Facilities Check List
Practical, step-by-step guides for the busy FM
June 2001
How Supervisors can improve communications in their organizations
Communications is the lifeblood of any organization. When communications are good, information flows smoothly,delivering clear messages that people can easily understand and act on. When it is not, confusion leads to misunderstanding,inaction or wrong actions.
This article, and next month’s, will discuss various kinds of barriers to effective communication in organizations and whatsupervisors can do to overcome them. Some of these barriers have their origins in the actions of message senders andreceivers. Others are based on differences in personal communication styles or linguistic styles.
This month, we will look at supervisors as message senders. Supervisors may create barriers to effective communicationwhen they act as senders. When the messages are unclear, incomplete, or difficult to understand, when they are sent via aninappropriate medium, or when no provision for feedback is made, communication suffers.
Next month, we will discuss the barriers that occur when supervisors, as receivers, pay no attention to a message or makeno effort to understand its meaning.
To overcome these barriers to effective communication, supervisors must possess or develop certain communication skills.Some of these skills are particularly important when supervisors send messages.
Supervisors As Senders
Organizational effectiveness depends on supervisors being able to send messages to people both inside and outside theorganization. Let’s look at the communication skills supervisors need to make sure their messages are properlyunderstood.
Send clear and complete messages. A message is clear when it is easy for the receiver to understand and interpret,and it is complete when it contains all the information that the sender and receiver need to reach a common understanding. Instriving to send messages that are both clear and complete, supervisors must learn to anticipate how receivers will interpretmessages and to adjust messages to eliminate sources of misunderstanding. For example, a memo to the grounds crew saying:”We must pay more attention to the appearance of the grounds” is vague and can be understood a number of ways. However,the intent of a memo saying: “I want you to mow the lawn once a week” is clear and easily understood.
Use language the receiver understands. Supervisors need to appreciate that people have differing language abilities,so they should use language that the receiver understands. For example, when sending messages in English to receivers whosenative language is not English, it is important to use commonplace vocabulary and to avoid cliches that, when translated, maymake little sense.
Jargon is a specialized language that members of an occupation, group or organization develop to facilitate communicationamong themselves. Jargon should never be used when communicating with people outside the group familiar with it. Forexample, truck drivers refer to compact cars as “roller skates” and highway dividing lines as “paints.” Truckers cancommunicate effectively among themselves using this jargon, but if they use this language to send a message to a non-trucker,such as “that roller skate can’t stay off the paint,” the receiver would not understand it.
Select a medium appropriate for the message: Supervisors can choose from a variety of communication media,including face-to-face discussions, letters, memos, newsletters, phone conversations, e-mail, voice mail, faxes andvideoconferences, when relying on verbal communication. When choosing among these media, supervisors need to take intoaccount the level of information richness required, time constraints, and the need for a paper or electronic trail. A primary concern in choosing an appropriate medium is the nature of the message. Is it personal, important, not routine, likelyto be misunderstood? If it is, face-to-face communication is likely to be in order.
Select a medium that the receiver monitors. Another factor that supervisors need to take into account whenselecting a communication medium is whether the medium is one that the receiver monitors. People differ in the amount ofattention they pay to different communication media. Many supervisors simply select the communication medium that theythemselves use the most, but this can often lead to ineffective communication. Some people who dislike telephone conversationsand too many face-to-face interactions may prefer to use e-mail. Others, who prefer to communicate in person may havee-mail address but rarely use e-mail and forget to check for messages.
Avoid filtering and distorting information. “Filtering” occurs when senders withhold part of a message because theymistakenly think that the receiver does not need the information or will not want to receive it. Filtering can take place at all levelsin an organization. Operating employees may filter their messages to supervisors, supervisors may filter message to middlemanagers, and so on. Senders are most likely to filter messages that contain bad news or problems they are afraid they will beblamed for.
Information “distortion” occurs when the meaning of a message changes as the message passes through a series of sendersand receivers. Some information distortion is accidental, such as omitting words while retyping a memo. Other distortion isdeliberate. Senders may alter a message to make themselves or their groups look good.
Supervisors themselves should avoid filtering and distorting information. They should also create an atmosphere of trust tominimize incentives to distort messages. Employees who trust their supervisors believe that they will not be blamed for thingsbelong their control and will be treated fairly. Supervisors who trust their employees provide them with clear and completeinformation and do not hold things back.
Build a feedback mechanism into messages. Feedback is essential for effective communication. Supervisors shouldbuild a feedback mechanism into the messages they send, either including a request for feedback or indicating when and howthey will follow up on a message to make sure that it was understood. When supervisors send written messages, they canrequest that the receiver respond in a letter, memo or fax; schedule a meeting to discuss the issue; or to follow up with a phonecall. By building feedback mechanisms such as these into their messages, supervisors ensure that they are heard andunderstood.
Next month’s article, “Communications II: Supervisors as Receivers,” will address skills supervisors need to beeffective message receivers.
This installment of FM Check List is adapted from BOMI Institute’s Administration(www.bomi-edu.org/12121.html), course in BOMI Institute’s Systems Maintenance Administrator (SMA) program.
