Reflect on the eight
attributes of supportive communication and detail how you might apply those
over the next 30 days in your job to avoid some of the problems associated with
this communication.
In a very
blunt email by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at a technology company named
Cerna, managers were reprimanded for the appearance that they were not spending
enough time in the office. The number of hours an individual spends at work can
be a sensitive topic. Executive leaders are often driven to even longer hours,
leading them to look down on anyone who isn’t working as much as they are. Yet employees
at all levels of the organization feel as if they already spend too many hours
in the office. On top of all of this, companies have a habit of rewarding the
employees who come in first and leave last, even while advertising their
support of a healthy work-life balance through posters on the wall. The time
spent at a physical work location brings with it the perception that someone is
more committed than their neighbor who may be working remotely. Even if this is
a false perception, its existence is a reality.
Although
time keeping is a sensitive issue, there are several effective ways to address
it without creating unnecessary conflict and hard feelings. There are some
employees in my workplace who don’t show up at their desks as frequently as
they should, which means that myself (and likely many others) are harboring the
same type of thoughts as the Cerna CEO. Even if the absent workers are doing just
as much work as those in the office, it is important for teams to see each
other periodically in order to maximize group effectiveness. “When a single
team member works remotely, they don’t have an equal opportunity to build the
same kind of relationships as members of the team who see each other every day”
(Moore, 2017).
In order
to address a problem employee in my workplace over the next thirty days, I plan
to approach the conversation in a way that enables productive discussion and
strengths relationships. To begin, it’s important to take the communication out
of cyberspace and actually look someone in the eyes. “The ability to effectively
communicate face to face is the characteristic judged by managers to be most critical
in determining promotability” (Whetton and Cameron, 2016, p. 191). In the
highly technological world we live in today, it’s tempting to let email deliver
the message, but the quality of communication plunders when this approach is
chosen.
Over the
next thirty days, I plan to practice each of Whetton and Cameron’s (2016) eight
attributes of supportive communication. First, I’ll start with properly
describing the problem, but doing so in a way that doesn’t appear to judge or
evaluate the behavior of the employee. I will also merge this with attribute eight,
which encourages supportive listening and asking for feedback from the other
person. I will start this conversation with my teammate by stating something like:
“Jane, I’ve noticed that you only spend one day each week in the office, which
makes me concerned that you’re not getting to benefit from the interaction with
other team members. How would you feel about coming into the office at least
three days per week?”
Next, it
will be important for me to communicate in a way that matches my feelings,
which means avoiding the instinct to sugar-coat the message to reduce potential
conflict. This means I should say: “It’s unfair for me to treat you differently
than team,” instead of showing incongruence. An incongruent statement might make
it sounds as if I’m just delivering a message on behalf of someone else in an
attempt to deflect conflict. This is not supportive communication and is less
effective than being honest about the actual issue.
With
congruence comes the need to keep things focused on the problem and use
specifics (Whetton & Cameron, 2016). If I said something like “Jane, you
don’t work as hard as everyone else,” this would be person-oriented messaging.
Instead, I could say “Jane, policy requires all employees to be in the office
at least three days per week.” By rewording the statement, it becomes both
problem-oriented and specific, while addressing the same issue.
Even
though other team members have voiced their frustration over Jane’s absence, it’s
important that I take responsibility as the one delivering the message. To do
this, I have to avoid saying that others have asked me to talk to Jane and
instead say that I am addressing the situation as a result of my own thoughts
and feelings.
As the
conversation progresses, there should be opportunity for back and forth dialogue,
which is where speaking with validation and conjunction are important. In order
to facilitate interaction, I would consider saying something like “do you have any
ideas on how else we could meet the policy but also give you the flexibility
you need to manage your workload?” This may provide an opportunity to further
expand on the problem with conjunctive communication: “as a follow up to my
earlier statement, it’s also important that the team and I can reach you when
you’re working remotely, but I have had trouble getting through on your mobile
when you’re not in the office.” Conjunctive communication enables individuals
to address multiple aspects of an issue in a single conversation.
Through
the use of Whetton & Cameron’s (2016) eight attributes of supportive communication,
the CEO from Cerna could have avoided the negative response he likely received
from followers. Face-to-face, two-way communication is an essential starting
point on the path towards achieving effective communication. On top of this,
use of a friendly tone, a smile, and relaxed posture can create a more inviting
atmosphere and further enable positive interpersonal relationships (Doyle,
2017).
References
Doyle, A. (2017). Communication skills for workplace
success. The Balance. Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/communication-skills-list-2063779
Moore, S. (2017). Remote workers don’t have to be your
team’s black sheep. Fortune.
Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2017/05/17/leadership-career-advice-working-remotely-remote-workers-home-telecommuting/
Whetton, D. A. & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing management skills, 9th ed.
Boston, MA: Pearson.
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