When I worked in Asda, Allan Leighton used to say "communication is an unnatural act" and it took me a while to understand what this really meant. Now, however, this is my underpinning philosophy on communication.

Communication should be easy - after all people talk to & e-mail each other all the time don't they? In reality people do this but it doesn't mean they communicate.

Just consider personal relationships. How many time have you heard someone you live with say "You never told me that"? That is poor communication between two people so if you multiply this by tens or thousands of people it just gets compounded.

Communication IS unnatural act so in business it is vital to sytemise it and drive it forward relentlessly.The senior team must take accountability for this - deciding what is important and then communicating it through the organisation in a structured way to ensure that the message is recieved by the receiver.

It is important to use different methods of communication to aid the process. Powerpoint is easy these days but "death by powerpoint" is fast becoming the cause of poor communication rather than an aid. It still has it's place but is only part of the answer.

Also it is vital to regularly review & measure the success or otherwise of your communication system and constantly review & adapt.

There are two tools that I find very useful with regard to communication. The first is communication colours that identifies 4 different types of communication styles that individuals have. People who are Red are all about getting to the action, whereas Yellows are concerened with structure & detail. Blues are concerned about people and want to get to win-win and Greens want to know all about things and why they are doing them.

The second tool is the "Communications Triangle". I learned about this at the Leadership Trust in Ross-on-Wye and it really helps to explain why communication goes wrong and has 5 levels:

Level 1:         Ritual & Cliche

Level 2:         Gossip & Facts

Level 3:         Ideas & Judgements

Level 4:         Feelings