Applicable Transparency as a Manager ...
Transparency. Blah blah blah. Relationships blah productivity blah blah.
We've all seen the management song and dance tribute to "transparency." Management pulls us together and pays lip service to the concept and the masses just sit quietly and then forget all about it.
The parts are always played by the same actors. Management is the small cadre of people who proffer trendy management ideas, hoping to change the momentum of the firm. The employees listen as required and then cynically complain "this was another waste of time." And the cynicism isn't entirely unfair since the implementation of new ideas often doesn't trickle down very well.
You know it's true. You've seen it over and over and you have played your part expertly. But there is one more actor that is often overlooked.
I'm not talking about the C-suite managers. And I'm not talking about the level of supervisor closest to production. I am talking about the often-derided middle manager.
The employees blame management for having unrealistic ideas that "don't ever work." And the C-suite often blames the workforce for failing to execute these exciting new concepts. But the bridge to success is the manager.
Even in organizations where a real effort is made to implement transparency, it is rare for the effort to be complete. Even radical ideas like open-book accounting and horizontal hierarchies often still keep some facts behind the current. In American one of the behind-the-curtain goodies is almost always pay rates.
"Transparent" just became "translucent."
And that translucency translates directly to middle managers. Whether it is pay rates, changes in staffing, or even what is going to be served for the Christmas lunch there are always going to be things that are shared from the C-suite that a middle manager just cannot disclose. That means the middle manager must be even less transparent.
So, what can you do?
Clarity and trust are the results of transparency. It is a proven fact. So, as a manager, you should make it a policy to keep a clear line of communication with your coworkers and team. Even if your C-suite doesn't support transparency, you should.
The fact is that, as a manager, you should be transparent in all that you can and opaque in the few areas required. And the results will be very apparent very soon.
This advice may seem counter-intuitive, maybe even dishonest, given that I just acknowledged that the middle managers will have information that they cannot share with others. But I do not advocate opacity alone.
Instead I have found that the only way for transparency to exist in the workplace is to fully acknowledge the few areas of opacity. Simply make it part of your channel of communication that there will occasionally be things that even though you do know, you cannot share. In other words, be transparent about the opacity. I called it "Applicable Transparency."
Over the years I have observed and experience for myself the increased benefits and levels of trust that this transparency / opacity paradigm is the only alternative to the Utopian notion of total transparency.
Go to work and begin to examine what it is fine to share and what the few no-go topics are in your office. This will be your first step to reaping the benefits of applicable transparency in working with your team.
