Language Lessons How to turn your employees from whiners to winners.

Loren Gruner's employees were communicating, all right. Theproblem was with what they were saying. They were questioning thesystem instead of being proactive and suggesting solutions toproblems, explains the president of Integral Results Inc., a20-person San Francisco computer systems consulting firm.

Behind the muttering was potential trouble. "Company moralewas down," says Gruner. "The employees weren't[feeling] positive about where they were working."

Gruner's solution was to bring in a management consultant toinstruct the employees in something called knowledge mobilization.The training helped them improve communication and follow-through,and increase trust, Gruner reports. Most important, the grumblingended.

Gruner isn't the only one satisfied with the results ofknowledge mobilization. Jennifer Kenny, the San Franciscoconsultant for Emergent Management Consulting Inc. who counseledGruner's company, has helped produce similar results for WellsFargo Bank and United Airlines. Kenny says the strategies behindthe theory can help with several vital business missions, fromimproving customer service to strengthening corporateculture.

Knowledge mobilization is reportedly especially good for dealingwith the problems of information overload. "We [helpcompanies] make the shift from being driven by information andpaperwork," says Kenny, "to being driven by commitmentsthey make to other human beings."

Cradle Of Knowledge

Knowledge mobilization is the latest offspring of a school ofthought that dates back to the 1960s and spans the fields oflinguistics, computers and artificial intelligence, as well asmanagement. The most prominent figure in the field is FernandoFlores, a former political prisoner in Salvador Allende's Chilewho is now an international entrepreneur, management consultant andinfluential writer on information systems.

One of Flores' theses is that language is the medium throughwhich people learn from each other, form communities and buildcommitments. Specifically, explains Peter Denning, a computerscience and engineering professor at George Mason University inFairfax, Virginia, Flores breaks communication into four types orstages:

1. Requests for information, action or some other response.

2. Negotiations following requests.

3. Performance when the information or action is delivered. Inthis case, action may be considered communication.

4. Reports from the recipient on his or her satisfaction withthe transaction.

Businesses get into trouble when they fail to complete this loopwhen dealing with customers and co-workers, Denning says. "Themost common type of response people make to a request is to ignoreit and not respond at all," he notes. "That usually comesback to get you later."

Students of knowledge mobilization learn more than why it'simportant to respond to all requests. They are also taught torespond in a particular fashion. For instance, appropriateresponses to a request include accepting, declining, negotiating ordeferring a response (saying you'll get back to someone), saysDenning.

These communication tools can help in a variety of businesssituations, such as requests for reports from managers or calls forhelp from customers. For one thing, understanding the language ofcommitment helps employees avoid making commitments when theydon't mean to, says Denning.

When they do mean to make a commitment, knowledgemobilization's stress on the importance of follow-through helpsemployees avoid many problems, Kenny says. When an employee isgoing to be late delivering a report to you, for instance, a commonway for that worker to deal with the situation is to simply let thedeadline pass without mentioning it. This damages trust andcontributes to politicking and finger-pointing.

Instead, it's better for him or her to call you ahead oftime to let you know the project will be late. That way, theemployee will improve his or her reputation for reliability whilemaking your workplace more enjoyable.

"If you teach people how to manage their commitmentswithout destroying trust," says Kenny, "you create acontext in which people can talk to each other and removethemselves from the politicking that drains the enjoyment out ofwork."

Making Your Move

Mobilizing your company's knowledge doesn't have to betime-consuming. Gruner and her managers, for example, went to aweekend retreat, then imparted their knowledge to other employeesin a series of workplace meetings.

Applying the ideas is straightforward. Claudia Viek, executivedirector of Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, a San Franciscobusiness incubator, uses what she learned from Kenny ingoal-setting sessions with her 10 staff members. Negotiatingresponsibilities is a very effective way to empower and motivatepeople, Viek says.

And you can significantly improve your own personaleffectiveness without involving anybody else, Denning says."It's not like you have to change the wholecompany."

Nor will you have to wait long for results. Kenny sayssignificant results can materialize in three months or less. It canbe expensive, however--she charges large organizations $250,000 ormore for a full-fledged engagement.

The dean of the field, Flores, has written several books,including Disclosing New Worlds: Entrepreneurship, DemocraticAction & the Cultivation of Solidarity (MIT Press). Butthese are dense works and tend to be "very heavy going,"concedes Kenny.

One source for easier tools to employ knowledge mobilizationtechniques is Action Technologies Inc. of Alameda, California.Action is a software company founded by Flores to apply theconcepts of knowledge mobilization in a computer networkenvironment. The company's work-flow software provides suchtools as electronic message templates for responding torequests.

Know Your Limits

Knowledge mobilization may bog down your business if employeesdon't fully understand it. Employees don't always have asmuch influence as they assume they do, and entrepreneurs used togetting their way may feel uncomfortable when called upon for aresponse.

On the flip side, Kenny warns, some people may feel less able todecline a request, especially when it's coming from the boss.It's not uncommon for organizations exposed to knowledgemobilization to lose a few employees who don't like the change.Sometimes, those can be just the workers you don't want tolose, she adds.

Of course, you can't respond to everything. Denning, forexample, discriminates between requests, such as questions fromco-workers, which he tries invariably to respond to, andinvitations, a classification that includes junk mail. "Idon't take that as a request and don't feel I have torespond to it," he says.

Despite its limitations, knowledge mobilization is ideal formodern entrepreneurial organizations in many ways. It'sespecially effective for managing outsourced relationships, saysViek. And for a company like Gruner's, which consists ofindependent-minded consultants who are frequently out of theoffice, its ability to build feelings of community is a godsend,says Gruner.

"There's a whole different feel to the companynow," she says. "If someone has an issue, they explain itand come up with solutions rather than simply sitting back andcomplaining about it."

Mark Henricks is an Austin, Texas, writer specializing inbusiness topics.

Contact Sources

Action Technologies Inc., (800) WORK-FLO, http://www.actiontech.com

Emergent Management Consulting Inc., (415) 536-0560,http://www.emergent.net

Integral Results Inc., (415) 646-8700, http://www.iresults.com

Renaissance Entrepreneurship Center, 275 Fifth St., SanFrancisco, CA 94103, (415) 541-8580