subject: Management Communication: Three Guidelines You Must Follow [print this page] Management Communication: Three Guidelines You Must Follow
If you're a leader in your business, every day on the job you're taking a life communications exam, so you'd better read the directions first. Fail the test and your company will lose profits and productivity faster than you'd expect.Two days ago I came home from the office feeling invigorated and alive. Five minutes talking with my wife changed all that. Don't misunderstand, it's not that I don't like talking with my wife. She was upset because of what happened to her at work, and after hearing about it, I was a bit miffed as well. My wife works at a part salary, part commission job selling advertising for a local publication. She had gone to the office that day anticipating the biggest commission check of her career, and had left home in the morning salivating like one of Pavlov's famous pooches. Upon picking up her check, she found it a bit light and did some investigating. As it turned out, the big guy had changed the commission plan overnight without telling the sales associates. Commissions for year-long ad campaigns would now be paid at the end of the year, when all money was collected, rather than now, when the ads were sold. Now be careful, I am not judging the validity of this commission plan. There may be perfectly valid reasons for the change, but think about the way it was handled. Nobody who was affected was told in advance that this would happen or was even under consideration. My wife was not the only person affected."Wait a second, there, big mouth," you may be thinking, "if you tell the salespeople this kind of stuff in advance, they'll just whine and cry and try to stop it from happening." You're probably right. Let me ask you this, how much work do you think anybody at the publication got done the day they found out about the commission plan changes? I'm not just talking about the salespeople. If I spent an hour talking about it eight or nine hours after the fact, you can bet that anybody within earshot of a peeved salesperson got their fill tooon company time. What's worse, now your workforce feels betrayed, and may even sabotage the company effort to work off their frustrations. You've traded a small, manageable problem for a major headache. You decide. TELL THEM THE BAD NEWS IN ADVANCEThis brings up rule number one. Whether you're dealing with salespeople, floor-sweepers or doctors, anytime you as a manager need to make a decision that affects peoples lives, tell them well in advance of the event taking place. At work, this usually affects the pocketbook or the employee's benefits. This isn't the only case study. I consulted with a company of over six hundred employees where management changed the longstanding Christmas bonus plan without telling the minions until they received their checks. Many people received hundreds less than they were expecting, most of which was already spent on Uncle Ed's new tie and a fruitcake for cousin Zelda. Hundreds of people were not working while complaining about this breach of faith, and I, an hourly paid consultant, spent extra time hearing about this event rather than working on the project I was hired for. The fastest loss of the Expectations Game that I ever did see.TELL THEM WHYAnother leadership communication problem that will come back to bite supervisors, CEOs, even special Project Managers is miscommunication, being misinterpreted. When I want my dog to do something, I give her simple, one-syllable commands. "Bear, sit! Bear, stay! Bear, come!" Extra words lead to miscommunication. Poor leaders often think less is more with their employee assignments. Problem: human beings aren't dogs. We shower daily, don't have tails to wag, and don't blindly obey. The human mind is always striving to find the answer to the never-ending question--"Why?" People can't help it; it's in our nature. Look at what happened in the Vietnam War, where soldiersthe most disciplined, regimented, and order-following breed of American citizenoften struggled because they were unsure of their mission, their purpose. Let's hope the Libyan conflict isn't similarly mishandled.A second rule of communication then, for those in authority, is to provide sufficient information for the employee to answer, "Why?" Many organizations moved to a philosophy called Open Book Management for this very reason. Lack of information often causes more problems than divulging those deep, dark company secrets. Look no further than the 2011 labor dispute between the NFL and the Player's Association / Players. Let the worker complaining about his last meager pay raise see where the company's money went, that expenses may have risen and that profits were down. This will drive an improvement in performance more often than not. Even if your business is completely ethical you may have good reasons not to share everything with employees; just provide them with enough information that allows them to draw similar conclusions if they were in your position.COMMUNICATE CONGRUENTLYWhat about non-verbal communication? I am not referring to gesturing and tone here. That stuff is important for better communcations as well. I'm referring to a more global aspect of management communication that I'll simply call congruency. This is where you walk the talk of your message. This is vital to installing those management initiatives that will change the company. Employees will notice in seconds if your actions belie your message. Not the best role model is the supervisor who preaches dedication every Friday afternoon via text message from the 19th hole. You don't have to do everything the staff does; you are the boss. You manage; they produce. It simply means that you absolutely must show that if it's important enough for them to do, it's important enough for you to support.I've outlined three things in this article that managers should be aware of when communicating with subordinates. First, if your message affects people where they live and breathe, get it out sooner rather than later. Second, you must give people a reason why if you want them to carry out your assignments. Lastly, act congruently with the message that you project.Many more guidelines exist to help you communicate effectively with employees. Be aware of these three and you'll go a long way to sailing a smoother, more effective company ship.SummaryThere are 3 Rules of Management Communication that Leaders need to learn and heedget the bad news out early, tell them 'why', and communicate congruently. Fail that leadership communications test and you'll wonder where the productivity went as your company pays for it in lost profits.
