Nice Ladies Can Be Incompetent Communicators

City Sticker Design Decision Gone Wrong

Because this is a blog dedicated to good communication and not good sense, let’s ignore the merits of Chicago City Clerk Susan Mendoza’s decision to dump the city sticker winner design due to the alleged similarity to gang symbols being present in the design. Let’s go straight to the manner in which she communicated the controversial decision to the public - which by anyone’s measure was a disaster. I do not know Ms. Mendoza and I will take Herbert Pulgar’s word for it that she is a “nice lady”. Yet, nice ladies can be incompetent communicators. Here is how it should have gone down.

1. Mendoza should have started with a heartfelt public apology to Herbie, his friends and family and especially his teacher who guided him in this competition.
   
   
2. She then should have been told of the difficulty in making the decision and named ALL the people she consulted and their credentials for assisting her. Using words like regret, sad, upsetting, empathy, etc. would have made her appear less icky.
   
   
3. Next she should have stated that the young Mr. Pulgar was believed to be blameless in the accidental association to gang symbols and that he would not be punished by taking away his $1,000 prize.
   
   
4. Ms. Mendoza should have been very quiet as to what the City was to do about a new sticker design. Let the dust settle on ousting Herbie before crowning a new king (or queen as it were).

I am sure I have more to say but the more I write the less rational become over poor Herbert. Did you see him? Gang promoter? Jeeeez!

Whoa, Phil, know when to tune it down!

I’ve posted examples of bad corporate communication before – (see here, here, here and here). But just when I thought I’d seen it all, I stumbled across this video during my travels on Twitter today. This campaign speech by a candidate running for Stark County, Ohio Treasurer is going viral all over the web – and not in a good way. Phil Davidson is the poster child for Horrific Communication.

Mr. Davidson has a highly educated background, which includes a Master’s Degree in Communication, yet his delivery sounds more like that of a professional wrestler or raging bull entering a rodeo ring than a political candidate. I felt sorry for the people in the first row of his audience. No doubt with Davidson’s uncontrollable zeal they were both scared and spat upon.

There is so much wrong with the presentation that it is not even worthy of diagnosis. Given how awful the speech was, there’s a plethora of rules that were broken, such as his disjointed delivery, his quivery voice, the continued frantic pacing and obvious need for more rehearsal time. But my biggest question is where are his confidants? No doubt they too were frightened from the room.

Mr. Davidson could have saved himself from becoming the laughing stock of the Internet – by seeking honest feedback during his preparation. [And we know he prepared because he jumped back to his notes continuously.] Presentations should always be rehearsed – first, videotape yourself and play it back to make improvements, then as your preparation progresses gather a live audience to rehearse in front of – your family, your colleagues, your neighbors, any breathing person with a pulse. Just don’t trust yourself to deliver the speaker and the audience perspective. Someone should have told Mr. Davidson how far off the mark his delivery was and provided constructive comments on how to improve. This is comparable to those American Idol contestants who show up thinking they are the next pop star, but can’t hold a tune at all. Why didn’t their family members say: “You sound like a screeching bird, please don’t humiliate yourself on national TV.”

The whole speech was just so wrong that I am hoping it is a gag. In which case, our howls of laughter that rose exponentially with every sentence were justified.

Likeability in an essential component for any politician’s electability and Mr. Davidson is only likeable here for his comedic relief. Sadly, Mr. Davidson failed to win his party’s nomination for the treasurer campaign … can’t imagine why.

Insensitive-Inconsiderate-Down Right Thoughtless

Rarely does poor communication cause outrage. But last week I received the ANNOUNCEMENT below via email.

XYZ COMPANY
CORPORATE OFFICE

DEATH NOTICE

DATE

We are sorry to announce the death of Sam Jones, Age 22, son of Fred Jones, Vice President, Finance. He is survived by his parents, Fred and Sally, and three sisters, Mary, Jane and Cindy.

Visitation will be held on DATE from TIMES with a memorial service to follow at 7:00 p.m. at:

LOCATION
ADDRESS

Interment will be private.

The family has requested that in lieu of flowers donations be made to:
NAME
ADDRESS

The Jones Family thanks everyone for their kind thoughts and prayers.

Signed,
Mr. CEO

The names are changed to protect the innocent…and the guilty. If you ever needed an example of poor, no, worse than poor, offensive corporate communication, this is it. There are so many communication don’ts; it is difficult to know where to begin. Most of you are probably already aghast and I need write no more. However, for the few who are not seeing the obvious, I continue. Additionally, anyone who works for a company that would communicate such a sensitive matter in this manner should print this blog and tender it to your CEO.

Most importantly we do not ‘announce’ a person’s death. We inform or tell or let you know or notify or make you aware. Just a brief peek at your online Thesaurus will present a myriad of words to work with. This posting has no offer of condolences to the family, friends or coworkers except one ‘sorry’ which is used as an adjective to modify the verb ‘are’ which modifies the verb ‘announce’. So apparently what they are sorry about is the ‘announcement’? It is just plain cold. No personal thought or effort went into this ‘announcement’.

How did this happen? One, it is the way it has always been done. The corporate headquarters says cavalierly, it has been “company policy for 40 years!” which means that no one on the team is thinking about how to communicate a ‘death notice’? Two, no one is thinking about it because it does not affect the company EBITDA. Three, there will be little or no honest feedback from the several hundred employees who will view the death notice on their email or the break room bulletin board because in a day or two it won’t matter. Four, most people will view it as cold, or neutral at best. Because they are not trained in subtleties of communication, it won’t feel right, but they will not be able to explain why.

From the company’s perspective, this is a missed opportunity to show that it has a caring side to it. In this particular case, the tragic death of the 22-year-old son of a long-time executive employee, known personally to the CEO (signee of the ANNOUNCEMENT) leaves the communication rife with possibilities. But, let’s for learning sake, say it is a line worker who no one but a handful of coworkers knew personally. It is still bewildering that this would be how a company would want its character to show up. Let’s write a possible replacement for this less than gracious posting. And maybe before ‘Fred’ comes back to work next week someone will have the decency to re-post or at least tear down the one on the lunchroom wall.

NOTICE OF ZMF EMPLOYEE FAMILY DEATH

This week, ZMF team member, Vice President of Finance, Fred Jones lost his 22-year-old son, Sam Jones, to a fatal accident. We at ZMF send our thoughts and/or prayers to Fred, his wife Sally and Sam’s sisters Mary, Jane and Cindy.

Fred will be out for the next few days tending to his family. Messages can be left for Fred on his email, F@zmf.com or on his company voice mail, extension 123.

Visitation for Sam will be held…. Etc.

This took me about five minutes or less. It could be better and it could be tailored to the specific personality of the company. “Forty years” of refinement should turn out a perfect piece. In today’s economy and political climate where the average person is looking at corporate America with a jaundiced eye to begin with, one would believe that CEOs would care more about visible compassion. It may be a challenge to appear genuinely empathetic in communication surrounding a layoff or plant closing but this…come on suits!