Good Management Communication is One of the Most Important Aspects of Running a Successful Business
It is a skill that is sought after when looking for a leader. How important are communication skills in project management? I’m sure you’re probably wondering this. In this article, we’ll be giving you a quick and easy to understand explanation of what management communication is. As well as where it can be the most useful, and how important it truly is.
If you want to get:
- An understanding of management communication.
- The benefits of being good at management communication.
- How to become a more effective communicator.
- Where would this be the best industry to apply this?
Then you’ve stumbled upon the right article.
Let’s start with an explanation of what management communication is and what it can do for you.
What is Management Communication?
To put it simply, management communication is the term used for managers organising and ensuring their employees are well informed about what is required of them. This is critical when handling tasks and projects in the workspace.
There are different types of communication in management but to start with, a manager needs to have better interaction skills. It is important as an interpersonal skill. But also, because of different staff contact preferences, a manager has to be diverse in the different methods of relaying information.
Knowing which tools to use can be tough. Especially since many managers are having to deal with a multitude of generations. Research suggests that communication is one of the largest areas of difference generationally, with 30% of finance leaders listing it as the biggest difference. With the proliferation of online working, all business managers must have the ability to communicate in a multitude of ways, a skill that was once never needed.
This might be difficult for some managers, and this is why some employ a management consultant. Management consultants gather data on a business to figure out the most effective method for clean communication between managers and employees.
Management consulting can be a great way to gain insight into a company to see where its strengths and weaknesses are. This is a great way to gain a stronger foothold in their project communication management as well.
All of this will lead to a more efficient transfer of information. And, that is the key when it comes to management communication. Many managers fail to get the most out of their employees due to an inability to communicate effectively.
A Voice Within Management Communication
One of the major reasons why communication fails within a workplace is, simply, because the employees don’t feel like they can communicate.
Many employees feel they don’t have a voice within their workplace, and this can cause productivity to become stagnant. Downward (manager to employee) and upward (employee to manager) communication flows break this invisible barrier, and efficiency can be greatly increased.
So, how important are communication skills in project management? Well, we can look at a large discrepancy that lies within the office space regarding communication between managers and employees
While 84% of managers feel as though they give a voice to their employees, as much as 54% of employees feel that they are voiceless.
Allowing employees to have a voice also allows them to feel like they can trust their manager. With a combination of trust and free communication, the flow of information and objectives within a business becomes clear and steady.
The above are key areas to focus on if a business is to succeed. Before we tell you how to improve communication using different types of communication in management, let’s examine the benefits of proper management communication in more detail.
What are the Benefits of Good Management Communication?
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Greater Efficiency in the Workplace
As mentioned above, a more efficient workplace is one of the greatest benefits of good management communication. Better communication with your employees encourages a free flow of information through all different departments. This allows for more communication between managers and employees. This is crucial because research suggests miscommunication costs smaller companies an average of $420,000 a year. While this figure inflates to $62.4 million with businesses employing over 100,000 people or more.
Organisation is also increased when you are able to properly communicate with your employees. Statistics from Forbes shows that highly engaged employees through organisation have an increase of 21% in business profits. Not only that, but up to 97% of employees say that communication impacts their tasks every day! Clearly, there is no doubt that a decrease in miscommunication will lead to much higher efficiency in the workplace.
But better management communication doesn’t just affect communication employees, it can have significant repercussions on a business’ customer relationships. Poor management communication can lead to miscommunications of value to your target customers and result in decreasing leads from inbound sales strategies.
Employee Performance and Employee Satisfaction
Another of the key benefits of good management communication is employee performance and employee satisfaction. It’s no secret (at least, it shouldn’t be) that if your employees are happy to show up to work, then they are more likely to put more effort into whatever task is given to them.
Communicating a clear goal to your employees allows them to feel confident in what they have to do and maximises their time while increasing revenue for the business. It is a win-win situation, as they say.
Stop Your Best Employees From Leaving
What is the main way to keep your best employees from leaving your business? That’s right. Making sure they are happy and feel safe within the business. And how do you do this? Well, one way is through good communication between managers and employees.
A poll done by Gallup in the US surveying over one million people found that leaving because of a bad boss was the number one reason for employees quitting their company. Not only that, but 75% of those who left did so voluntarily solely because of their boss.
This is important, as this will cause the business to lose money purely because the management communication is poor. If you look at a company that employs 100 people, there is a potential loss of up to 1.14 billion dollars when taking into consideration that losing an employee costs a company an average of 33% of their annual salary.
All this is to say that, by improving your management communication skills, you will be able to avoid these insanely large numbers that are converting to losses that many companies are currently dealing with.
If they feel as though they are being listened to, are safe, and getting to do what they love, they will stay at your business and contribute to your success.
Creating an Attractive Workplace That Others Will Want to Work For
Bringing happiness to your employees also brings a lot of interest from outside forces.
By improving communication between managers and employees, an inevitability will be created around the business that will cause many people to try and bask in the same environment that the current employees are enjoying.
Adobe
Adobe is a great example of this. It is notorious for extremely happy employees based on a number of factors throughout the company’s departments. Their platform, Inside Adobe, is at the centrepiece of their almost perfect communication.
They handle over 20,000 employees around the world, yet they seem to all work flawlessly. This is because of their platform called Inside Adobe. This platform allows for all employees to communicate with one another. It creates separate rooms for separate projects, create general chats, publish up-to-date news, and so much more. This seamless transition through the multitude of channels is what keeps Adobe’s employees happy and satisfied. Everyone has a voice through this platform.
Adobe is a company that the best of the best love to work for, not only because the pay is good, but because they know that their work is being appreciated. The benefits of this employee satisfaction can be seen in Abode’s customer perception – it’s a brand known for quality and excellence.
Having this communication will also have the obvious effect of earning the company more money. So, by putting time into creating an attractive workplace, you will also boost the company profits, while also being attractive to talented and efficient clients.
Management communication can also play a role in your digital marketing strategy. Customers are willing to support a business that treats its employees well. And, if you have the statistics to back this fact up, you can use it to your advantage as well as a way to bring fresh employees into your company.
Now, all of this sounds good, right? Let’s go into how you actually go about improving your communication skills.
Ways to Improve Management Communication
So, what are the keys to effective management communication? Below are the best ways to bring about the best for both your employees and your business.
Be Honest and Straightforward, While Practicing Empathy
When dealing with project management communication, being honest and straightforward are key points that your team is looking for. Having a touch of empathy while you act out your goal, is also a valuable asset.
Many people have issues being honest about a situation when you know it isn’t going to get a resounding round of applause from your team. It’s hard, but it is so critical in gaining respect.
By being honest, no matter if the news is good or bad, you are communicating to your employees that you are not going to beat around the bush with any news you give and are not afraid.
Being honest, even when delivering bad news, will make a manager seem more “human” and in turn will leave your employees with the impression that you are indeed approachable.
These project management communication skills are ever more noticeable when project communication management is being regarded. Having the ability to be honest and bring whatever news is available to your team without a second thought is a key factor for project communication management while also being highly regarded in leadership.
Personalised Communication
How important are communication skills in project management? This is a question that many of you are probably wondering.
There are different types of communication in management, and project management for that matter. These can be employed to gather confidence from your employees and that’s through their peered method of communication.
In this day and age, a workplace has a multitude of age groups that a manager has to deal with. This can make it difficult to communicate with all of them in their own unique way but the benefits of doing this are immense.
A fifty-year-old employee may well prefer meeting in person, while someone in their twenties could favour online meetings. This is a very stark difference that is hard to accommodate for. However, if you are able to satisfy both parties by communicating with one of them through video conferencing while meeting the other in person, you will see a great increase in morale and productivity simply because they will be more willing to listen when the communication is in a form they prefer. These types of communication in management are very effective in getting quick results.
Tools
One other area that should be considered with regards to project management communication skills and management communication, in general, is the tools you utilise to analyse how your employees are fairing at any given time frame. Along with getting to know when and what needs to be improved upon.
Tools like ProofHub are great for getting your whole team organized and on the same page. Tasks can be managed, individual and group chats can be used. As well as many other features that can bring your team together so that employees aren’t lost on what is going on and who is in charge of what.
Using tools will let you bring together everything that is important to a manager and everything that employees care about. Using tools like this makes project communication management much more efficient. There are a multitude of other data analysis tools that you can use to help revamp the way you manage your team and bring them together.
Recognition
A great way to get a positive response from your employees is giving them praise when they have done a great job at what they were doing. There are different types of management communication that managers can employ but one of the most important is recognition. 53% of employees say that if they received more appreciation from their boss, they would stay longer with the business.
Imagine you’re working at a creative firm, and all the work you’re doing is met with a nod of approval and nothing more while being handed your next assignment. Most people wouldn’t find the willingness to work equally as hard on their new task if that was the response they were always met with.
That is why praise and really giving your employee a pat on the back for good work is so important. This is a large factor in what drives their will to work more and work harder.
All of this is especially true for someone in management. It might be nice to get approval from an employees’ peers, but getting them from the head of the operation is the difference between them working harder on their next assignment vs them leaving for another company where they would be appreciated for their work.
In Which Industries is Management Communication Most Useful?
Management communication is important for almost every business to properly succeed. The reason? Well, if you don’t have proper communication and goals established within your business, how are your employees going to really know what they are doing there? This logic applies to small businesses as much as large companies. Even more so to small businesses for the simple fact that they are just establishing themselves and laying out the foundation for what the businesses will be like in the present. And, more importantly, in the future.
Every manager should strive to improve their communication skills as it is one of the defining features of a leader. One of the most critical requirements for a business to become larger is through good management communication. It will improve your relationship with your employees. And also, will just make your life easier. This is because there won’t be any need to stress over getting information from them.
When dealing with any projects within a business, project communication management is a defining feature of a leader and someone your employees will look up to. These types of communication in management should never be neglected by someone who is trying to steer a business forward.
Conclusion
Management communication and project management communication skills are essential to creating a cohesive work environment. It is important to listen and to understand what your employees are telling you. At the same time, a good manager is also clear about the goal of the business. As well as not afraid to communicate any information that may be given to them, whether it be good or bad.
There are many benefits to having good management communication. And it only takes talking to your employees to improve this skill. Communicating with them in a way that makes them feel comfortable is critical in receiving a positive response from them.
The goal of all this is to get the most out of your employees. Clarity on what is needed from them will help them to feel valued and ultimately improve the business.
It will increase productivity output as well as increase profits – which is what all businesses strive for. This is truly the ultimate win-win situation.
In today’s changing world, old communication techniques don’t work anymore. There is a larger learning curve to accommodate all the different types of communication that different generations respond to. There is no question, though, that when one takes the time to apply all the methods mentioned above, you will see a change. Some even a drastic change, in efficiency, and atmosphere. These are all keys to getting a truly successful business.
