Managers are uniquely placed to impact on a business. So, the way they communicate with their people is a vital part of the package. If you want to ensure that you are successful in your business, the way you get information over as well as the skills you use every day with your employees will make or break you. By making the effort to learn and enhance your skills for talking and listening to anyone, you will take a big step forward.
Using great delving questions can get to the bottom of many challenging issues for managers. If progress is being held back because of some problem with processes for example, getting to the bottom of them might be critical for success and above all profitability. Utilizing excellent communication skills to present facts and show team members what's going on and what isn't, may well be the way forward. A really good manager will more than adequately demonstrate this capability.
Of course, the ability to get a special message across is very valuable, in all sorts of circumstances. What must be remembered is that such occasions are probably relatively rare. In the day-job, interpersonal understanding is far more important, so the ability to communicate one-on-one with all sorts of people is a skill worth having. Rapport building comes from listening effectively, so that people really feel you are interested and understand them as individuals too. It does involve some investment of time...and it's time spent that is well worth it.
Typically common and damaging effects of poor communication skills are how misunderstandings develop. These can drive employees mad and managers to the edge of despair, especially when actions don't happen as they should. If a manager doesn't clearly understand the needs of the audience they are speaking with, then their efforts may well be in vain. Taking the time to ascertain whether those listening are 'getting it', will create instant feedback so that whatever is being said can be adapted 'on-the-fly'.
When your people have come up with a problem, you might have felt that you understood all it's complex twists and turns. Trust me; you are not the only one to misinterpret what you thought you understood - it's so easy! When people are given a problem, they divert their attention towards finding a solution to it and in doing so they fail to understand the various aspects that the particular issue involves. By listening very carefully to the problem, by paying close attention to the detail and asking incisive questions, you will ensure there is little home for misunderstanding. This is a really effective way of getting into a problem and resolving it.
Being able to appreciate information for what it is, requires a special capacity within any manager. Time, 'busyness' and all the other demands on time, means that a manager has to be pretty smart to make quick judgments based on limited information. In those cases it's a good idea to make sure that actions are not taken in haste, but considered carefully when the time is available to make the nest decision possible.
When working with teams, what you say and what they hear is even more important to get right. If one person gets the wrong end of the stick, then quite soon you will end up with confusion, frustration and possibly even internal strife amongst the team. Clarity is vital here. Taking the time when you brief a whole team, to recognize that they will all receive messages in very different ways (and accommodating this), will be well worth the effort in the long run. Including two-way communication with each and every member of the team fosters team spirit and collaboration.
When you are keen to ensure any communication processes that you have in place are effective, it's pretty important to adequately source relevant materials to deliver all that you need to. There can be few managers who haven't got circumstances wrong at some time in their career. Once it happens you don't easily forget when a piece of vital equipment fails, or your laptop battery died at just the wrong moment. Sometimes it's just as challenging when you can't find a flipchart pad. On an even more an informal basis, it can be a bit embarrassing when you haven't got a bit of paper in your pocket to take a note or two down!
By making sure that you really understand that communication skills are your first , middle and last amazing tool in your kit when you are managing a team of people, however large or small, you will enjoy major benefits. Get this right and you will have results to be totally proud of. This is your moment, so make a real go of it!
Using great delving questions can get to the bottom of many challenging issues for managers. If progress is being held back because of some problem with processes for example, getting to the bottom of them might be critical for success and above all profitability. Utilizing excellent communication skills to present facts and show team members what's going on and what isn't, may well be the way forward. A really good manager will more than adequately demonstrate this capability.
Of course, the ability to get a special message across is very valuable, in all sorts of circumstances. What must be remembered is that such occasions are probably relatively rare. In the day-job, interpersonal understanding is far more important, so the ability to communicate one-on-one with all sorts of people is a skill worth having. Rapport building comes from listening effectively, so that people really feel you are interested and understand them as individuals too. It does involve some investment of time...and it's time spent that is well worth it.
Typically common and damaging effects of poor communication skills are how misunderstandings develop. These can drive employees mad and managers to the edge of despair, especially when actions don't happen as they should. If a manager doesn't clearly understand the needs of the audience they are speaking with, then their efforts may well be in vain. Taking the time to ascertain whether those listening are 'getting it', will create instant feedback so that whatever is being said can be adapted 'on-the-fly'.
When your people have come up with a problem, you might have felt that you understood all it's complex twists and turns. Trust me; you are not the only one to misinterpret what you thought you understood - it's so easy! When people are given a problem, they divert their attention towards finding a solution to it and in doing so they fail to understand the various aspects that the particular issue involves. By listening very carefully to the problem, by paying close attention to the detail and asking incisive questions, you will ensure there is little home for misunderstanding. This is a really effective way of getting into a problem and resolving it.
Being able to appreciate information for what it is, requires a special capacity within any manager. Time, 'busyness' and all the other demands on time, means that a manager has to be pretty smart to make quick judgments based on limited information. In those cases it's a good idea to make sure that actions are not taken in haste, but considered carefully when the time is available to make the nest decision possible.
When working with teams, what you say and what they hear is even more important to get right. If one person gets the wrong end of the stick, then quite soon you will end up with confusion, frustration and possibly even internal strife amongst the team. Clarity is vital here. Taking the time when you brief a whole team, to recognize that they will all receive messages in very different ways (and accommodating this), will be well worth the effort in the long run. Including two-way communication with each and every member of the team fosters team spirit and collaboration.
When you are keen to ensure any communication processes that you have in place are effective, it's pretty important to adequately source relevant materials to deliver all that you need to. There can be few managers who haven't got circumstances wrong at some time in their career. Once it happens you don't easily forget when a piece of vital equipment fails, or your laptop battery died at just the wrong moment. Sometimes it's just as challenging when you can't find a flipchart pad. On an even more an informal basis, it can be a bit embarrassing when you haven't got a bit of paper in your pocket to take a note or two down!
By making sure that you really understand that communication skills are your first , middle and last amazing tool in your kit when you are managing a team of people, however large or small, you will enjoy major benefits. Get this right and you will have results to be totally proud of. This is your moment, so make a real go of it!
About the Author:
(c) 2008 Martin Haworth, a business coach and 25 year time served manager, is the author of Super Successful Manager!, a very simple, step-by-step weekly development program for managers of ANY capability. You can get a sample lesson for free at http://www.SuperSuccessfulManager.com.
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