The Nordstrom Way to Customer Experience Excellence, 3rd Edition

Communication and Collaboration

Our culture lives and breathes when we have communication flowing back and forth.

—Blake Nordstrom

Communication is the imparting or exchanging of information or news; a means of connection between people or places.

There is no communication without collaboration and vice versa. You can't have teamwork without communication. You can't have communication without teamwork. And without teamwork and communication you can't inspire and empower employees to take ownership.

The essence of communication and collaboration is the forthright exchange of information, ideas, opinions, disagreements, changes, and news (both good and bad). The results are a meaningful partnership based on shared goals and win‐win outcomes.

Research has shown that when employees don't feel well informed on their organization's goals and strategies, they experience increased stress, which weakens teamwork. That's a prime reason why daily communication is essential.

No matter what kind of domestic or international organization we've consulted with, virtually all of them admit that their biggest issue is communication. Any time there is more than one person involved, you have a communication challenge. Without clarity, respect, and trust, communication is impossible. Productive collaboration is a challenge because meaningful communication is so rare.

Is communication an issue in ...