Every organization faces obstacles that frustrate employees and hinder productivity. However, certain obstacles recur due to a lack of clear communication and strategic problem-solving. These obstacles can impede progress and result in missed opportunities. Fortunately, there are effective ways to overcome these hurdles and foster a culture of clear communication and strategic problem-solving within the workplace.
Today we will explore the importance of these two critical elements and how they can be leveraged to drive organizational success.
Clear Communication: Establishing Shared Understanding
Effective leadership requires clear communication to establish shared understanding. Research shows a strong link between communication and organizational functioning (Manan et al., 2020). When expectations are unclear, employees struggle and frustration builds. Leaders must take proactive steps to convey expectations in a way that resonates.
Setting Clear Expectations: The first step is ensuring all job roles have clear, well-documented expectations. Expectations should outline key responsibilities, performance metrics, standards of conduct, and opportunities for growth (Ward, 2011). Regular check-ins allow for clarification and feedback. Establishing clear managerial expectations is also critical; leaders must "practice what they preach" through consistent, values-aligned actions.
Promoting Understanding with Active Listening: Developing shared understanding requires active listening (Arar & Öztürk, 2020). Leaders must elicit questions and perspectives, then restate interpretations to verify comprehension. Meetings provide opportunities for two-way dialogue; virtual organizations can utilize discussion forums, video calls and workplace messaging. Feedback surveys also help gauge understanding over time.
Communicating Change Effectively: No organization remains static; change is inevitable. However, poor change communication often catches employees off guard, breeding frustration (Appelbaum et al., 2017). Strategic communication establishes buy-in and cushions disruption. Key aspects include:
Clearly explaining the rationale for and benefits of change
Providing realistic timelines and milestones
Giving employees a voice in change through feedback mechanisms
Recognizing emotions and addressing concerns candidly through change stages
Connecting changes to core mission/values to maintain motivation
With proactive, values-aligned communication, leaders can establish shared understanding and transform obstacles into opportunities. Clear expectations set the stage for engagement, while active listening and change communication foster understanding during turbulence.
Collaborative Problem-Solving: Channeling Conflict Constructively
Even with clear goals and communication, tensions will arise. Research shows dysfunctional conflict stemming from a lack of collaboration harms productivity and culture (De Dreu & Weingart, 2003). Leaders must channel tensions constructively through collaborative problem-solving.
Fostering Psychological Safety: A psychologically safe environment allows diverse views and vulnerable questions (Edmondson, 2018). Leaders establish safety through empathetic responses, valuing all viewpoints equally and expressing confidence in people's good intentions and capabilities. Fault should be found in behaviors, not individuals.
Facilitating Productive Debate: With safety assured, leaders can facilitate open debate to surface tensions (Rivas & Jones, 2015). Cross-functional teams prevent "siloed" perspectives. All ideas merit consideration; devil's advocacy tests assumptions. Constructive criticism targets behaviors, not people. Consensus emerges from facts, not dominance.
Implementing Joint Solutions: The consensus must still consider organizational realities. Collaborative problem-solving culminates in joint solutions negotiated to satisfy priorities as feasible (Kofodimos, 1993). Compromise respects constraints while valuing relationships. Pilot tests ensure viable execution before full rollouts.
Obstacles fester when tensions lack outlets. With buy-in, cross-functional debate fuels innovation better than isolated grunt work. Collaborative problem-solving channels conflict constructively by assuring safety, valuing diverse input equally and negotiating joint resolutions.
Putting Theory into Practice
While research grounds these principles, true impact comes from practical application. Leaders must operationalize solutions customized to their industry and organizational culture. The following organizational examples illustrate effective implementation.
Non-Profit Organization: A growing non-profit faced constraints communicating across regions serving disparate communities. Remote and overloaded staff struggled with shifting priorities seemingly “from above”. Monthly town halls now prioritize two-way dialogue. Video calls share client success stories across regions for inspiration and to clarify strategic relevance. Change pilots test initiatives’ impacts before nationwide rollouts. Cross-community teams now collaborate solutions for shared clients facing obstacles from lacking resources in one region versus another. Staff feedback shapes priorities regularly. United through shared purpose, once fragmented groups now share burdens and celebrate fellow regions’ impact.
Tech Startup: Rapid growth strained a young tech startup’s evolving culture. Employee frustrations mounted amid ambiguous strategies exhausting limited resources. To align dispersed teams, executives now share monthly “roadmaps” outlining strategic priorities and discussing challenges candidly. Teams propose initiatives within boundaries to spark organic contributions. Managers clarify priorities transparently with direct reports. Leadership workshops help managers foster psychological safety within teams to facilitate productive debate. Weekly podcasts share organizational learnings. Distributed scrum ceremonies reinforce priorities across teams. Once siloed teams now collaborate organically through shared understanding and safety to conquer obstacles together.
Healthcare System: Siloed clinical departments within a healthcare system struggled resolving cross-departmental issues delaying patient care. Department heads now attend bimonthly “problem-solving labs” to address bottlenecks through diverse viewpoints. Frontline staff share patient experience data. Leaders reframe issues beyond departmental constraints. Interdisciplinary pilot programs test solutions. Managers participate in “coaching circles” learning to channel debates constructively. Post-project reviews refine solutions collaboratively. Outcomes now outweigh outdated approaches. Staff feel empowered resolving complex issues through cooperation versus isolated “turf wars”.
Conclusion
Every organization faces recurring obstacles stemming from lack of strategic communication and collaborative problem-solving. Research-backed principles help leaders establish shared understanding through clear expectations, active listening and change communication. Leaders can then channel inevitable tensions constructively by fostering psychological safety, open yet respectful debate, and negotiated consensus around joint solutions. While challenging to implement, the rewards appear through engaged staff willingly overcoming obstacles together instead of passive avoidance or isolated “turf wars”. With proactive leadership applying customized strategies, any organization can propel past frustrations toward greater success through understanding and cooperation.
References
Appelbaum, S. H., Habashy, S., Malo, J. L., & Shafiq, H. (2012). Back to the future: Revisiting Kotter's 1996 change model. Journal of Management Development, 31(8), 764–782. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621711211253231
Arar, K. H., & Öztürk, H. (2020). The importance, use and challenges of active listening: A scoping review. International Journal of Progressive Education, 16(5), 294-308. https://doi.org/10.29329/ijpe.2020.273.20
De Dreu, C. K. W., & Weingart, L. R. (2003). Task versus relationship conflict, team performance, and team member satisfaction: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88(4), 741–749. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.88.4.741
Edmondson, A. (2018). The fearless organization: Creating psychological safety in the workplace for learning, innovation, and growth. John Wiley & Sons.
Kofodimos, J. R. (1993). Balancing act: How managers can integrate successful careers and fulfilling personal lives. Jossey-Bass.
Manan, A., Alias, A., & Pandian, A. (2020). The effects of internal communication on organizational commitment. Social Sciences & Humanities, 28(1), 469-482.
Rivas, H., & Jones, I. S. (2015). If you're not at the table, you're probably on the menu. People & Strategy, 38(3), 28.
Ward, A. (2011). I'm OK, you're OK, the organization's OK: How to establish a shared understanding. People & Strategy, 34(2), 36.
Jonathan H. Westover, PhD is Chief Academic & Learning Officer (HCI Academy); Chair/Professor, Organizational Leadership (UVU); OD Consultant (Human Capital Innovations). Read Jonathan Westover's executive profile here.
