Business Communication TrainingNothing is so simple that it cannot be misunderstood.
Freeman Teague Jr.
The most important thing in communication is
hearing what isn't said.”
Peter F. Drucker
"Hello, how have you been?" I said over the phone. It was my manager friend calling me. It has been a while since we have exchanged updates. The last time we talked, she relayed that her reliable production supervisors retired a few months ago.
The production line used to perform excellently as shown by data. Lately, she is being faced with line audit findings that are not so good. This was the challenge she is facing.
What she did was to study the items marked with "non-conformance" on the audit. She saw that these things were the basic ones like incomplete data recording, instructions not followed, problems not highlighted to the proper department, etc. They have their SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) on how to handle problems occurring in the line but it seems, these are not being done. What has happened?
She concluded that she has a discipline problem in the line. Her current supervisors are not able to instill basic line discipline. She even found out that the supervisors are using her name to impose the rules, instead of explaining why the rules have to be followed.
She decided to meet the people herself. I was impressed for she was able to talk to the people of all the shifts. Operations were 24 hours, three shifts, 6 to 2 am, 2 to 10 pm and 10 pm to 6 am.
During the meeting, she communicated the results of the audit and how she felt about their line performance. On the other hand, the people were able to air out their concerns and their needs to be able comply with the audit requirements. They made clarifications on the rules being implemented. As the meeting went on, the topics became more specific and some were even on a personal note. My manager friend was able to handle the meeting well for it turned out very productive in the end. This is expected of Bossing (as she is usually referred to), for she used to be a very good supervisor, who eventually rose to her present position as a department manager due to performance. In spite of her high rank, she is a believer of knowing the right information on first-hand basis when resolving issues. She knows how to balance being task-oriented and people-oriented, a great skill to have to succeed as a manager.
After her meetings, she gained a feeling of accomplishment talking to the people face-to-face. She regained appreciation of the importance of effective communication, and intends not to stop here. She plans to increase her visibility in the line and continue with improving the communication process with her people, including her own supervisors plus the technicians and the engineers of the other departments.
Timothy Dobbins, in his book "Stepping Up" , tackled the area of Giving Good Meetings. He noted that many, if not most business meetings are disasters, and went on to advise his clients that anytime more than two people get together, 5 things can happen:
- they can gather and give information
- they can receive feedback
- they can solve problems
- they can do team building
- they can make decisions
Meetings are great if handled properly and if the objective is clear and achieved.
The reason why I am glad to hear from my friend? It is because I learn a lot from her on effective supervision and excellent management. Her principles are based on real, warm experiences.
No harm in having an open mind and picking up things that I can put to use in my current organization.
Leadership Skills Training
