Better Communication Means Better Business
By Ellen and Dana Borowka, MA
Have you ever had miscommunication with your employees or coworkers that resulted in costly errors?
Joe, a production manager for a furniture manufacturing firm, oversees about 50 employees that work in teams of 5-10 in manufacturing cells. His primary responsibilities are meeting production quotas, and interacting with the customer service and shipping departments. The general manager became aware that these departments were encountering difficulties meeting quota and shipping schedules due to production problems in Joe’s department. Since Joe has been with the company many years, the manager requested that we work with Joe to identify why these problems were taking place. We found that Joe’s communication style was harsh and vague with his teams. In turn, they focused on his poor communication rather than the task at hand. They would take his instructions “as is” and work on the assignment with limited information instead of asking questions to clarify the process. The results were reduced production, increased safety violations and poor workmanship.
This situation is not uncommon to most business people. Yet, Joe seemed to have a hard time accepting the problems that management was pointing out to him. In order to illustrate Joe’s growth areas, we had him take the 16PF personality assessment inventory, which identifies not only areas for an individual to improve upon, but also strengths and personality traits. We have found this assessment to be a valuable tool in assisting employees to gain insight about themselves. When Joe reviewed the profile results, he discovered the same growth areas that the management team was focusing on. He then became more open to exploring ways to resolve the problems.
One of the first points we worked on with Joe was how to listen effectively to others. A primary cause for poor communication is poor listening skills, where the listener fails to take in all the available information, and instead relies on his or her own assumptions. Joe found that by using active listening, where one paraphrases what he or she thinks the other person is saying, that he was able to avoid this kind of miscommunication with his teams. We encouraged Joe to avoid interrupting others and to ask more questions to ensure better understanding. Effective listening ensures that both the listener and the speaker end up on the same page.
Another cause for ineffective communication is poor speaking skills where the speaker provides vague and incomplete information to the listener. We suggested that Joe use “I” statements when speaking to his teams. By using I statements, Joe was able to take responsibility for his comments while clarifying his thoughts. An example of an I statement, “I feel under a great deal of pressure when you give the client a due date without checking with me first, because there may be some difficulties meeting that deadline.” I statements are composed of three elements: The “I” helps the speaker maintain the responsibility for his or her feelings or observations; the “when” gives a specific example for the other person; and the “because” provides the reason for why the speaker is bothered by the situation. I statements help the speaker to avoid being vague and accusatory with others.
Others can also interpret poor communication as a lack of respect and empathy. Joe discovered that he was unintentionally showing disrespect to his staff through his harsh communication. He needed to have more respect for his staff’s feelings and their point of view, even when he doesn’t agree. The goal to having successful communication is to have empathy – to try to understand why someone is doing what he or she is doing and feeling what he or she is feeling. Effective communication takes a great deal of patience. People may at times say something in anger, due to their own busy schedule and other situations.
We suggested that Joe meet with his staff to discuss any problems and find some solutions. After they had a full discussion, he started a brainstorming session to facilitate better teamwork not only in their own department, but also how to work with other departments more effectively. One idea was to have the customer service department take a tour of the plant to better understand the manufacturing process. This created a sense of common goal – a shared need they all want and can agree upon, which encouraged teamwork rather than alienation. Joe then sat down with the customer service staff to look into the problems that were occurring between their departments.
The general manager and employees were very pleased by the positive results from Joe’s communication training. Customers are receiving their orders on time; accidents have decreased; workmanship has improved so production returns have decreased; and incentive bonuses were awarded to the plant. Proficient communication is not by any means the easiest thing to do. It takes practice, patience and respect, yet the benefits can be immense.
Effective communication not only saves companies money, but also increases their bottom line return! Communication impacts workflow and performance, which in turn improves production and employee satisfaction.
Ellen and Dana Borowka are with Lighthouse Consulting Services in Santa Monica.