Ubiquitous, means to be omnipresent: being present everywhere at once. Communication is the act of exchanging meaning. From the ever present mobile phone, to email, to platforms like facebook and twitter, we are connected by social technologies.

What is the quality of our connection in a ubiquitous environment.  Can we communicate our  authentic self ?   To demonstrate this point, compare reading a web profile with speaking to someone face to face. Can you look into their eyes, see their body language or  make assumptions from the clothes they are wearing?

Communicating through a common platform   promotes  normalization and uniformity.  Our web profiles contain similar information in a neatly organized form.   We are relieved from choosing how to express who we are as individuals.   Conversation  is replaced with superficial exchanges and chatter.  What is missing is a genuine cognition of that which is being communicated.

So how can we get our message across in an environment where each email, video, image, status update, article and sound byte blends in with the rest of the white noise?

The answer is to maintain a consistency in our message. Not only in the message itself  but also in the way the message is conveyed.   What do our messages say about us?  Are we abrasive and self focused or courteous and respectful of others? Our communications need to consistently reflect  how we wish to be perceived – because in a world with ubiquitous communication they are how we are percieved.

When Chaordic design principles are applied within an organization the result is a, sustainable, dynamic culture that withstands change. Developing a fully self-organizing, self-governing chaordic organisation is a deeply integrated, iterative process.

The term Chaordic was coined by Dee Hock the founder and former CEO of the VISA credit card association. He says:

“By Chaord, I mean any self–organizing, adaptive, non-linear, complex system, whether physical, biological, or social, the behavior of which exhibits characteristics of both order and chaos or, loosely translated to business terminology, cooperation and competition”

Most employees have flexible, informal or autonomous aspects of their work such as work hours, information sharing or responsibility for assignments.  Examining how a team currently self manages these tasks  provides insight  into  the underlying organizing principles, intention and relationship dynamics within the group.

Following the principles of the Chaordic design:

• The activities must be equitably owned by all participants. No member should have intrinsic preferential position. All advantage must result from individual ability and initiative.
• Power and function must be distributive to the maximum degree. No function should be performed by any part of the whole that could reasonably be done by any more peripheral part, and no power vested in any part that
• might reasonably be exercised by any lesser part.
• Governance must be distributive. No individual, institution, and no combination of either or both should be able to dominate deliberations or control decisions.
• It must be infinitely malleable yet extremely durable. It should be capable of constant, self–generated, modification of form or function without sacrificing its essential nature or embodied principle.
• It must embrace diversity and change. It must attract people and institutions comfortable with such conditions and provide an environment in which they could flourish.

Successfully moving from control and command to flexible, self organized work teams requires the intention and ability of each individual to understand the principles as outlined  above by Dee Hock and  apply them in a fashion that releases human ingenuity for the benefit of all.

To cope with changes and differences when they arise,  trust, respect, participation and altruism need to be highly valued culturally norms.  It is the quality of human relationships that provides endurance during challenging times.

The altruistic  fashion in which these principles are applied,  from human being to human being, with  respect, trust, sharing and altruistic assistance create the fertile environment where a chaordic organization can flourish.  Learning about ourselves, our relationships with others and how our behavior shapes the whole is key.

It is for this reason that we have integrated into the Relationship Management Institute’s Learning Modules the values, principles and a guiding ethos that create organizational cultures that place human values in the forefront.

“Diversity transcends race and gender, affirmative action and Equal Employment Opportunity. It must encompass a fundamental appreciation of one another and a respect for both our similarities and our differences. It must include a heartfelt respect in attitude and in behavior towards those of different race, gender, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity and those with disabilities. All the facets that make each individual the unique and precious resource that each of us is.”
Ronald Brown, Former American Secretary of Commerce

Respect, acceptance, and tolerance are all attitudes desirable in partners, colleagues and significant relationships.  They collectively have the  influence of making each of us feel esteemed, valued and worthy. Respect forms part of our principle value set and is a foundation upon which other values and measures of integrity are based.

The Respect Research Group, founded by several young scientists from different academic fields who wanted to create an environment of excellence for studying the pressing questions around the phenomon of respect, defines it as ‘an attitude of one human versus another, in which the first recognizes in the latter a reason which justifies in itself that the other should be recognized and treated in a way so that he/she feels acknowledged in value and significance’. Regardless of our individual values and convictions, it is paramount that the people around us treat us with respect, compassion and integrity and that we reciprocate in kind.

In 2007, a research team led by Oregon doctoral candidate, Eda Gurel-Atay, commissioned a survey in which 1,500 Americans were asked to rate the importance of eight social values, and to identify the one they considered most important. They compared the results with those from similar surveys taken in 1976 and 1986. Self-respect led the list in all three surveys, with a greater percentage of Americans ranking it as the most important value with each new survey. By 2007, 28.8 percent ranked it No. 1, compared to 21.1 percent in 1976 and 23.0 in 1986.

The basis for mutual respect is acknowledging, appreciating and reinforcing the values that are commonly identified as beneficial to any relationship, social or professional . The values of self-respect (“to be proud of yourself and confident in who you are”), security (“to be safe and protected from misfortune and attack”), warm relationships with others along a sense of accomplishment, self-fulfillment, being well-respected, a sense of belonging and fun were rated as significant.

A personal and/or cultural value is an absolute or relative ethical value, the assumption of which can be the basis for ethical action. A value system is a set of consistent values and measures. In today’s challenging business economy,  workable, trusting, professional associations with people, who know your business value and credentials, is a lot more valuable because of the referral relationship capital impact. Diverse workforces often challenge our cultural conditioning in relation to our views on gender, race, age and other religious persuasions, reflecting our personal prejudices. Harnessing the power of mutual respect and cross-cultural understanding is a sign of maturation and wisdom, emerging from internal scrutiny of a personal value set. Organisations who adopt cultural normatives that require common courtesies to be honoured amongst colleagues find that soft skill training does much to improve collegial relations. Neil Chalofsky’s article ‘Meaningful Workplaces; Reframing How and Where we Work’ has a chapter on Values-Based Organizational Culture that clearly identifies the benefits of respectful attitudes at work.

Picture courtesy of Johnson Controls: www.globalworkplaceinnovation.com
For The Smart Work Company: www.thesmartworkcompany.com

When it comes to taking soft skills seriously is that most bosses think they are just about ‘touchy-feely’ people skills. Soft skills are powerful in creating great workplace environments, happier relationships and better communications. Encompassing listening, sharing with clarity, heightened awareness, both personal and communal, we raise the bar on being self motivated and professionally respected as a value to any team. In a world where getting, keeping and succeeding at work is imperative, anything we invest in that can make us irreplaceable has to be worth learning. Good leaders are forged from the fire of engagement at every level of the business rockface. Great CEO’s build on the strength of their people. The dot’s aren’t difficult to connect.

Among Peggy’s important workplace lessons are the following:

•Knowing yourself is as important as knowing how to do the job.
•Learn when to stick and when to shift or the details will hang you.
•Your procrastination is trying to tell you something.
•Get smart about asking dumb questions.
•You don’t need to be everyone’s best friend—that’s what dogs are for.
•Know where to draw the line between self-improvement and self-destruction.
•When it comes to gossip, learn the art of deflection.
•Keep your visibility when you’re not face-to-face.
•Don’t take it personally.
•Stop stereotypes from sinking you.
•You’re the boss, stupid, that’s why they hang on your every word.

And, perhaps, most favorite of all: Get out of your own way.

Peggy Klaus reveals The Hard Truth About Soft Skills: Workplace Lessons Smart People Wish They’d Learned Sooner (Collins, January 2008). Peggy is a world class communicator who understands why important soft core competencies are invariably ignored and reveals the fact that soft skills can be the key to enduring success.

Understanding the power of a quality relationship management depends a good deal on an awareness of people’s behaviour and preferences. Soliciting from any group, community or department, what motivates, inspires and provides satisfying experiences is key to creating strong bonds and powerful alliances that drive buy in and support, no matter the context.

Currently relationship management, across all it’s various attributions, is poorly understood and even more abysmally executed. If the current understanding of relationship management is simply to monitor and respond to negative commentary on your reputation, your brand, your business or your services, or to follow up and cross sell when the customer or client has fallen off your radar, this is no better than shutting the stable door long after the horse has bolted it. It’s about listening, responding, reciprocating, acknowledging, modeling ethics and values, everywhere you are or your business is active.

The value of building and maintaining a reputation built on the seven principles of human givens (accountability, boundaries, respect, responsibility, honesty, support and trust) means creating cooperative alliances and rewarding relationships. This cannot be short cut, avoided, undeserved or manipulated. We are each being held to account on our behaviours in regard to our commitments and on this we stand or fall in peer assessment.

There is no excuse now, given the quantity and quality of tracking technologies and social media assets, not to create a formidable and very manageable strategy to build and sustain quality relationships and use all positive testimonials, word of mouth recommendations and quality referrals to build personal and professional capital as well as business advantage. To fail to implement such a strategy is to be asleep at the wheel in a fast moving and competitive world.