Improve Your Managerial Communication

Five Simple Ways to Improve Your Managerial Communication

Precise Communication Is Important

Various studies have shown that managers spend at least 50% – and sometimes up to 80% – of their time communicating. Think about that for a minute. Your job description contains many duties and responsibilities that are important components to your success and that of your company. But where does your responsibility to communicate effectively appear in your job description? Can’t find it?

Don’t worry; most of your peers won’t find this in their job descriptions either. Few would argue that good communication skills are critical to managerial success, but this responsibility seldom appears on management job descriptions. But how can you manage effectively without communicating properly?

For example, assume you are responsible for managing a team of seven people to achieve stated monthly goals. How could you successfully lead your team without constant effective communications? Answer: You couldn’t. It’s not just how well you speak or the spoken words you use.

You must write effectively, too. You’re probably required to write e-mails, memos, policies, and procedures. Readers must understand your words and act in the manner you desire. Good communication is critical to effective management. Here are some simple suggestions to improve your managerial communications.

Five Ways to Improve Your Communication

You’ll see that these are not earth-shattering new breakthrough ideas. That is the point. These simple tips will result in the effect you want. Putting them in practice is the important part.

1. Get feedback from your staff. How often have you seen this suggestion attached to other management success issues? Why have you heard it so consistently? Because it works! Just as a Major League hitter or tour golf pro asks coaches and other players for feedback, you’ll learn what parts of your “game” you might need to work on to become a superstar.
   
   
2. Spend quality time with yourself to assess your communication skills honestly. Subconsciously, you already know if you are communicating clearly, but you may or may not be aware of your success or failure on a conscious level. Spending some quiet time assessing your efforts and results often gives you the information you need to evaluate your personal communication strengths and weaknesses.
   
   
3. Examine your company impartially to learn how their communication affects your staff. Your effectiveness, even if high level, is affected by the corporate culture and communication environment in which you operate. Decide how corporate communication is affecting your team. Is it a positive? Is it causing some problems? Should it be lacking, give some extra effort to improve your personal communication .
   
   
4. Work with your staff to create a consensus about how to handle communication issues. If you tend to be autocratic, you might flinch a bit at this tip. However, don’t feel that you’re giving up authority by using this suggestion. For example, you could ask, “What everyday information should be available and how should it be shared and communicated?” Or “How do you believe we should handle disagreements?” Team agreement on these simple issues invariably leads to better communication for all.
   
   
5. Listen, listen, listen. Superior oratory skills are admired, lauded, and often rewarded. Why? Because people listened and determined the words and ideas were valuable. But, what if no one listened? Like the sound of one hand clapping, the otherwise brilliant words would be meaningless. To improve your managerial communications, learn to be a dedicated listener. There is no better simple tip to become a better communicator than to really listen to the comments of your staff, your peers, and your superiors.

These five simple suggestions will make you a better communicator and manager. Regardless of the number and brilliance of your management ideas and ability, your advantage can easily be lost if your staff misunderstands or, worse, “tunes out” your words. You obviously cannot take that risk. Realize that top performance is impossible without effective communications.

Good communications tends to be more art than science. Your success is often dependent simply on establishing communication lines that are open and honest. Sometimes, even unpopular decisions made by senior management can be expressed in positive and meaningful ways.

Your management career will improve in direct correlation as your communications skills increase. As you can see, it doesn’t require any magic or elusive expertise to excel. Just employ these simple techniques on a regular basis and watch the positive results.