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O P I N I O N
New challenges
In recent months, long-time issues like communication have been trumped by new challenges: loneliness, problems with technology, work-life balance, and distractions.
I n a preliminary data pull from Zweig Group’s Best Firms To Work For Employee Engagement study, we found that one of the long-time gripes from staff has taken a back seat to other challenges.
leadership have to overcome. Communication from the top down, across teams, from PM to team or one office to another is always a primary concern. This isn’t surprising because humans naturally have a difficult time conveying their intentions in a manner that recipients receive well. Just Google “issues caused by miscommunication” or something to that effect. It’s obviously an issue! The problem can be focused on a specific area of the business, a single person, a system, or an entire level of management; but the data always comes through in our assessments. How we “In these weird times, we have to take stock of our situation, our businesses, and our people and make the right adjustments.”
The perception that there is a lack of communication in an AEC firm has consistently plagued owners, management teams, and staff. Let’s be real; communication or lack thereof is the root cause of many of our issues. The causal relationship between our communication styles and the intended outcomes is direct. Communicate effectively and end goals are realized, communicate ineffectively and – well you know the rest. But, in a recent study by Zweig Group, communication has been trumped by loneliness, problems with technology, work-life balance, and general distractions. In these weird times, we have to take stock of our situation, our businesses, and our people and make the right adjustments. When we work with a firm on strategic planning, we conduct interviews and surveys to better understand a firm’s culture and challenges that
Will Swearingen
See WILL SWEARINGEN, page 4
THE ZWEIG LETTER JUNE 1, 2020, ISSUE 1347
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