Knowledge Base · Communication
Why is communication called the oil of continuous improvement?
Because without it, the whole improvement system seizes up. Strategies, process maps and dedicated people achieve little if they cannot communicate: effort pulls in opposite directions, friction builds, energy is wasted and trust erodes. Chapter 2 opens with a campaign scrapped after a week because two good people worked to two different understandings of the goal.
Early in his career in Ireland, Dave O'Riordan ran a small business where two of his best people each spoke separately to a good client. One left thinking speed and the widest reach mattered most. The other left convinced the client wanted polish and a premium feel, even when that meant a slower job. Both worked hard and meant well, yet neither had checked that they were aiming at the same objective.
In effect, one was designing for speed while the other was designing for luxury. Put side by side, the two pieces of work satisfied nobody. A week of effort had to be scrapped, an apology went to the client, and the cost landed on a very thin profit margin. Worse, as the chapter points out, trust took the damage, both with the client and inside the team. A valuable contract was nearly lost simply because two people had not talked.
That is why Chapter 2 treats communication as the base that continuous improvement stands on, and as the oil that keeps the engine running. Huddles, boards, structured updates and honest dissent are not extra meetings. They are how a team keeps one shared objective, spots friction early, and puts its energy into the same work.
“Communication is the oil that keeps the entire CI engine from seizing up.”
Continuous Improvement in the Workplace, Ch. 2
Practise it in Module 3 of the free course
Related questions
- What is a huddle board, and how do I set one up?
- How do I run a daily team huddle?
- What is SBAR, and how do I use it in an email?
Source: Continuous Improvement in the Workplace, Ch. 2 (Effective Communication for CI).