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How to communicate directives so that workers follow them.

Management gurus agree that employees are most likely to get on board when they are involved in the decision-making process.

In the many cases when that's not possible, the next-best thing is to make employees feel as if they were involved, consultants say.

That means telling workers not only what was decided, but why and how, says Phillip G. Clampitt, a consultant and communications professor at the University of Wisconsin, Green Bay.

How Understanding the 'Why Behind Bosses' Decision Matters

Email is poor at expressing emotions

It turns out E-mail may not be very effective when it comes to expressing emotions.

In fact, there's significant potential for miscommunication with E-mail, according to a research study published this month in the Academy Of Management Review.

The study, by Kristin Byron, an assistant professor of management in the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University, explains that E-mail is very poor at expressing emotions, and people often read emotional content into E-mail where none was intended, according to a release from the university announcing the study.

It's simple: "Miscommunication in E-mails can be caused by senders' inability to accurately convey their intended meaning and by receivers' inability to perceive the senders' intended meaning," says Byron.

As a result, she recommends that companies consider offering training in the use of E-mail.

"With the increasing reliance on E-mail in the workplace, understanding how to effectively communicate emotions by E-mail is crucial."


IT Confidential: Is There Anything That Can Be Done About E-Mail? - News by InformationWeek:

Companies aim more marketing at their employees

More than ever, companies are turning their marketing inward.

Armed with research that shows that effective internal communications can boost performance, corporations are devoting more time and money to disseminate key information to employees.

The goal is to make sure workers buy into the company's program and, just as importantly, jump-start positive word-of-mouth about its products and services.

But such efforts come against a backdrop of increased employee cynicism.

Internal campaigns are important, any management book or guru will tell you, but if you overdo it, you can turn off employees.

Indeed, most managers realize that they won't ever reach everyone.

One challenge for companies is figuring out the best ways to communicate with employees.

So in their quest for more effective communications, companies are going beyond newsletters, employee meetings and other traditional routes.

Research has shown that many employees want to hear key information from their immediate supervisors.

Consequently, some companies give supervisors "talking points" about new initiatives to ensure that they are delivering consistent, accurate messages.