Ducks in a Row: How to Communicate
by Miki Saxon
All people interactions, whether short or longer, are, in fact, “relationships.”
They are grown and sustained through good communications.
When people are peers, both are responsible for making good communications happen — or should be.
However, when one person outranks the other it becomes the higher ranking person’s responsibility.
As a boss, what do you need to do to be sure you are heard?
What to do is simple; doing it takes effort.
Start by accepting that all people have a mental model through which they hear, so what they hear may have little-to-nothing to do with what is said.
The worst mistake a boss (or anyone) makes is assuming that the person listening has the same model as you.
That said, here is a three-point plan to make sure you are heard.
- Start by carefully explaining your model and your assumptions when giving direction;
- give your people clear, complete information; you do not want to be known as an information drip, i.e., the boss that makes her people come back again and again to fill in the details; and then
- check to be sure that they have actually heard and understood what you mean, as opposed to their version of it.
Do it today, do it all the time and it will become second nature.
Your payback will come in rising productivity, more motivated people, and lower turnover—all positively affecting your bottom line.
Flickr image credit: Graham Dean
September 29th, 2015 at 7:40 am
This was an excellent post which I shared with a CEO I'm mentoring. In fact, just last night we had a long conversation about how he can coalesce his new team (he was recently funded with several million dollars) and create cohesion around shared objectives.
September 29th, 2015 at 11:00 pm
I'm glad to know it's being put to use in the real world. ou might also find this post to be of use. http://mappingcompanysuccess.com/2006/07/building-a-senior-staff-powerhouse/