Personally, I am a firm believer in leaving the poor employees alone, but beating the management with a big stick - regularly and hard.

The basic point is that most executives aren't capable of writing a shopping list, let alone anything else. This is not to be nasty to them - I have a grave difficulty with Excel spreadsheets and calculators, but I leave all that to them. Would that they could do the same with communications.

My best practice so far has been to stick to them like a nasty smell and nag them endlessly, while at the same time intercepting any dubious messages and helpfully rewriting them before they miss their targets. All done with a smile on my face and a red pen gripped tightly in my fist. or should that be with a red face and a smile gripped tightly in my fist...

But to get back on track, I haven't read the book, only the first two free chapters. I am going to be working from home for the next three months so I am ordering - honest Chris.