Is Transparency the New Buzz Word?

The other day, I was talking to a very good friend of mine who said his organization was experiencing a lot of change and he was unsure of how it would all turn out. Knowing that my friend is a hard worker who performs at levels higher than the executives in his organization, I assured him that he would be fine and had nothing to be concerned with.
Like most companies, the leadership in the company had committed to running a transparent organization; one based on open and honest communications, sharing information and involving others in the decision-making process. Yet, at the end of the day, saying and doing are still two different things.
Here are a few insights on ways that organizations can begin to “practice what they preach”:

• Communicate from the top down- Understand that people want information. They do not want to be surprised about the current and future state of the organization.
• Build trust among stakeholders- People are more inclined to support an organization when the people leading the group act in a manner that shows they are trustworthy.
• Encourage participation- While decisions can be made individually, allowing others to participate in driving the organization forward and allowing others to collaborate in the process yields greater results than acting alone.

Transparency in an organization should not be casually thrown around as a buzz word; instead, it should be the platform for how business is done!