"The biggest mistake is to withdraw and keep informationto yourself," Osbourne says. "There's nothing more miserablethan when a CIO holes up in his office and assesses asituation behind closed doors and doesn't share informationwith the staff. It's insulting to your staff's intelligence,and it's very destructive in terms of morale."

Being up front is important, as is honesty. "You don'twant to say everything is rosy and then come back in a weekand say the company is not going to make it," Osbournesays.

CIOs sometimes keep information to themselves becausethey don't want to worry their employees, but even thoughthey mean well, hiding information will only spark anger anddistrust, says Mercer's Van De Voort.

"Tell them what's going on, and don't hold back becauseyou think it will worry or upset them," he says. "If youstay silent, you won't be protecting them. In fact, you'llbe leaving them vulnerable, and that will only make thesituation worse."

Before CIO Bill Morrison came to Canton, Mass.-basedhigh-end audio retailer Tweeter Home Entertainment lastyear, he was CIO at Bradlee's, a now-defunct, low-costretail chain. As Bradlee's spiraled into bankruptcy,Morrison found that constant, honest communication was vitalto keep his staff's spirits high.