Management Training Tips:
Plan to Communicate or Fail to Communicate

By James A. Baker
Houston, Texas
Management Training Institute
December 2009

Managers are reminded constantly that the key to effective leadership is good communication. Most managers probably consider themselves to be good communicators, but that doesn’t in any way guarantee that good communication is taking place within your company, office, team or workgroup. The real question isn’t, “Are you a good communicator?” The more important question is, “Do you have a good communication strategy that will guarantee effective communication is taking place all the time?” If you don’t have a plan for communicating, you are probably failing to communicate more often than you realize and, believe me, it is causing problems in your organization, whether you know it or not.

So, just in case effective communication in your organization is more of a philosophical construct than a practiced reality, you might want to study the tips below for implementing effective communication strategies.
 

• Plan and faithfully implement regular staff meetings. Too often, regular staff meetings are reserved for upper level management teams who may meet weekly or even daily to chart out, review and adjust the course of the organization and revise strategies and programs accordingly. Of course, this is important and necessary for the health and success of the organization. In the meantime, subordinates and employees see the management team huddling in the office behind those big glass walls, and they immediately start speculating and gossiping about what might be going on. For this reason, as well as in recognition of the fact that people deserve the courtesy of being told about decisions that will affect them, don’t neglect regular staff/employee meetings for subordinates, too. They may not need to occur as often as management staff meetings – perhaps only once or twice or month, but PLAN and SCHEDULE them to happen on a regular basis. Employees truly appreciate knowing they will have regular opportunities to receive updates, ask questions, and provide feedback. You will eliminate a lot of that unsettling, confusing office gossip by providing employees with a real time, face to face, communication outlet.

• Use interoffice memos – either email or hard copy – to announce good news when it happens. Anytime you have something exciting or upbeat to report, get it out as soon as possible. It adds extra energy to the day and gives morale a big boost.

• DON’T use interoffice memos – either email or hard copy – to announce bad news or to announce office policy changes that may strike some employees as punitive or even personal. Yes, some people take too many bathroom breaks or use more than their share of the office supplies. Don’t send out a blanket email when you really need to have a private conference with just one person. These messages come across as passive aggressive and cause everyone to feel criticized and a little paranoid. And if you have really difficult news – cutbacks, company cash flow issues, sudden personnel changes, etc., call a special staff meeting so that employees will feel personally cared for, and so they can ask questions and get immediate feedback.

• Develop an employee newsletter. This is a great morale booster. In it you can expand on company news, recognize special employee accomplishments, announce upcoming events, and provide space for special feature articles of interest to your people. The added bonus is that employees can share this newsletter with spouse and family members, and help the entire family feel that they are a part of the team.

• Employee handbooks are a great way to lay out the basic vision, policies and procedures of your organization. They should be attractively designed and easy to use. They should also be updated regularly so they reflect the current realities under which the company operates. The information in them should also be acknowledged and FOLLOWED. Too often, employee handbooks are out of date and ignored, at least until some uncomfortable situation develops and either a manager or employee decides to cite the handbook as an authority to support their position. This can create real problems if the rest of the company hasn’t paid a bit of attention to the handbook in years. Does your organization have a handbook? Do you know what it says? Is the information in it up to date and accurate? If not, fix it, before it comes back to bite you.

• Schedule regular individual discussion meetings. The old name for this is performance evaluations; at least, that is about the only time personal, face to face meetings are ever scheduled. However, these meetings are a great way to exchange information both ways. Employees need feedback regarding ways they can do their jobs more effectively (and they also need to hear personal appreciation for the work they are already doing). But managers also can also use this time to encourage the employee to speak freely about changes that might need to be made. Don’t turn this into an inquisition; it is just a conversation between two people who want to see the organization succeed.

• Sometimes not all conversations can be friendly. Make sure there is a fair, unbiased grievance procedure in place to resolve conflicts.

• Here’s a no-brainer. Also make sure there is a clear open door policy in place. Let your employees know you are always ready to listen, and that you can be trusted to protect their willingness to share their feelings with you.

• Here’s one great communication tool most companies never even think of: the exit interview. If you really want to get completely open, honest feedback about how you are doing as a manager, make sure that every employee who leaves the company is given a formal opportunity to share their impressions and opinions. This information could be priceless.