Improve Communication Connections with Your Headquarters
Branch leaders need to develop effective direct channels

by Bea Thompson, AIA

How do you … cut through the communications obstacles between branch and headquarters offices?

Summary: One of the biggest challenges a firm can face is creating an environment for effective communications. Communicating is often already a struggle in one office or even within a small department. However, if you find yourself operating a branch office hundreds of miles away from headquarters and need to communicate with people you have never worked with in person, it has a completely different meaning. It’s very common to face barriers and obstacles to work effectively and efficiently with headquarters.

For a branch office to operate successfully, it is critical for the branch leader to establish routes of communication with headquarters, and, importantly, there may not be designated channels within the organization that promote this. Creating such channels involves taking charge of the situation.

Begin by meeting a cross section of corporate office staff members across the hierarchy who represent a variety of positions, which includes directors; clerical, financial, and technical staff; project managers; and the mailroom staff. These individuals may include someone with whom you have something in common or have a particular interest in your office or may be an officially designated contact. In my experience, a solid relationship with the key internal communications traffic coordinators—such as mailroom staff or receptionists—can be as valuable as that with a senior staff member. It will be a learning process to identify the right people, but to get results, it is important to find the right people who can answer your questions and deliver your messages.

Set your medium now for your message later
Learning the best communication method that each individual prefers or reacts to most quickly is also vital. Some prefer talking on the telephone or communicating via video conference versus corresponding over e-mail. Make the connection and identify the best communication method before an urgent need arises. We all find ourselves operating in our own “regional universe” until we are in desperate need for assistance, and by that point it may be too late.

However, the door does swing both ways. Know what you can do in your regional office to help those at headquarters by anticipating their needs in relation to what you can provide, even at a distance. If you’re supportive of others’ efforts, it will work to your advantage in the long run. Of course, a lot of the work of communication is also based on creating and maintaining relationships. When you visit headquarters, for example, bringing small tokens of appreciation to those who assist you are minor gestures in the long-run but, because they show you remember and care, they are always well-received.

Communications can be challenging, but if you find your biggest advocates and maintain relationships, the process is guaranteed to be smoother and easier for all parties involved.