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 Plaid Group Newsletter Join The Plaid Group mailing list and you’ll receive a free bimonthly email newsletter filled with insights and ideas you can use to enhance your company’s operational performance, spur growth, and increase bottom line profits. A Picture Is Worth … Well, You Know Sometimes, The Best Way To Communicate Is With A Visual by Tim Smith, Principal  [ Print Version ]"If you visualize the end product, work goes easily." So said my horoscope one morning a few weeks ago. And if you’ll pardon the pun, my stars all aligned around those nine simple words. Using pictures to communicate complex objectives and processes is indeed a powerful way to make work go easily. The reality is that most people learn better visually. It’s easier to understand and digest pictures than it is data that arrives via reading or – worse still – listening. And because of that fact, a picture truly is worth a thousand words. There are three critical “pictures” that can help you provide context and meaning to your company’s communications:
The Good Ol’ Org Chart While every situation is unique, there are eight common reasons why companies fail to successfully implement ideas or improvements. Be on the lookout for these project killers. Some business leaders believe organizational charts are passé – leftover vestiges of the bloated, multi-layered bureaucracies of old. Others found their organizations restructuring so often, it became impossible to keep track of who worked where! But an org chart can be a powerful tool, one that adds clarity and definition to reporting relationships, job responsibilities, boundaries and workflow. And org charts are even more important when a company goes through reorganizations and restructurings. Imagine a house that has been added onto over time with no help from an architect. You end up with something very difficult to navigate – walking through the bedroom closet to get to the dining room! That’s what many businesses have become as they’ve morphed over time, and there’s no visual representation of the structure as it currently exists. If your company doesn’t have a current organizational chart, create one. And distribute copies to all employees, along with a performance expectations document that clearly details each department’s responsibilities. You’ll find that employees will have a much better understanding of who does what. So THAT’S How It Works! An enterprise flow diagram – also known as a process map – is simply a visual representation of how work moves through a company, from person to person, department to department, to produce a specific result. The Plaid Group uses flow diagrams to help clients better understand the logistics of their businesses, and uncover where there are unclear responsibilities or unshared expectations. Flow diagrams are especially useful in organizations where there are multiple handoffs – where information or material is passed back and forth among people or groups. For many employees, that initial look at a flow diagram is the first time they see how their work fits into the bigger picture. They see how their actions – good and bad – affect others in the company; for example, how a delay on their end impacts other departments down the line. They gain a stronger understanding of what their coworkers do, and how it takes everyone working together to produce the company’s product or service. In fact, a flow diagram can help replace finger pointing and criticism with support, tolerance and respect for other employees and departments. It’s true that a visual can be powerful! How Are We Doing? Ever notice how fund-raising goals are communicated? We’ve all seen the giant thermometer with the end goal at the top, and as money is raised, the red line moves higher. That’s a great example of a performance chart and how easily it can communicate success – or the need to work harder. Companies that create visuals to illustrate corporate objectives find that employees have a better understanding of what is expected. And they are more attuned to progress or lack thereof, which means they will take the necessary steps to get on track if they see that a goal is in danger of being missed. Sometimes, a visual used in this manner can even become ingrained in a company’s culture to the extent that it serves as a form of “shorthand” for common goals. The strength of a visual is that it can be easily and quickly viewed and understood. The simple pie chart is an example of how a picture is stronger than a table of numbers. Get In Focus With Pictures! The benefits of using visuals to communicate are many:
The more your employees understand what your company does, how it does it and how it is organized and managed, the more capable they will be of achieving the results you want. But don’t just tell them … show them with pictures! More Information? If you would like to learn more about this important topic, please send an E-mail to tim@plaidgroup.com, visit our web site at www.plaidgroup.com, or call us at 713-627-3569. Author's Note: Tim Smith is a Principal with The Plaid Group. The Plaid Group helps companies simplify and stabilize their business operations to improve financial performance and gain a competitive edge. We share our FREE newsletter with you to showcase powerful tips, techniques, and ideas to help you improve the financial and operational results of your business. Copyright 2004 The Plaid Group |
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