Poor workplace communication is more than simply an irritant - Paul Golden writes on how it can have a direct impact on the efficiency of the organisation, employee productivity and revenue
Communication in the workplace is the key to a successful business and more must be done to ensure effective lines of communication are put in place, according to Owen Hargie, University of Ulster professor and co-author of ‘Key Issues in Organizational Communication’.
He said the importance of communications for corporate life is now widely recognised and that there is considerable evidence to show that companies with effective communication strategies are successful, while those with poor internal communications struggle.
So what is behind poor workplace communication? Eimear Barry of Leadership Development Coaching reckons there are two main factors. “Firstly, ineffective relationships between employees and their managers leading to poor morale, lowered productivity and retention issues. Secondly, inadequate infrastructure to allow for effective information flows. This typically happen when organisations go through sudden growth spurts.”
Carr Communications’ Hilary Kenny refers to “unidentified gaps in the communications system and human failure to tell people things in a way that they understand their importance or relevance to them”, but for Shiera O’Brien of Zenith Training and Development the problems lie much deeper.
”Our education system has never trained us to communicate effectively. Most people have spent much of their training on developing their knowledge of their profession and very little on refining their communication skills. It is only when they get out into the working environment and relationships don’t get off to a good start that they realise something is amiss.”
O’Brien also believes that employees need to recognise their shortcomings. “We are creatures of habit, so we think ‘I've always done it this way, it has worked with everybody else so why shouldn't it work with this person?’ Few people stop to ask themselves ‘How does my colleague like to receive information? Would I be happy if I heard this in this tone, in this way, with this body language?’ The most flexible communicators always have more people on their side and tend to operate very successful within a system.”
The next step is to address these shortcomings and Eimear Barry reckons use of information technology has a major role to play in this process.
“Finding the time, listening, clarifying and giving employees good and regular feedback has become increasingly important in the age of the email. Email is a speedy and effective method of passing on information but is not a suitable medium for emotions, which are a key factor in building effective relationships. The whole area of emotional intelligence has become increasing popular.”
Where the problem is around infrastructure, organisations need to revise their information systems. “For instance, after a period of rapid growth they may end up with more than one location,” she added. “The impact of different locations on communication can be immense and needs to be factored into developing information flows.”
According to Kevin Foley, director of conciliation at the Labour Relations Commission, effective communication is key to managing any change in the workplace and problems arise where workers do not understand why change is necessary or desirable.
“In my experience, companies who are sharing information and communicating it openly with their workers find it much easier to handle change. In broad terms, our experience in the conciliation service suggests that any set of workers will respond rationally to the circumstances they find themselves in. If people are responding in a way which, on the face of it, does not appear rational, it is probably because they have not been equipped either by way of information or understanding to recognise the real situation.”
Companies that have most successfully managed change are those who have been communicating in a trusting manner with their employees, he added. “In a situation where companies are facing particular problems, there can of course be an accelerated need for effective communication. If extinction is a threat, for example, then in our experience people are more likely to believe it and to accept the need for change if the bad news is not the first news they have ever heard.”
Showing people their style of communicating, how they communicate to the world and how it impacts on others is a useful process, according to Shiera O’Brien. “We take away the personal aspect of what is being said and focus on style. We show how others operate and we then facilitate a process within a workshop where people can adapt to the different styles of communicating. This illustrates how to take on and use the other styles when required to drive home a more effective message.”
The rationale here is that there are no bad styles of communication, just styles inappropriate to the context and the person hearing the information. A directing style to a staff member who needs instruction and guidance is appropriate, but a similar style to a peer manager will alienate and potentially undermine their position.
Then there is perhaps the most important workplace relationship of all – that with a direct superior. Any communication initiative needs to deal with real situations and make changes that will be obvious and beneficial, said Eimear Barry, who said anyone may feel threatened it they are given a measurement of themselves without a corresponding opportunity for development.
“I find that most people I meet in training or coaching environments are very eager to learn new ways and new approaches to interpersonal situations. Some people have never been given formal training, whilst others have got into bad habits. Generally all are delighted to be given the tools to improve their relationships.”
Shiera O’Brien wonders if organisations really sit down and tease out the result they are looking for from their investment in workplace communications training. “As a HR person, I would always ask ‘How do I want my people to behave differently after they have been on a programme? What real change do I want see in the person - for their own benefit and others - and does the programme I am sourcing offer that? Are the tools offered easy to implement?’ They need to talk about styles of communicating and their appropriateness in a given context.”
It is human nature for managers and/or staff to become defensive if they feel their communications skills are being questioned. The trick is to show people when it is time to improve and adapt their communication, for example if they find themselves in management roles.
Continuous development is another aspect of workplace communications training that requires greater attention, said Hilary Kenny. “As with all training and learning, people must practice their skills or they will lose them. In any event, research shows that unless training is reinforced with regular refreshers, in-service and coaching, its efficacy decreases over time.”
“Emphasising that all skills can (and will) be improved also helps to make participants less defensive,” she added. “Training is based on experiential, practical exercises that lead to visible individual improvement.”
Perhaps the most significant change in the Irish workplace over the last decade has been the arrival of large numbers of people from eastern Europe, Asia and Africa for whom English is not their first language. This development has obvious implications for communications training and highlights the danger of making assumptions.
Zenith Training and Development’s Shiera O’Brien accepts that the arrival of large numbers of non-native English speakers in Ireland presents some challenges, but is keen to focus on the areas of common ground.
“Human beings are the same the world over - they have a certain style of communication and if you can train people to recognise what style of communication a person works from (personally and culturally), you can certainly improve workplace communications. It all lies in increased awareness, the recognition that there is more than one way to deliver a message.”
”As one of our Russian participants said in a training session last month, it is not language alone that is the problem, it is also culture,” said Hilary Kenny. “Our view is that you should communicate in as many different ways as possible, to try to ensure that everyone understands. But you should pay special attention to one-to-one, face-to-face communication – it is number one in the communications hierarchy. In other words, it is the most effective form of communication for understanding.”
This influx of non-native English speakers presents opportunities as well as challenges, concludes Eimear Barry. “A lot of Irish employees have been dealing for many years with non-native English speakers abroad, both clients and colleagues. Having non-native speakers in their office helps them to understand the differences and challenges their own language and culture brings with it. In reality two people can communicate very well together without sharing a language whilst two people who speak the same language can really struggle to understand and relate to each other.”
This article first appeared in First Train magazine
