A vitally important skill for managers is communication. Developing this will make a big difference to how successful you are. Even though sometimes managers are required to impart vital information, the way he or she communicates it, as well as everyday abilities to get on well with their team members, can make or break the potential to perform. By taking steps to change attitudes and behaviors around methods of communication, a manager can get more, much more, from the people around them.



Whilst using your capabilities to find out about what's going on around you is important, the impact of under-performance cannot be overestimated. If something isn't working right, asking questions to get the information you need is a tactic well worth developing. But, that's not all. A manager worth their salt will be able to extract information in ways that others would find impossible. It's a mix of asking the right questions linked to the capacity to hear what others say as well.

And, you know, another skill is the simple, day to day activity of listening to and talking with your people - as simple as that. So, of course, it's important to master the art of communication. How and where are you to begin, if you are planning on fine-tuning this skill?

Misunderstandings often come from communication gaps, leading to more and more frustration! While trying to explain something new to the audience, it's sometimes found that the manager is wrongly interpreted or seems to be speaking out of context. During breaks, it's worth checking with the audience whether they have followed and where necessary, amend a presentation the next time. It's also worth exploring where they misunderstood and learning from this for the future.

As issues arise, managers need to consider what they are being told carefully, whilst ensuring that they get all the detail before they act. Sometimes, assumptions can get a manager into hot water, so it's vital that they find out what really is fact, before they decide on a course of action. This is not just about the ability to impart information, more, it's about the capacity to listen carefully and then frame 'discovery' questions appropriate to the contextual clues they have received.

Being able to appreciate information for what it is, requires a special capacity within any manager. Time, 'busyness' and all the other demands on time, means that a manager has to be pretty smart to make quick judgments based on limited information. In those cases it's a good idea to make sure that actions are not taken in haste, but considered carefully when the time is available to make the nest decision possible.

When working with teams, what you say and what they hear is even more important to get right. If one person gets the wrong end of the stick, then quite soon you will end up with confusion, frustration and possibly even internal strife amongst the team. Clarity is vital here. Taking the time when you brief a whole team, to recognize that they will all receive messages in very different ways (and accommodating this), will be well worth the effort in the long run. Including two-way communication with each and every member of the team fosters team spirit and collaboration.

Resources for your communication activities need to be arranged and, where investment allows, improved over time. New support staff can be involved to make things run more smoothly and more appropriate equipment bought. These are a few ways to improve the technical side of your communication skill. So, starting today, it's worth deciding that you are going to take yourself the top of the communications scale with your people.

Developing your personal communication skill is one of the most important tactics in your management development toolkit. It has the potential to catalyze great success. Only you can do it!