As a manager, communication is at the heart of everything you do. According to studies, managers spend up to 75% of their workday communicating. You spend your day talking to people, listening to them, presenting to them, and sharing information with them. The better you are at communicating and sharing your ideas, the better you will understand your employees’ needs and the more successful you will be as a manager. Managerial communication refers to interactions within an organization between managers and their subordinates. Managers must communicate with their team members and vice versa in order to ensure maximum productivity and workplace peace.
Which Are the Major Channels of Managerial Communication?
The major channels of managerial communication depicted in (Figure) are talking, listening, reading, and writing. Talking is the most common mode of communication, but as e-mail and texting become more popular, so do reading and writing. According to Deirdre Borden, managers across industries spend roughly 75% of their time interacting verbally. These daily interactions include reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
How They Aid in the Creation of Meaning?
Conversations with Individuals
Managers are increasingly discovering that information is being passed orally, often face-to-face, in offices, hallways, conference rooms, cafeterias, restrooms, athletic facilities, parking lots, and dozens of other locations. Under highly informal conditions, a massive amount of information is exchanged, validated, confirmed, and passed back and forth.
Conversations on the phone
Managers nowadays spend an inordinate amount of time on the phone. Surprisingly, the amount of time spent on each phone call is decreasing while the number of calls made per day is increasing. With the nearly universal availability of cellular and satellite telephone service, very few people are ever out of touch with the office for an extended period of time. In fact, turning off a cell phone is now regarded as a decision in favor of work-life balance.
Teleconferencing via video
Bridging time zones as well as cultures, videoconferencing facilities make direct conversations with employees, colleagues, customers, and business partners across the nation or around the world a simple matter. Carrier Corporation, a manufacturer of air conditioners, is now typical of businesses that use desktop videoconferencing for everything from staff meetings to technical training. Engineers at Carrier’s Farmington, Connecticut, headquarters can communicate with service managers in branch offices thousands of miles away to explain new product developments, demonstrate repair techniques, and keep field staff up to date on issues that would previously have necessitated extensive travel or costly, broadcast-quality television programming. Their conversations are casual and conversational, just like they would be if they were in the same room.
Small-Group Presentations
Managers frequently find themselves giving formal and informal presentations to groups of three to eight people for a variety of reasons, including passing along information given to them by executives, reviewing the status of projects in progress, and explaining changes in everything from work schedules to organizational goals. These presentations are sometimes aided by overhead transparencies or printed outlines, but they are primarily oral in nature and retain much of the conversational nature of one-on-one conversations.
Speaking in Front of Larger Audiences
Most managers are unable to avoid speaking in front of larger groups of several dozen or hundreds of people on a regular basis. Such presentations are typically more formal in structure, and they are frequently supported by PowerPoint or Prezi software, which can deliver data from text files, graphics, photos, and even motion clips from streaming video. Regardless of the more formal setting and sophisticated audio-visual support systems, such presentations still involve one manager conversing with others, framing, shaping, and passing information to an audience.
These all Are forms of Speaking, Now Let’s Understand Other Important Factors
The Importance of Writing
-Writing is essential in the life of any organization. It becomes more important in some organizations than others. At Procter & Gamble, for example, brand managers are not allowed to bring up a work-related issue in a team meeting unless the ideas have been circulated in writing first. This approach requires P&G executives to explain their ideas explicitly in a standard one-to-three-page memo, complete with background, financial discussion, implementation details, and justification for the ideas proposed.
-Other organizations’ traditions are more oral—3M Canada is a “spoken” organization—but the fact remains that the most important projects, decisions, and ideas are written down. Writing also provides analysis, justification, documentation, and analytic discipline, which is especially important as managers approach important decisions that will affect the company’s profitability and strategic direction.
-Writing is a great way to narrow down your career options. Managers who demonstrate an inability to put ideas on paper in a clear, unambiguous manner are unlikely to last. There are numerous examples of bad writers who were fired early in their careers. Managers’ primary goal, at least in the early stages of their careers, is to keep their name out of such stories. Remember that the people who are most likely to notice the quality and skill in managers’ written documents are also the people who are most likely to matter in managers’ future.
What Is the Manager’s Task as Professionals?
-The first task of a professional manager is to recognize and understand one’s communication strengths and weaknesses. There will be little opportunity for improvement and advancement until these communication tasks at which one is most and least skilled are identified.
-The primary goal of managers should be to improve their existing skills. Enhance one’s ability to do what one does best. However, keep an eye out for opportunities to learn new skills. Managers should expand their skill set in order to remain employable and promotable.
-Two other ideas for improving managers’ professional standing come to mind. First, build a knowledge base that will serve you well in the coming years. This entails conversing with and listening to other professionals in their organization, industry, and community. They should be on the lookout for trends that may have an impact on their company’s products and services, as well as their own future.
-It also refers to reading. Every day, managers should read at least one national newspaper, such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, or Financial Times, as well as a local newspaper. Weekly news magazines such as U.S. News & World Report, Bloomberg’s Business Week, and the Economist should be included in their reading list. Subscriptions to monthly magazines such as Fast Company and Fortune are recommended. They should also read at least one new hardcover title every month. A dozen books per year should be the bare minimum on which to rely for new ideas, insights, and managerial guidance.
How Can Managers Build Relationships through Communication in Order to Achieve Organizational Goals?
Be a Good Communicator
According to research, employees whose managers communicate positively with them are more productive and have a more positive attitude toward their jobs. Being a positive communicator entails providing acknowledgment, support, feedback, praise, and encouragement.
Establish a Positive Tone
-Encourage your employees to avoid complaining, gossiping, and being negative. Avoid getting involved in it yourself. Keep in mind the shadow you cast and set a good example.
-Even if you’re busy, make time to connect with your employees on a personal level.
-This does not need to take a long time. Connecting can be as simple as asking, “How was your meeting today?” or “Best wishes for your 5K this weekend.” Pick up the phone or send an e-mail, but try to connect in person whenever possible.
Be Positive in Your Nonverbal Communication
Be conscious of the messages you send through your body language, tone of voice, and eye contact.
Encourage Employees to Be Open and Honest With One Another
Being open in your interactions demonstrates that you are serious about creating and maintaining an open environment. Give what you can. Encourage openness and trust.
If you don’t know the answer to a question, be honest about it and say so.
To find the answer, conduct your own research or collaborate with your employee. If you say you’ll get back to me with an answer, make it a point to do so.
Avoid Jargon and Speak Simply and Clearly
Your employees will be less likely to misunderstand what you said or meant to say. Employees can become irritated when managers use or overuse the latest jargon. Simply say what you mean.
Explain Your Choices as Thoroughly as Possible
Giving reasons for your decisions shows respect and helps to reduce misunderstandings, misper ceptions, hurt feelings, and rumors. Assume you decide to cancel a project on which your group members have been working. People will want to know why and how. What were the main factors that influenced the decision, and who was involved in making it? Explain everything you can.
Keep the Public Informed
In regularly scheduled meetings, provide updates on work, projects, andorganizationall changes. People, in general, prefer to be informed about big-picture issues. Many employees want to know how they fit into the overall operation of the company.
When Possible, Respond to Employee Messages and Requests as Soon as Possible
If you are unable to respond that day, please send a quick message indicating when you will be able to respond.
Pay Close Attention
-Active listening should be practiced and made a habit.
-When interacting with someone at work, turn to face them, stop what you’re doing, make eye contact, and listen. If your mind wanders or you find yourself about to multitask, remind yourself that these things can wait. You’re preoccupied with listening.
-Be inquisitive and ask others what they think. You can ask, “How do you see it?” or “What are your thoughts?” Listen for the meaning behind the words, and keep an eye out for nonverbal cues as well. Nonverbal cues from an employee can help you better understand the message.
Meet on a Regular Basis With Each of Your Direct Reports
During meetings with employees, pay attention and ask questions.
Do employees understand what is expected of them on a given project or assignment? Have you discussed the project timeline? Is the employee equipped with the necessary tools to complete the task?
Coach Your Employees to Help them Reach Their Full Potential
Assist employees In maximizing their strengths and developing the skills they require.
Give and Solicit Feedback on a Regular Basis
On a regular basis, provide specific appreciative feedback. We are often very appreciative of the work that our employees do in our minds, but do we express that to them verbally?
Allow Employees to Express their Ideas and Concerns.
These opportunities should be made available in both individual and group meetings.
Employees Should be Polled for their Opinions
Demonstrate to employees that you respect them and want to hear what they have to say, even if you don’t always agree with them. “Is there anything I can do to make this project easier?” ask in individual or small-group meetings.
Answer Questions and Respond to Feedback in a Timely Manner
This demonstrates to employees that you can be relied on and that you care.
Handle Conflict Effectively
Take Disagreements Seriously
Failure to resolve employee conflict or conflict between an employee and a manager can result in absenteeism, inefficient work, and even workplace violence. When there is a conflict, confront it directly and quickly.
Help employees understand that resolving conflict requires everyone to give and take.
What Percentage of a Manager’s Time Is Spent Communicating? Can You Provide Examples of the Different Types of Communication that Managers Use?
Communication consumes 50-90 percent of a manager’s time. The Message is created by a Sender with a thought.
How Much of a Person’s Day Is Spent in Some form of Verbal Communication?
Professor Mehrabian combined the statistical findings of the two studies to develop the now-famous (and widely misapplied) rule that communication is 7 percent verbal and 93 percent nonverbal. Body language (55 percent) and tone of voice made up the nonverbal component (38 percent).
How Much Time Do Employees Spend Communicating With One Another?
According to results from professional, technical, administrative, and clerical workers in a communications research and development laboratory, 50–80 percent of the workday is spent communicating, with two-thirds of that spent talking. People tend to overestimate the amount of time they spend talking and underestimate the amount of time they spend reading and writing.
We hope you have now understood the motive of this article, i.e. what Percentage of a Manager’s Time is Spent in Direct Communication. Also, the improvements provided above will also help to build Better Communication with Employees.
