Good communication is the foundation of good managerial skills. In fact, communication skills for managers are a part of management studies also. All would-be managers are trained in this. It is essential not only for the growth and success of the company but also for the personal growth.
However, just theoretical knowledge is not enough. If a manager does not possess practical communication skills, he would fail. He may have all the requisite technical skills, know the business and policies but fail to communicate effectively. This inadequacy overshadows the other skills.
Generally, the main problem is that the effort to communicate is missing. Also, in some cases there is no effort on behalf of the organization to introduce some measure or plan to improve communication skills for the managers.
The real question here is how to develop these communication skills for the managers. The answer to is innovation and a little bit of effort. Below we have specified some of the ways in which mangers can improve their communication skills.
The first thing that an organization needs to do is to gauge the communication skills of the managers through an evaluation of the performance of their routine activities. The human resource department of a company should implement some target and performance specific activities. Then, conduct various surveys and audits throughout the year to measure the communication skills of the mangers and supervisors.
Another method is to conduct training for the managers to teach them interpersonal communication skills. In this kind of training, the managers should be taught topics such as measuring the quality of personal communication; how to recognize the obstacles to good communication; developing interpersonal behavior to create healthy working relationships; non-verbal communication skills; developing active listening skills; giving and receiving feedback.
Apart from these, a number of other communication activities should be organized to develop communication skills of the managers. These activities include organizing communication audit for each mangers area of responsibility. Team sessions or periodic workshops on staff communication skills can be conducted.
A regular newssheet or an email newsletter should be sent to all the staff members in a particular area of activity. This should explain to the manager the importance of the need of the employers and thus suggesting them how to deal with these needs.
They should conduct regular meetings to review the performance of all the employees in the company rather than the customary practice of six monthly or quarterly reviews. This will keep the managers alert too.
Finally, the most important tip to develop communication skills for managers is to recognize their own strengths and weaknesses. Only a managers inner potential can make him a good communicator.