Communication in management

 Its role
 A communication plan

Communication, being defined as the process of sharing information, is an aspect

overall important. It is present/ involved in every almost every action we perform. More
than this, we live in a sociaty, with people, friends, neighbours and we interract every
day.
Even if communication, especially used every day, seems to be a random process,
in organized activities, it is also an organized process, and it requires some steps, if one
wants to have a fairly positive end result.

But before establishing/ setting forth these steps, I’ll briefly define the role of
communication in management
Communication in management can be looked at in two ways. We can look first at
the role, the importance, of communication to the overall management of a company. Or,
secondly, we can look at the role communication plays in the day to day job of a
manager.

1. First, Communication in the overall management of a company.

As I already stated, communication is a core process in any organization. It needs

to be planned, monitored and adjusted like any other business process. While the intent of
a given communication activity may vary - from sharing the strategic direction of the
company and its associated goals and objectives to obtaining feedback and input from
employees and customers - its purpose is singular: to boost productivity and company
performance.

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 2. Now, Communication in day to day management of an organization and its
people.

If you are a manager, you are responsible for helping people understand the goals
and objectives you are pursuing. In other words, you play the role of interpreter for those
you are managing. And to do this effectively, you must first of all understand
communication as a process, and have the right set of skills to perform this role.

There is a communication model centered on six fundamental questions that

employees need to have answered. These questions are:

 What's my job?
 How am I doing?
 Does anyone care?
 How are we doing?
 What's our vision, mission and values?
 How can I help?

By understanding each of these questions, and what is behind them, and then using
them as one’s day-to-day management program, it is possible to maximize staff
alignment to business goals and increase, among other things, performance. (These
questions is a way of letting the employees know about the goals; by answering these
questions one is very close to attaining the goals)

Now, in order to achieve these goals, a manager must be very organized when he
or she communicates. He must fallow some steps, or a plan.

The most important elements underlying a good communication plan are:

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Listen

Listen before you communicate. Listen while you are communicating. And listen after
you communicate. Through listening, you learn - and more importantly you communicate
something to your audiences that is extremely important - RESPECT.

And don't forget - the best way to show you are listening is to take action on what you
have learned.

Be Clear

Get focused - say what you need to say, and let people know what is expected of them.
Forget the corporate speak and jargon - use words and phrases that make sense and are
easily understood. The greater the degree of clarity you can establish - with your
messages and in your delivery, the greater degree of success you will encounter. If you
fail here, your chance of achieving success is virtually zero.

Treat Your Employees as Adults

They deserve it, and will be thrilled. Don't hide the bad news - doing so only leads to
mistrust, frustration and an extremely active rumour mill.

Be Timely

When the morning paper serves as the company newsletter, you have failed. Go out of
your way to get information to people in a timely manner, and they will go out of their
way to help you through almost any situation.

Be Relevant

If you do your analysis work well, do your listening as you should, making your
communication relevant to your audiences is easily accomplished. Missing the relevant

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issues and failing to make the connection between what you are communicating and the
audience, will lead to failure.

Think Process - Not Event

Finally, don't forget that communication is a process and not an event. It has a starting
point, an end point and a journey in between. And more often than not, route changes will
be required. As you plan, think clearly about each stage of the process you need to work
through - including ensuring staff have access to the information you are conveying,
developing awareness, understanding, acceptance and getting a commitment to take
action.