People today, have, in essence, forgotten how to communicate and have become experts at advertising.  This is symptomatic of the ?Dumpster Syndrome.?  To explore this concept, one must first examine the definitions of communication and advertising. Communication is a face-to-face, two-way process of sharing information where as advertising is a one-way process for sharing information.

Simply, we are inundated with advertising processes, not communication processes.  Today, we have been convinced that these are communication mechanisms when in fact they are no more than vehicles for advertising information.  The following case study illustrates the current state of many.

Case Study

Chris, a city manager  in a large city, arrives at her office each day to no less than 40 e-mails, many accompanied by the red exclamation point signifying an urgent need.  On top of all these e-mails, she is scheduled to have her monthly meeting with her staff.  As the day progresses, the number of e-mails increase, as do the number of items that have been trashed in her dumpster.  By the time the scheduled meeting with her staff arrives, Chris feels so behind that she cancels the meeting in an effort to buy 30 minutes of proactive time. 

This case study reflects how far Chris has gone from understanding the criticality of communication.  In the above case study, Chris placed no value on the meeting.  In fact, she saw the meeting as a ?take away? from the business at hand. 

She saw the accumulation of e-mails as a greater priority than face-to-face, two-way communication with her staff. 

Communication must have structure and discipline to be effective.  Communication cannot be left up to chance.  One must view communication as the lifeblood for focus and success with their peers, constituents and community.  In the end, what is achieved is a disciplined communication process that links everyone together.   

Anna VerSteeg is a dynamic speaker and co-founder of Competitive Solutions Inc.  She is co-author of ?Empowering Business Teams? and ?Confessions of an UnManager.? VerSteeg will lead a half-day Leadership Training Institute seminar, ?A Common Focus: Developing an Effective Communication Strategy,? on Tuesday, November 30, at NLC?s Congress of Cities in Indianapolis.  For more information visit  www.nlc.org or call 202-626-3170.