Communication at work

[Chupacabras]

I'm working at a small construction company that manages a good deal of money (for our standards anyway) and I must help put order in several processes. Among other things, I'm trying to devise a simple scheme to promote internal communication: I set up a "john doe" mail account and then give the pwd to everyone, so they can login and send a message about whatever is bothering them to me, and I cannot really tell for sure who did it (we have several sites, all with shared computers, so IPs wouldn't be of much use).

The idea for this is that people, in my experience, express more truthful (even if their ideas are wrong!) in anonymity. Then can take on whomever and go happy-shooting. Fine with me, I just want to find what is good to work with.

I would appreciate criticism of this idea and other ideas/experiences that you might like to share.

 

[Horatius]

Are you sure that people at "a small construction company" will know enough about computers that they will believe you can't track who sent what comment?

 

[tkingdoll]

I rather like it, it's a digital equivalent of an anonymous 'comments' box. Assuming that you have the 'keep sent mail' option turned off, otherwise people can log in and see the sent mail!

When given anonymity, people may tend to bitch rather than raise genuine concerns, so you may have issues figuring out what are problems and who is just a minnie the moaner, or whether all the complaints come from one person.

I always find it's best to give balance - rather than just 'this is for complaints', you might consider 'this is for suggestions, feedback and issues, both good and back, feel free to include your name or not'. That way it doesn't automatically create the assumption that there are problems or things to complain about, and it does show that positivity is encouraged. Sometimes people are as shy to speak up about a good idea (let's computerise the filing system!) for fear of rejection or looking dumb, as they are about complaining.

 

[Policenaut]

You can set up a forum where people don't have to register to post (where everyones username will be "guest") or you can start a blog and have people post replies. Both will ensure that no one knows who is saying what. But the email concept seems fine as long as they use it at work.

 

[quixotecoyote]

I'll try to dig up the studies for you when I have some free time, but I seem to recall some research saying that a couple companies that tried dumped it because the employees either didn't trust the management and didn't participate, or took it as a license to bitch about everything in an unproductive manner.

 

[rjh01]

Try talking to them face to face. Let them know you are a human being. Take notes of what they say. Ensure a follow up e-mail is sent to all staff saying
- these are the issues that have been raised
- these are the actions that we are going to do
- (later) this is the result.

Easy to start doing this and then drop the ball.

 

[Chupacabras]

Are you sure that people at "a small construction company" will know enough about computers that they will believe you can't track who sent what comment?

Well, I'll take the chance. I mean, either they trust me or not, no matter what approach I take to promote better communication.

When given anonymity, people may tend to bitch rather than raise genuine concerns...

Yes, I think you're right, but I have a honest boss with very practical sense. He knows the people for years now, and know what to discriminate.

... you might consider 'this is for suggestions, feedback and issues, both good and back, feel free to include your name or not'.

Great suggestion!

You can set up a forum where people don't have to register ...

I like it, but I'll have to learn how to do it (I know there's free software). I think this is a better idea, since everybody can keep track of what's being said and jump in the conversation as they see fit.

... a couple companies that tried dumped it because the employees either didn't trust the management and didn't participate, ...

People don't write too much. I imagine there'll be some participation at first, and then interest will fade, perhaps quickly. In any case, after reading your responses, I think I should go for it, FWIW.

Try talking to them face to face.

Good! I do talk with people a lot. I think I am very fortunate to befriend everyone and able to gather opinions of all sorts pretty easily. I think I have some kind of ability to get information from people in person - mostly, I think, because I have genuine interest in whatever they have to say.

A couple of notes, we have dozens and dozens of workers, but not everyone will participate in this. Only the staff engineers, which are about 20 people. I also intend to explore their thoughts by proposing themes or vague ideas so they can expand on, or express their interest or lack of.

Thank you very much all. I'll start the project next week and will let you know of any interesting developments in this adventure.