Complex Communication Skills for Managers

As you move upwards in your organization, your communications become more complex, thereby putting greater demands on your communication skills.  Effective leadership communication, therefore, calls for an array of specific skills that you can apply when necessary.  These skills are divided into three levels – core skills, managerial skills, and corporate skills – which correspond to your level of leadership.

Core skills include writing, speaking and strategizing, and these will be applied continuously and with increasing importance as you move upwards.  Now that you‘ve moved into management, however, a new list of additional communication skills comes into play, and your successful performance as a manager depends on the effective application of these skills.  To ensure that your management communication skills are in place, let’s briefly review them.

First, as a manager, you’re making key decisions to make sure your targets and KPIs are met.  You’re anticipating problems before they arise and solving them when they do.  To do this, you rely on consistent sources of upline and downline information.  That’s why listening is now your most important communication skill.

Second, as a manager, you’re working not only to get the best from your staff, but to challenge and develop them so they can contribute to your organization with greater value.  In this way, you contribute towards developing a pool of readily available talent that’s there when your organization needs it.  That’s why coaching and mentoring are also key communication skills. 

Third, as a manager, you supervise teams working on specific projects and aiming for specific targets.  Ensuring that they meet their objectives requires that you are constantly updated on their progress so that you can strategize and delegate accordingly.  That’s why running an effective business meeting is another important management communication skill.

Fourth, as a manager, you realize that your corporate environment affects how work is accomplished.  When productivity slows, you need to press the correct buttons to motivate or discipline as necessary within the context of a diverse workforce.  That’s why cultural intelligence is a critical communication skill for you.

Finally, as a manager, you are a role model and you need to recognize and manage your own emotions on the job.  Additionally, you need to recognize and manage the emotions of others to control on-the-job conflict.  Your conduct will affect how your staff conducts themselves.  That’s why emotional intelligence is another key management communication skill.

Effective communicators make better leaders.  Knowing the leadership communication skills you need leads to using them successfully.