Heard of the term SNAFU?

It is a military acronym short for ‘Situation Normal – All F&%$ed Up.”

The best, or worst, SNAFU’s I ever saw was when two friendly army units ‘bumped’ into each other in the middle of the night while training. People were arguing, fighting, blanks ammunition going off, in short, it was mass confusion.

It was a high-intensity version of 2 kittens balled up in 100 metres of yarn.

What a schmozzle, it took hours to untangle the mess and get sorted out.

SNAFU’s started to happen more often when computers and photocopiers to come to the battlefield.

This technology allowed commanders to issue written, instead of verbal, instructions and subordinates began to read what they thought the boss was telling them.

Read more about focusing your communications

Believe it or not there was once a time when written instructions were few and far between.

They had to be written, edited, mailed. Then someone had to read, consider and respond to it. Then the writer had to hope the recipient did it. It took days, if not weeks, to get anything done.

Leaders relied on verbal instructions by gathering their people around and then discussing what & how to get things done.

As the digital age dawned, written instruction replaced face-to-face verbal instructions. People read and interpreted what they thought the Boss wanted. Not surprisingly things often SNAFU’d.

Fundamentally, good leadership does not change. It is a practice and a craft based mainly on analysis of information and people. The styles may vary, but not the fundamental practice, and when done well is highly communicative.

Good managers do a lot of talking and listening.  

read about using the power of silence to communicate

Now that we are inexorably living in the digital age: how has this affected managing?

To start there has been a dramatic increase in the speed and volume of information and a significant decrease in the tone and the context of information. Non-stop connectivity increases the pace and pressure of managing and reduces orientation to action and reflection.

Every moment facing a screen means less time spent talking and listening.

Texts and email are limited as there is no tone of voice to hear, no gestures to see, no presence to feel.

Managing is about interpreting and using signals to gauge comprehension of the message. On the telephone, people laugh, interrupt, grunt; in meetings, they nod in agreement or nod off. Effective managers pick up these clues.

Digital communications may give the illusion of control, but robs managers of control over their work and may make the practice of management remote and superficial.

read how to be an effective leader

Ironically the highly-connected manager has become disconnected from what matters.

So before you default to digital communications tools ask yourself

… Are they augmenting your best qualities and message?