Communication

Think about every time we’ve heard “poor communication” as being the reason something wasn’t accomplished, coordinated, or a misunderstanding occurred because it just didn’t exist? Almost every problem in the workplace can be attributed to poor communication. A lot of lip service goes into being a good communicator, but it takes actual ACTION to cure communication problems. So how do we fix it?

Good communication means building rapport with EVERYONE. This means those that outrank you and certainly those who work for you. This can best be accomplished through open, direct interaction. Nothing beats face to face communication. Building relationships through email and other electronic media is one thing, but truly effective and lasting impressions are maintained through personal contact.

Good communication with your employees means taking the few minutes to give them your undivided attention and by LISTENING to them for Pete’s sake! Our workload is so great that the temptation to use this as an excuse not to give your people the courtesy of your full attention is great; I know. BE BETTER THAN THAT! If one of your folks come to you this is what you’ll do: face them directly, stop stealing glances at your email, don’t answer your phone (you have voicemail), put your paperwork down. Just listen. The five to ten minutes you invest in listening to them will 1) send the message that you care about your people (they’ll tell each other and will lead to extra effort), 2) you might learn something about your section, 3) you might be able to help them through a problem or give them guidance on something you assigned to them, etc, etc, etc.

The relatively small amount of time that you invest in listening will directly result in their increased productivity because they were able to get something off their chest or received needed guidance from you.

If you don’t have time at that moment, tell them so and IMMEDIATELY set a time when they can have your full attention. This is huge, believe me!

I could go on with this topic, but seriously, would you read it? I’m not sure I would, too much other stuff to do! There are many more aspects and techniques of communication as we all know. I look forward to your comments!

Z