The Sound of Silence - Usually the worst Communication Choice

Summer 2009 - fear brewing around Shell

Silence evokes different things in different people.

Many people who have been brought up in somewhere like Mumbai say that the hardest thing to get used to in Europe is the silence. I understand this a bit when I go to Portugal and experience the total quiet at times there, though in that instance it is something I really treasure. And I also treasure quieter, meditative moments wheverer I am, and the lack of background noise can be very helpful.

In a relationship, being able to be silent with each other is a sign of maturity, of not having to try too hard to fill spaces. But then we have all sat in restaurants next door to couples who seem to have nothing at all to say to each other: the old joke applies there that their life may not be long but it will certainly seem it.

There is some iconic place, maybe a famous movie, I can't place it, where silence pressages death or dsiaster. Certainly,in many walks of life silence may be the most feared thing, whether in a doctor's surgery, or as a stand up comic, or watching the umpire in cricket.

Anyway, the main point here is to blog about communication during this transition. For I believe I'm witnessing far too much silence. The websites are excellent but are of course silent and don't replace human communication. Nor do impersonal webcasts delivering general, high level information to a wide audience, even if they do make a bit of sound, and it is certainly a good thing that we have them.

What people need in uncertainty is other people to talk to them. And it is not happening enough. A good example is in the EC-2 appointments. Lucky applicants were told in person. Some losers had to wait for e-mails, maybe a day or two later. This has been true to the highest levels of the company, or so I am led to believe. Of course there are honourable exceptions. But it is horrible to learn you are no longer required, and we should make this as personal as possible.

The same is true of general communication about the transition at team leader level. True, there are many unanswered questions, and some information which cannot be made public, perhaps for consultation or legal reasons. But it is always possible to convene a team meeting with no agenda and just invite questions, answering as honestly as we can. I've seen good examples of this happening - but also bad, especially where the team leader themself is somehow vulnerable to losing their job or otherwise out of the loop. In those cases, they should demand that the level above hosts the team meeting.

I know it is not easy. The leaders are very busy, there is real uncertainty, it is holiday season, people are always free to ask and read the web, sessions can be embarrassing if some folk are very exposed. Good excuses, but still excuses. And in my opinion the resulting silence reflects badly on all of us.

Less silence please!