Can Effective Communication Skills Get More Out of Our Managers?

This fresh advertisement is suggesting so.  But why is that?
It’s because managers are the ‘hub’ of an office or other organization.  They translate what the top level or C-suite folks who develop or interpret the vision really want (as far as action goes), and then carry out the communications and processes involved in getting the message to the remaining staff.  The manager, including the Human Resources (HR) personnel, supervisors, and often consultants and high level contractors have to truly understand what the higher ups want, and that takes empathy, active listening skills, often the ability to read non-verbal communication (like body language) correctly, and patience.  These are all great communication skills.  Then they must deliver this information to other managers, front-line staff, contractors and other co-workers of some type.  This takes interpersonal skills, conflict management skills, the skill of delegation, giving direction and feedback effectively without offending others, etc.  These are all excellent communication qualities to have.  So – if you think about it – a manager is quite busy talking to many different people all day above, beside and below them, and we didn’t even discuss conversations with suppliers, vendors, clients and whoever else might cross their path!

We all should be glad if we have (or had) a manager who displayed excellent communication skills.  Because as we see here, it’s very complicated, and unfortunately it’s not very common to find a great manager.  If you have one – tell them tomorrow!
If you ARE a manager, what can you do to evaluate your current communication skills and then make them better if needed?  It starts with a good self-assessment, and maybe deep consideration of any recent feedback.

Here is a great article on the importance of communication skills, and you can use this article as a top 10 checklist to help evaluate your current strengths and weaknesses.

The Importance of Communication Skills [Top 10 Studies]

Best of luck!

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