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Transcript of Team Comm White Paper
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8/9/2019 Team Comm White Paper
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White Paper
Team andCommunication
Management
Priority & Time Management
Task & Compliance Management
Team & Communication Management
Crisis Management
Key Metric Variance/Corrective Action
Training Reinforcement
Part 3 of the 6 Fundamentals of Management
An organizations abilityto learn, and translatethat learning into actionrapidly, is the ultimatecompetitive advantage.
Jack Welch
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Contents
Communication Check Up ............................................................................................................1
eam and Communication Management........................................................................................2
Delegation and Motivation ......................................................................................................3
Learning and Understanding ....................................................................................................3
How We Learn .........................................................................................................................4
Te Forgetting Curve Effect............................................................................................................5
Communication Avenues................................................................................................................6
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Communication Check Up
o start, perform this Communication Check Up Find where you rank as an effective communicator.
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rank yourself on the following?
1. I am constantly and consistently communicating to influencebehaviors and morale both verbally and non-verbally 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
2. I understand the importance of building relationships
through positive voice and body language 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
3. I actively seek out feedback and input from all members in
meetings and one-on-ones 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
4. I am aware of the different communication styles within my
team and know how to leverage these to the greatest effect 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
5. I communicate recognition and growth insights
in a timely and constructive way 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
6. People know when they receive information from
me that it is trustworthy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
7. I ask questions to expand and deepen my understanding
then apply that knowledge to improve efforts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
8. I get back to people promptly and
encourage others to do the same 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
9. I ask for direct feedback from team members on my
communication style to be more effective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Notice the areas where you need to become more aware. If you dont already, ask for feedback from your peers,
reports and managers, perhaps using the above questions.
Any Lower Than a 6
Look further to see how you can improve. Review the questions above to dig deeper and put together a proactive
plan on how you can get better at communications.
6 and Over
Nice job. You are an effective communicator with an engaged team contributing actively and effectively to your
success. Continue seeking out ways to improve.
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Team and Communication Management
Te importance of good communication is a core fundamental of better management. People with good
communication skills will always rise to the top. In fact, when you think about the primary role of a manager
everything they do involves communication.
On the most basic level, they receive top line strategy or goals and must be able to translate them to day-to-
day frontline actions. Communication is the bridge between team members creating synergy within the team.
When done correctly this is how we achieve organizational goals more rapidly and on target.
Without communication and the team effort it permits, thesuccessful completion of any important project can be jeopardized.
Applied Statistics for Business and Economics, Allen Webster
What is not always talked about are the ramifications of poor communication, which directly affects task
implementation in the following 3 ways:
1. Lowers Morale If you dont understand the taskit can be a main point of on-the-job frustration.
2. Promotes Mistakes When communication is poor it is harder to perform the taskeffectively.
3. Jeopardizes Productivity Employees cannot accomplish the taskto expectation when the above two
issues exist.
Managers have a tough job when it comes to team and communication management because for them it is
more complicated. Tey have to adapt their communication and management styles to get the most out of team
members, and then they do it again when theyre communicating with upper management. And, of course,managers have their entire customer base to contend with. Strong managers must be able to communicate to all
of these groups consistently and effectively. For the sake of this piece, we focus on communicating to employees,
other managers or team members, however many of these techniques can be used in any circumstance.
What is management, exactly? A good starting point may be a quote from Warren G Bennis, Leaders are people
who do the right thing; managers are people who do things right. Leadership involves creating a compelling
vision of the future, communicating that vision, and helping people understand and commit to it. Managers,
on the other hand, are responsible for ensuring that the vision is implemented efficiently and successfully.
Both must be given a voice to work, and at the same time listening skills take an active role in any form of
communication.
Of course, these two roles overlap and to be a top performer
you need to fulfill both roles. Teres no point energizing people
to work towards a fabulous vision of the future only to fall
flat on your face when it comes to implementation. Without
effective communication you are doomed to perform poorly no
matter what type of role you take on.
Strong managers must
be able to communicate
to all groups consistently
and effectively.
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Managers, shift managers and frontline employees must absolutely rely on one another to deliver and receive
details correctly. Workplace communication is crucial to a team.
Te way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch ofindividual stars in the world, but if they dont play together, the club wont be worth a dime.
Babe Ruth
Cornerstones of good team communication involve:
1. Delegation and Motivation
2. Learning and Understanding
Delegation and Motivation
Te top priority for managers is delegation. No matter how
skilled you are, theres only so much you can achieve working on
your own. With a team behind you, you can achieve so much
more. Tats why its important that you delegate effectively.
Successful delegation starts with matching people and tasks, so you first need to understand fully what the
various team members roles and skill sets entail. A good way of doing this is to put together a team agreement,
which sets out the purpose of the team and how it will work. Not only will this help you get your team off to a
great start, it will also be useful in bringing the team back on track if its veering off course.
Another key duty you have as a manager is to motivateteam members. Tere are many different approaches
to take when motivating team members but whatever approach you prefer to adopt, you also need to bear in
mind that different people have different needs when it comes to motivation. Some individuals are highly self-
motivated, while others will under-perform without managerial input.
Learning and Understanding
All of us understand that individuals learndifferently. Te way they intake, process, and retain information is
different. Communicate using both verbal and non-verbal behaviors to get a message across. For example, hold
a pre-shift huddle to create group learning, do one-on-ones to establish direct learning for harder tasks, and have
it written down so everyone can refer back to reinforce.
Reinforcing a message over and over again in various ways is where learning occurs and correct actions begin to
become good habits. Tis is where your top performers are made. Managers tend to see where their employeesfall in terms of skill and achievement.
No matter how skilled
you are, theres only so
much you can do alone.
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Below is a quick snapshot of the different ways we retain information:
How We Learnby William Glasser
We remember...
10%of what we READ
20%of what we HEAR
30%of what we SEE
50%of what we SEE and HEAR
70%of what is DISCUSSED with OHERS
80%of what is EXPERIENCED PERSONALLY
95%of what we EACH O SOMEONE ELSE
Without team members understandingwhat is expected at a high enough level of clarity they cannot perform
the task correctly, much less be productive. Aside from just delegating or passing along valuable information,
a manager cannot be successful very long if they do not ensure a message is received correctly. In order to
know this, a manager needs to be able to confirm the
message by receiving and processing feedback. Once
feedback is received they can reinforce or correct the
communication as needed.
Understanding is a critical step that seems to get missedin communication management. It is common to hear
complaints from leadership saying, Ive told them
a million times what needs to be done. Why arent they doing it? Do we have the wrong people? It may be
difficult to look in the mirror and correct ones own communication tactics but it sure is more effectively and
less costly when it comes to employee churn.
Without understanding, a team
simply cannot be successful.
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The Forgetting Curve Effect
What one must take into account is the fact that a once understood item has a strong potential to be forgotten
in a relatively short amount of time. Te well-documented Forgetting Curve, by Hermann Ebbinghaus,
illustrates this phenomenon. Te premise is simple. As time goes by the ability to recall information lessens. He
hypothesized that the complexity of the information, as well as outside influencers such as stress, work againstthe brains ability to retain what was learned.
From his findings, Ebbinghaus asserts that the best methods for increasing the strength of memory are:
1. Better memory representation (e.g. with mnemonic techniques)
2. Repetition based on active recall (esp. spaced repetition)
Presenting the information in various ways is shown
to also increase individuals ability to access working
memory from which they perform tasks. Active and timely
repetition sustains what was learned and further imprints
the information on the brain for easier recall. A primary
point around communication in general is that multi-
prong approaches are worth the energy as they have ahigher level effect.
Active and timely repetition
ensures easier recall.
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Communication Avenues
As a manager communicationskills are essential. Communication encompasses both:
Interpersonal Communication
(between two or more people)
Organizational Communication
(all the patterns, networks, and systems of communication within an organization)
Communication Defined:the process by which a person, group, or organization (the sender) transmits some
type of information (the message) to another person, group or organization (the receiver) using some medium
(the channel).
Te importance of effective communication cannot be overlooked; everything a manager does involves
communicating. It is a managers job to get people on the same page and have specific acts carried out. Tat is
the basis of being a manager. o fulfill activities across your business, managers must synchronize verbal andnon-verbal behavior. Trough communication, team members achieve organizational goals in a more efficient
manner. Communication on face value is not enough though. Here is why:
Do you remember the game grapevine when you were a kid? Youd sit in a circle and the first person would
whisper in the ear of the person next to them a phrase, Te elephant likes cherry soda for dinner. As the phrase
makes its way around the circle what is heard is deciphered differently then passed into the next ear slightly
adjusted, until it comes to the end of the line and the original phrase is barely recognizable. Te infant really
enjoys sherry to get thinner. What happened?
Whenever you communicate with someone else, you and the other person typically follow the steps of the
communication process shown below.
Here, the person who is the source of the communication encodes it into a message, and transmits it through a
channel. Between the moment the message is transmitted and received there can be various types of noise and/
or distractions which can interfere with the clarity of the message. Ultimately, the receiver decodes the message,
and, in one way or another, feeds back understanding or a lack of understanding to the source.
The Communication Process
Source EncodingMsg Msg
ChannelMsg
DecodingMsg
Receiver
Feedback
Context
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Simple messages travel faster, simpler designs reach the marketfaster and the elimination of clutter allows faster decision-making.
Jack Welch
For workplace communication to happen effectively, the managers messages follow the criteria below:
q Simple q Action-Oriented
q Visual q
Quick and Easy to Remember
Simple, direct language keeps people tuned in to whats important. Simple communication doesnt come from a
simple mind. It comes from tough-minded clarity of thought. Te best managers take responsibility for getting
through to all employees, so just remember, keep it simple.
Communicating With Team Members
As a manager, youre likely to be involved in lots of meetingsand strategies; to make sure they dont waste your time you must
participate in active listening.When youre in charge, it can be easy
to think that you know what others are going to say, or that listening
is less important because youve thought of a solution anyway. Dont
fall into this trap. Most good managers are active listeners; it helps them detect problems early (while theyre still
easy to deal with), avoid costly misunderstandings, and build trust within their teams.
Te best communication for teams is to:
Be specific:include facts and details to avoid being unclear
Be accurate:be sure the information you share is true and reliable
Be honest:pretty self-explanatory
Be logical:make sure messages are easy to follow
Be complete & concise:give all needed information in a brief, not unnecessarily wordy, explanation
Use various vehicles:dont just say it, write it down, post it, integrate it into your planning,
put it in to dos, incorporate it into checklists
Ask for feedback:have team members provide comments and insights on the
information presented to them
Reinforce:tell them and tell them again
Most good managers
are active listeners
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Communicating With People Outside Your Team
Upper management is an imperative point in a managers communication process. ake time to understand
what the companys goals are and expectations of a locations senior manager or direct boss wants from you and
your team if one knows exactly what they like in terms of delivery, meeting their approval and expectations
becomes easier to manage. Pass along this information to staff at a relevant level of detail and in a timely manner
using the above communication techniques. By knowing the why behind what they are doing they will be
empowered to better meet the directive.
Its a fact of life these days that businesses must change quickly
to respond to rapidly changing markets. o help your team be a
winner instead of a victim of changes, communication should be
a top priority. Upward, downward and sideways communication;
it all matters.
eam and Communication Management are fundamental to
every manager because they define operations ability to:
1. Motivate teams to work in unified force toward the same goal/vision
2. Understand that the goal/vision is shared by all team members and reinforce as needed
3. Address questions or issues about the goal/vision that need to be resolved quickly in order for the teamto move forward
4. Keep team members informed of key metrics to set a level of clarity about where the group stands andto course correct proactively
5. Give team members a foundation of knowledge to work from (as the saying goesknowledge is power)
Remember that poor communication can lead to misunderstandings, wasted time and energy, a lack of trust and
conflict. It is a skill that requires life-long effort and learning that we must all practice. Tis is the defining point
where productivity and performance will either excel or falter.
Take the time to
understand goals and
expectations, then pass
this information along.
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Priority & Time Management
Task & Compliance Management
Team & Communication Management
Crisis Management
Key Metric Variance/Corrective Action
Training Reinforcement
6 Fundamentals of Management
For further detail on the6 Fundamentals of Management, visit
www.BetterManagers.com/resources
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4550 S. Windermere St.Englewood, CO 80110
800.526.-9635
www.BetterManagers.com
References Applied Statistics for Business and Economics: An Essentials Version
by Allen Webster. June 1998
Te Eects of Bad Communication in Businessby Julia Forneris, Demand Mediahttp://smallbusiness.chron.com/effects-bad-communication-business-2880.html
Better Workplace Communication in 5 Simple Stepsblog by Michelle Vesselhttp://www.novell.com/communities/node/5874/p-better-workplace-communication-5-simple-steps
How We Learnstatistics by William Glasserhttp://thinkexist.com/quotation/we-learn-of-what-we-read-of-what-we-hear-of-what/397216.html
Te Art of Workplace Communicationarticle at HubPages.com by unknown authorhttp://aveshavesh.hubpages.com/hub/communicationtheworkplace
Te Forgetting Curveby Hermann Ebbinghaushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forgetting_curve
Communication Process Diagramhttp://www.mybusinessprocess.net/the-communication-process/