New Managers

Focus on Communication

The main ideas
Much is said and written about communication for managers. The two most useful principles are:

to keep your ideas clear and simple,
to communicate them in ways that work for the person you're communicating with.

So what does this mean?

It means thinking clearly what you're trying to achieve by any communication you make, and thinking about the best way to do that.

Keep on thinking about the person you're communicating with, and how they prefer to receive information or instructions.

Think about this

Consider something you want to say to a particular member of staff. What do you want them to know or understand from what you say that they don't know now? Write it down.

What do you want them to do as a result of what you will be saying tothem? Write it down.

As well as this, think about what may get in the way of them understanding what you're saying.

Now write down what youwill say that will take all of the above questions into account.

Why this matters

Poor communication combined with poor understanding about what other people are looking for can lead to conflict.

What are the obstacles to communication? What might get in the way for you?

Another useful idea

There are a variety of communication preferences to think about. People may prefer to read or hear something. They may like a diagram or some other visual communication. They may prefer the reasons for an action, or they may just want to be told what they're meant to be doing.