by Randy Herron, SPHR
Start by Improving Your Organization's Communication Skills
Obviously, people communicating with each other and psychology lay as a blanket over every organization. Communicating with each other and living within the behavioral truths of people are two key elements of our work environment. The degree of integrity, openness, and overall communication skills of its people directly affects productivity and each individual's satisfaction and contribution.
Business meetings where attendees are not fully contributing hurt the organizations where they occur. If the most telling comments about a meeting's contents are made in the hallway while leaving the meeting or in closed door conversations just after the meeting, then that company is creating tension and stress and may not be making fully informed decisions.
It doesn't hurt an organization to listen to people. It hurts an organization to have people think that the organization doesn't want to listen. Communication skills increase listening and idea exchange by making it easier for team members to interact without the fear of creating tension. Having difficult conversations are never easy. That's why they are called difficult. But, you know of such conversations that need to occur in your company that won't happen because:
• You don't have confidence that you can "pull it off" without damaging your relationship with the person.
• The overall culture of the company is to avoid conflict, bury discussions of destructive behaviors and act as if the behavior is not a problem.
Managers need a combination of communication skills and employee/workplace understandings to deal effectively with their team. These skills and understandings:
1. Increase the manager's ability to maximize productivity through people,
2. Improve employee motivation and commitment to organizational goals and
3. Reduce the stress experienced by both themselves and their team. An organization and a manager who needs improved communication skills both have more stress than they should have. Increasing communication skills and using those skills effectively reduces stress felt by the organization, the manager and all employees. The ability to determine what needs to be said (in a meeting, in the hallway or in a production area) and the courage and skills to say it effectively reduce stress by moving a manager and his/her team forward.
These skills and understandings include the following:
• The basics of psychology and important truths regarding employee motivation.
• Communication fundamentals with your employees: What to convey, how to say it and how to look and sound when you say it. The rules are the same at all levels of the organization.
• An understanding of how compliance with employment laws can actually make you a better manager.
The following questions will help identify training and development areas that may need attention.
Organizational Communication
1. In company meetings, do all attendees listen to and allow a full discussion of someone's ideas, suggestions and reservations regarding an issue or another person's comment? On the other hand, are attendees encouraged to contribute during meetings or should they "keep quiet" and express concerns later so as to not "threaten or embarrass" someone. Is "face saving" more important than high integrity in your company?
2. Is there a tendency in your company to:
• Keep things calm...don't rock the boat
• Focus on the content of discussions and ignore the need to improve the way team member interact with each other and to confront managers who manage by intimidation.
3. When someone makes a statement in a meeting and someone else in the meeting immediately kills the thought or comment without any discussion, do other attendees feel comfortable enough to speak in their defense and ask why their comment was killed without a fair hearing. This self-monitoring process is key to communication and team building.
4. Has there been an analysis of how your company's managers communicate with each other? Are they candid? Do they take risks and say what they think or are they cautious and hold back? Can someone express concerns about a project or problem without fear of it being seen as an attack on someone? Do managers know how to express their concerns without attacking someone?
5. How are you going to treat each other and how are you going to interact as you (1) create next years plan, (2) create next years budget (3) plan and organize major business efforts and (4) work with each other on a daily basis? It may seem elementary but most of your stress will come from the human interactions and not the work content. Interpersonal competence is as important as technical, product and industry competence.
Managerial Communication
6. Have HR employees, supervisors and managers had training regarding employment laws, employee motivation, coaching, etc.? Yes No Uncertain
7. Do your managers have the skill, abilities and knowledge ensure that employees receive high integrity communication regarding performance and behavior? Yes No Uncertain
• Have managers received training in performance appraisals? Yes No Uncertain
• Do they understand and feel confident with the form or rating sheet? Do all managers read the rating sheet essentially the same way...does the form maximize consistency? Yes No Uncertain
• Have they received training in the psychological and legal ramifications of conducting thorough, candid appraisal meetings? Yes No Uncertain
• Can they effectively communicate negative information?
8. Can your managers conduct an effective employee termination meeting? Yes No Uncertain
9. Regarding Harassment, Diversity and Violence, will your mangers' behavior assist or hinder your organization? Yes No Uncertain
10. Regarding general employee communication, do managers and supervisors have the necessary skills to hold informal discussions with employees concerning departmental problems and successes, changes, and a discussion of quality? Yes No Uncertain
11. Regarding daily performance coaching, counseling and discipline, are managers too lenient or too strict? Do they need training to increase their skill and effectiveness in conducting performance discussions? Yes No Uncertain
A meeting with your key managers will uncover additional areas where improved communication would assist the company. Also, ask employees at all levels what kind of information they want. Improving interpersonal competence and moving to high integrity communication is a difficult and slow process because people are asked to take risk. As people gain new skills, the behaviors are seen as less risky and the organization improves because of more purposeful interactions.
Companies of any employee size can benefit from training and education regarding high integrity communication. Total Quality Management expert W. Edwards Deming advocated, "drive out fear" as one of his fourteen points. High integrity communication and exchange reduce fear.
Posted: 11/18/2009
