"Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care
of you."
Sometime along the way in the life cycle of a business someone says,
"what we need is a suggestion box". The suggestion box becomes the way
for people to communicate to management about their ideas and/or
complaints anonymously and without perceived repercussion. While on the
surface and at the time, this looks like a good idea, we have to stop
and ask the underlying questions of why and how did we get to a place
where the people in our organization can no longer feel free to speak
directly to management? One of the early manifestations of the
suggestion box will be when management wants to have a company meeting
and they want questions taken ahead of time and they will ask for
questions to be submitted through a question or suggestion box, in an email address. The
reason this happens is because management thinks that people are fearful
to ask the tough questions. FYI, they are not fearful of asking the
tough questions, they are fearful of the toughness of the answer. Once
the suggestion box is set up, the culture and the tone of the company
changes. An intercessory has been established and the direct
communication lines have broken down. This is especially troubling when
you see these communication crutches being created or supported when the
company has created positions like Human Resources or Employee
Relations to help facilitate and keep communication lines open. If the
suggestion box is still hanging around after someone is being paid to be
that conduit then that spells double-trouble. Free-flowing direct
communication with a boss, senior management and each other are
hallmarks of the great companies as no great company is such without a
communication pattern that is open and free from fear.
As believers we
know what it is like to have an open communication channel to share our
needs. Our Father allows us to come to Him directly and we know we can
go to Him with whatever and whenever with our problems. Among many
verses in the Bible where God says for us to call on Him, we read this
is in Psalm 5:22: "Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care
of you." Today as you pass the suggestion box at your company, or as
you hear of others who have a problem that they don't feel like they can
talk to anyone about, be that ear and be the encourager of direct, open
and caring communication. It may be that you are the one who is in
charge of ensuring that you have open communication within your team (if
you are manager or supervisor of any sort, this is you). If so, then
begin today role modeling how the suggestion box should really
work...allowing people to come directly to you. And when you don't know
the answer of you don't feel the courage or confidence to have the
questions posed to you, you know where to to go directly to find the
assurances, wisdom and power that you need to carry you through the day!
Reference: Psalm 55:22 (New Living Testament)
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