Every business is in a relationship business. There are relationships with your customers, suppliers, and fellow employees. You have relationships to build up and down the organization chart. You have relationships to build with peers whom you may one day be in charge of or who may be in charge of you. Technical ability alone does not produce sustainable profitable growth. It is only in combining your ability to add value with other people that you actually produce real business results.

Recently, I was asked by a client to put together a full-day interactive seminar on how people can communicate more effectively with other employees inside their business. My first thought was that this would be like asking a scientist for a cure for the common cold.

By far and away, the biggest issue inside of organizations is the way the individuals communicate with one another. I have worked now with over two hundred organizations. To prepare for my work, I have many times interviewed anywhere from 5 to 20 people inside the organization to better understand their perspectives. Generally speaking, I ask them to share their thoughts with me on what makes the organization effective, what makes the organization ineffective or gets in the way of it being as effective as it could be, and what would make it more effective.

Effective Executive Magazine, Focusing on the Fundamentals, Relationship Business, Organization Chart, Relationships with Customers.