Management 101: Effective Communication (Part 3)

One thing that is 100-percent certain: if you don't tell people what you want them to do, you shouldn't be surprised when they don't do it.

Just as it is your job as a manager to determine the most effective leadership style for your "workers," you also bear the responsibility for effective communication.

Telling people what you want them to do is "communication" and (after examining your "management philosophy" and learning the concepts of "situational leadership") is the third simple step toward effective management.

Parts of communication
Communication always has two parts - "sending" and "receiving." Communication is a two way process, one person "sends a message" another person "receives the message."

Communication can come in different forms. Two people having a private conversation, sending email/writing a letter, and giving a speech to a group are all "forms" of communication. Information is sent and received then information is returned.

"Listening" is an essential part of communication. Listening is more than just "hearing" what is said. A large part of person to person communication is "non-verbal" (some researchers say it is 95% of the message). We pay more attention to "how" something is said than to "what" is being said.

Imagine the many different ways someone could say "I'm so happy" - If they say it while jumping up and down, in a high voice, with a smile on their face - you get one message. If they say it while slumped in a chair, in a monotone, with a frown - you get a much different message.

This lack of non-verbal communication is a problem with the written word. Email doesn't allow you to see the person's face, or hear their voice, and it is easy to misunderstand the message. Punctuation and emotes have been developed to combat this problem (e.g. "I'm so happy!" ;-) or "I'm so happy? :-( ") but don't count on them to get your message across. Be sure to select the right "medium" (e.g. face-to-face, email, chart) for your message.

The "simple" concept = You knowing what needs to be done is not enough, you must communicate what needs to be done to others. It is possible to give too much information (which can be irritating), but it is much more common to give too little information (which is much worse).

More Information
Countless books have been written on "business communication" (your local library probably has over 100 books on the subject).

If you are looking for a way to leverage communication to give your company a competitive advantage, there has been a trend towards "open-book management" which relies heavily on communication between management and employees. The big idea being: If your "direct reports" don't know the plan (i.e. "how the company makes money") they won't be able to contribute to the success of the "company."

Tips for Effective communication

The well worn advise to "be yourself" is still true. People are always good at smelling out "fakes" or "posers" and quickly tune them out. Being genuine doesn't guarantee that your audience will agree with (or even understand) what you are saying you, just that they will listen.

Do not "yell" and do not use profanity. This isn't a morality issue, people have the tendency to shut down and dig-in when they feel attacked. Your audience may miss the point you are trying to make and simply remember that you used certain words.

Craft the message to the audience. You may know what you are saying, but does the audience understand what you are saying? Do not "talk over" your audiences head but don't "dumb it down" either.

Repeat important points. Tell them what is important, then tell them again. People learn through repetition, you cannot "tell them" once and expect them to understand completely.

It is never "OK" to lie. Again this is not a morality issue, if you are a habitual lier then you will lose credibility. Once you've lost credibility then you've lost your ability to effectively lead. If you don't know something, say you don't know. If you are wrong about something, admit you were wrong.

Conclusion
Management communication can be boiled down to "shampoo instructions": communicate, observe, repeat. Simple, but (again, for the last time) that doesn't mean "easy."