When it comes to providing training for the leaders in your organisation, the chances are communication skills is going to be top of the agenda – that’s according to research by the Ken Blanchard Companies consultancy.
Of the 1,400 senior executives asked to give their opinion of the most critical skill a leader can possess when working with others, 43 per cent answered good communication. Effective management skills was ranked second with just 17 per cent of the votes.
Good communication skills include listening and of the top five things leaders fail to do, not listening was ranked second with 81 per cent. In first place (at 82 per cent) was failure to provide appropriate feedback such as praise or redirection.
The survey also asked what mistakes leaders most often made and 41 per cent said inappropriate communication with other members of staff. Second in the list of biggest mistakes was under or over-supervising, directing or delegation with 27 per cent.
The report says: “Too often leaders either don’t communicate, over-communicate, communicate inappropriately through outbursts, anger, or blaming, or simply don’t communicate clearly.
“In addition, leaders may fail to communicate the vision in a way that is meaningful, assuming that direct reports intuitively understand the direction of the company and their role in making this happen.
“Another critical mistake is lack of clear communication regarding roles, goals, expectations, and the importance of specific behaviours or goal accomplishment, all of which undermine individual productivity and performance.
“The ability to listen, read body language, ask questions, provide feedback and generate effective two-way communications builds trust and can prevent performance problems down the road.
“In addition, the ability to comfortably use a variety of communication styles in order to articulate goals and objectives paves the way for healthy working relationships at every level within an organisation. Providing relevant information allows employees to participate fully in their work.”
The full report can be found at:
