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Dear Workforce: How Do We Teach Our Managers to Become More Effective Communicators?
The fundamentals of active listening should help supervisors and managers emerge as respected, forceful and trusted leaders.
Dear Workforce:
Our company is struggling to equip a new squad of managers. What is the best way
to bolster their communication skills?
—Breakdown in Progress, human resources director, financial
services, Seattle
 Dear
Breakdown in Progress:
The best way to start an engaging conversation with employees is by active
listening.
Show genuine concern
Giving someone your undivided attention is the best way to start an engaging conversation.
Eye contact, a relaxed yet alert posture and modulating your voice are essential.
Keep in mind that your employees want to receive your message and better understand
your situation. Showing empathy, however, does not mean forbidding them from having
differing points of view. The object is to find mutual ground.
Prompt for clarification
This involves clearing up confusion to foster greater understanding, without passing
premature judgment. In other words, don’t use an attempt to clarify things as an
excuse to dismiss another person’s viewpoint. Rather than telling them they’re wrong,
soften your approach: “I disagree” or “My data says otherwise” are likely to be
more well received
Paraphrase and pause
Part of clarifying things is repeating what someone tells you. This gives the listener
a chance to correct your understanding and make sure both sides are on the same
page. Providing people with a laundry list virtually ensures that key issues and
ideas will be lost. Learning to pause and segment your message helps the receiver
catch the gist much quicker. Also, take momentary breaks from the back-and-forth
so the parties can ponder and posit new possibilities. That turns active listening
into “creative listening.”
Sometimes you may not know what the other person is feeling. Rather than guess,
you might say something like: “I know you are on board, but it sounds like you may
have some frustration with the decision. Would you care to discuss it?”
Strategize and summarize
Strategic listening takes active listening to a next level. The goal is more than
awareness and empathy. The purpose of such strategic back-and-forth is synergy,
a sharing-listening-sharing loop that generates ideas, insights and imagination.
It’s important to stop along the way and review and record agreements, unresolved
differences and future steps at problem-solving.
SOURCE: Mark Gorkin, “The Stress Doc,” Washington, November 2008
LEARN MORE: Communication is considered crucial to
engaging new employees,
as well as explaining bonus and other
compensation moves.
The information contained in this article is intended to provide useful information
on the topic covered, but should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion.
Also remember that state laws may differ from the federal law.
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