I was reading about a “reply all” storm that hit the State Department’s e-mail systems
and thought I would take this opportunity to point out how “megaphone management”
is ineffective and also point out how next generation knowledge management is more
effective and more efficient.
Megaphone Management 101 – Executive Management decides to blast out a
cable or e-mail to all employees and it is not clear regarding where responsibility
begins or ends, lacks accountability and offers no auditability.
In this example, State Department employees and American Diplomats
received a cable from the Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick
Kennedy that:
- Instructed people to not use the Reply All for on e-mails with large
distribution lists - Warned people of unspecified disciplinary actions if they did
- Ordered employees to take immediate action to ensure they and
other colleagues are “aware of the negative impact of hitting reply all”
With megaphone management Patrick Kennedy:
- Has no clue if anyone read his cable
- Has no clue if anyone understood his cable
- Has no documentation for potential wrongful termination suits
- Has no way to communicate this message to new employees
hired after this cable was sent
But the real question is this…where is the cable that fired or warned the
person or persons who placed all the recipients (distribution list) in the
“To” or “CC” fields and sent the e-mail??