Isabella Mendoza was recently hired as the manager of the marketing department at an e-commerce company. The company had previously announced her appointment through a short email to the employees, and the sales department was eagerly anticipating her arrival. The previous manager was a colossal flop, and the employees were hopeful that Mendoza would understand the company's objectives and bring about positive changes.
Mendoza was given a task to curtail the costs in the department, and the advertising cost was on top of the list. She decided to cut costs through a combination of scalebacks in advertisement spending, training costs, and slashing the travelling cost. She made it a point to ensure that essential travel would continue on prior approval and that the total number of active advertisement campaigns would decrease to reduce the running cost per month.
Mendoza wanted to show her employers that she was taking the initiative to bring the cost down shortly. Therefore, she sent out a short email to her superiors and employees, updating them that she would be implementing cost-cutting measures very soon. Unfortunately, rumours began to spread among the employees that another layoff was in the pipeline. The motivation of employees started to decrease, and many of them began to refresh and update their resumes, fearing that they might be the next to get laid off.
Mendoza later circulated a 15-page PDF file, which included no plan for retrenchment, but the damage had already been done. The entire department started to lose trust in Mendoza, and productivity plummeted to an all-time low. This story is a classic example of how communication, or the lack thereof, can lead to misunderstandings and negatively affect the workplace.
The Importance of Effective Communication
Every aspect of managing, leading, planning, organising, controlling, and delegating depends on effective communication. Managers must receive accurate and precise information themselves to plan accordingly. They must also transmit information accurately and clearly to their employees to avoid any miscommunication. The simplest way to get things done the wrong way is to fail to communicate with your employees.
Managing Different Views
Every employee has unique ideas and opinions on different issues due to past experiences. Each of them thinks that their way of doing things makes perfect sense. Effective communication is essential for managing different views and ensuring the collaboration of individual attempts within an organisation.
The Role of a Manager
As a manager, it is essential to establish a daily regulation of operational activities and set up group goals to support employees. This means communicating goals to team members and listening to their feedback on assigned tasks. Nothing will work, irrespective of how knowledgeable and expert a manager is in their field, without establishing an effective and transparent communication habits with employees.
The Impact of Inefficient Communication
Every problem in the workplace more or less occurs due to a lack of communication with employees. The design team's failure to meet the boss's requirements is probably because their boss did not communicate the details of the job. Problems, like the colour of the company's banner at the anniversary celebration, are perhaps because of a lack of clear, effective communication.
Effective Communication Skills
Without a doubt, one of the most critical skills that a manager must have is practical communication skills. This skill is missing in most industries, such as hospitality, healthcare, construction, or technology, which creates problems in disposing of the responsibilities and achieving the desired results. The better you communicate, the more likely you're to perform your role effectively as a manager.
Summarising, every single aspect of managing, leading, planning, organising, controlling, and delegating depends on effective communication. Effective communication is essential for managing different views and ensuring the collaboration of individual attempts within any business. As a manager, it is vital to establish effective and transparent communication habits with your team to ensure the success of the company. Without it, there will be misunderstandings, confusion, and low morale among employees. A company that has open communication channels between its employees and management is likely to have a better working environment and achieve better results. Therefore, it is crucial to develop and hone your communication skills as a manager to create a healthy and productive work environment.