I actually ran across this video a while back but I am reminded of it on a weekly basis in the various meetings I attend.  It is very interesting how communication can change depending on who your audience is.

Vooza has some other great videos too that you can find here

It kind of reminds you of the telephone game you probably played when you were younger.  In my experience, I have noticed communication going something like this:

  • External Group = Everything is going great, and product is working as expected.
  • Internal Group Management = We have some issues to work though, but overall everything is Green.
  • Project Team = We have major issues here, why doesn't anyone else understand that.
I do understand the business politics of modifying the message depending on your audience.  You don't want to yell "FIRE!" when there might not be a big issue at all.  However, if the message was consistent and clearly communicated to everyone would there be a different response allowing the right attention to solve issues timely.  Instead what normally happens is everyone hears about the issues right before a deadline and then the issues get bad attention and the overall project suffers.

So how does your company communicate to the various audiences and is it a consistent message?