cultivating effective relationships in our modern, complex world comes down to doing what has always worked traditionally. Get out and talk to people face-to-face. Technology can help managers tremendously in the efficiency of gathering and disseminating information and instructions. Social networking can greatly improve the ability of managers to involve many people in a community to share ideas and contribute information. However, when the goal is communication to cultivate a relationship, in person trumps technology.
To be successful at developing and managing your most important relationships, follow a three-step plan:
- Define your key goals and critical outcomes
- Identify your Top 20 Farm Club as those people who can most affect your success in achieving the goals and outcomes
- Invest time each week and month in meeting face-to-face with your Top 20 Farm Club network to understand how to best make your relationship with them work.
Support your investment with technology to provide your network quickly and efficiently with information but be in front of them to build the relationship.
To develop the most meaningful relationships that will support your success as a manager, reconnect with people by traditional means - get in front of them so you connect with them. It matters to your success.
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Relationship Management 2.0
