Communication and Teamwork
How a leader can encourage dialogue and information sharing
Do your team members communicate openly with you? Do you find out information after the fact? Do you allow your team to disagree with your decisions?
Creating a corporate culture where there are open lines of communication is vital for productivity and business goal attainment. Be aware of how your team communicates with you. If team members are "yes" people and never challenge your ideas or you find information comes to you later than you'd like, it is time to re-evaluate the cultural parameters you've created.
3. Do your team members feel free to disagree with you?
Some leaders feel that subordinates that disagree are showing disrespect and being insubordinate. Certainly if they are disagreeing without cause, that can be a sign of insubordination but no one is perfect and encouraging staff to present an opposing viewpoint and the rationale behind the argument can prevent costly mistakes or poor decision making. Frequently frontline workers have valuable insights as they are the point of contact with customers. It is very important to open the lines of communication so that you can receive this customer feedback. Try to not be defensive when your decisions are challenged and instead ask questions so that you fully understand why they think you are making the wrong decision. The more information you have, the better.
4. Do you have an open door policy?
How approachable you are will influence how many surprises you receive. If you are constantly finding out information too late, it may be because your team does not feel free to communicate with you. How have you created a climate based on fear? Do you threaten them with loss of their jobs, loss of resources or increased overtime? Do you lose your temper frequently over mistakes? Threats delivered overtly or subliminally will only create a climate of fear and a total communication breakdown.
In the next article, Change Management and Innovation: How a leader can effectively communicate change initiatives and encourage innovation in a team, we'll look at the questions:
5. Do your team members react to change initiatives well?
6. Are team members innovative and creative?
If you have comments or suggestions on this article, please start a discussion
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Copyright © 2006, Joni Rose and Suite 101. All rights reserved. Any unauthorized use will constitute an infringement of copyright.
