Workplace intimacy is the key to corporate success

Getting communications right can improve organisational performance while simultaneously reducing costs and decreasing stress…a ‘triple win’.

When communications works well, customers and other external stakeholders are more trusting; employees are happier and more productive; teams innovate and solve problems faster; transformation programs are more successful; the organisations reputation remains protected; and its brand is more likely to be promoted by stakeholder advocates.  People are also less stressed, which positively impacts their health, attitudes and relationships, feeding back into the performance cycle.

Investing in contemporary communications  channels helps to reduce costs.  Webcasts can replace expensive seminars and customer meetings; videos can be prepared without the need for contractors; and time-consuming training can be replaced with flexible, on-line options for learning and development. Low-value broadcasts via email and intranet can also be replaced with better podcasts and webinars.

However, studies show that electronic investments and good intentions do not, on their own, create better communications. Sustainable improvements will only occur when enough intimacy has been established between people for trust to bloom and relationships to improve.  Intimacy and trust  encourage the collective mindset to become more  inclusive, accepting of people’s differences and prepared to collaborate for the best overall outcome. Trust also helps to dispel the stress that people feel when relationships are strained.

Improved performance therefore requires the workplace to become more intimate. This means that leaders should proactively get to know their people and care about them. They should facilitate regular reflection opportunities with teams, addressing any differences before perceptions grow needlessly into political problems.  Other cost effective suggestions to improve intimacy and trust include: