“How many supervisors like to give performance feedback?” When this question was posed to over 500 leaders in one of the nation’s largest municipal water and power companies, a scant few raised their hands. When asked to explain why, the answers boiled down to three responses: “Because I don’t want to hurt their feelings,” “She’s my friend; I don’t want her to feel bad,” and “I don’t want to deal with the anger.”
Last month, we posted “Three Tips to Implement Now to Improve Communication On The Job.” Today, we’re adding three more to the list, recognizing that many of us are transitioning back to the workplace, or at least transitioning to a hybrid-working environment. Intentional, clear, and effective communication can always be challenging. However, never more so…
The phrase “be brief, be brilliant, be gone,” has been attributed to many, including President Woodrow Wilson. Over the years, I’ve found it to be far more challenging to be concise than verbose – whether verbally or in writing. Another President, Ronald Reagan, used to ask that all recommendations be presented on a single 8…
It’s not if we make mistakes; rather, how we handle them. All of us make mistakes, yet many of us fail to own up. Frequently, this failure to accept responsibility ends up with another’s hurt feelings.
The business rationale for developing strong communications competency was made by David Grossman, who surveyed 400 companies with 100,000 employees each. These companies “each cited an average loss per company of $62.4 million per year because of inadequate communication to and between employees.” Communicating intentionally, accurately and clearly, while avoiding miscommunications is vital. Let’s review.…