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By David Grossman, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA
June 17th, 2008
Supervisors need to be super-communicators
Even though employees will always want to hear from the top, no one's more influential than an employee's supervisor. Virtually all surveys show that a supervisor is the employee's preferred source of information.
In organizations where there's a lot of corporate-speak and acronyms, it's no wonder employees look to supervisors to translate information and make it relevant and meaningful for them.
Supervisors should do the following:
- Set the tone and cast a shadow
- Control the flow of information
- Create dialogue
- Be the central hub of change, quality, efficiency and innovation
Want to help your supervisors communicate? Train them. It's often easy for senior leaders to talk about the importance of communication – they have professional communicators who provide them with strategy, counsel, and talking points.
For most of us, communication is a learned skill. Research shows that most supervisors don't have a planned approach to communication, despite the amount of time they spend communicating.
Here are some principles for effective leadership communication:
- Communicate with integrity.
Tell the truth always and without exception.
- Make time to communicate and make the most of that time.
Set up regular face-to-face communication opportunities.
- Remember the basics.
Who, what, where, when, why and how.
- Use stories.
The right anecdote can be worth a thousand theories or facts.
- Build trust and credibility.
Be visible and approachable, engage your employees openly, fully and early on.
- Check for understanding.
Make sure your message is heard and really understood. Ask questions. Ask for a paraphrase.
Common sense, in many ways….but not common practice. That's why leaders and supervisors need us and our expert counsel.
What's working for you? Let me know at dgrossman@yourthoughtpartner.com
David Grossman, ABC, APR, Fellow PRSA
President and principal thoughtpartner™, dg&a
Top 5 ways to communicate with non-wired teams
The Melcrum Blog, June 16,
2008
Melcrum's Katrina Andrews offers top tips from the recent report How to communicate with hard-to-reach employees, as a taster of what will be on offer at the Melcrum stand at the IABC conference in New York next week.
Nailing down your top communication priorities
The Source for Communicators, June 12, 2008
In Melcrum's guide to Strategic planning for internal communicators author Barbara Fagan-Smith, CEO of ROI Communication, urges practitioners to nail down the top business priorities when developing communication strategy.
Getting on the "Top 10 intranets" list
The Melcrum Podcast, June 12, 2008
Hear why Kate Needham, internal communications manager at the NSW Department of Primary Industries, won the Norman Neilsen Group's top 10 intranets award in this special intranets edition of the Melcrum Podcast.
Latin America leads on communicating company goals
The Internal Comms Hub, June 11, 2008
New research from Watson Wyatt of 100 for-profit publicly traded companies in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico has revealed that the majority (82%) of employees have a good understanding of their employer's goals.
Fosters CEO hears last orders
The Internal Comms Hub, June 11, 2008
Australia-based beverage company, Fosters Group, has announced the resignation of its CEO, Trevor O'Hoy.
The Source
for Communicators is a free resource for corporate communicators
from Melcrum Publishing.
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