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To a greater or lesser extent, a good manager needs to be a master of communication. They must be able not only to convey their thoughts to subordinates effectively, appearing both friendly and self-confident when doing so, but also capable of listening effectively to other people and reacting well to what they say. Unfortunately, many managers lack this skill, which is why unnecessary misunderstandings occur and the potential of several interactions remains unfulfilled. Here are the most common mistakes managers make in communication with subordinates, ones you should try to avoid.
According to the Brian Tracy blog, many managers conduct interactions with subordinates as a monologue. They simply plan to say something to the other person and fail to allow space for a response. And even if the subordinate is given room to speak, it is only symbolic and goes unheeded. Give the other party room to voice their opinion and always treat any communication as a two-way process.
Effective listening is a skill in itself. Show the other party you are genuinely thinking about what they are saying. Nod your head, ask additional questions, say you can see where the other person's opinions and emotions are coming from, and react effectively to what they say.
In order to be able to convey your visions and enthuse your team for them, you must be capable of communicating energetically. You need to convey positive energy to others and appear self-confident. A common mistake of managers is lacking energy and showing little confidence, which means what they are saying does not have the desired impact.
For your communication to be effective, your body language must correspond to the content of what you are saying. If these two things do not match, in the end what you are saying will seem odd, suspicious and untrustworthy to the other person on a sub-conscious level.
Another common mistake is a negative tone and attitude. This occurs when the manager is berating someone, badmouthing other people, complaining about management or clients, and generally conveying negative energy to the team. For communication to be constructive and engage subordinates, it must be positive and friendly.
Based on their different personal traits, each subordinate will prefer a different communication style. For instance, with an introvert the approach will differ from that with an extrovert. Therefore, do not rely solely on one communication style; you should be able to use more styles and vary them with different types of people.
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