Reader Question: Wendy is the senior manager at Apco, a professional services firm. She’s been with the firm for 27 years and has seen a lot of interesting things in that time. She has built a fine career around being considered one of the most technically competent people in her field. Lately, however, she’s been struggling with the new software that has come out that is “supposed” to make her job easier. She wishes things could just go back to the old way of doing things. She asks a new member of her team, Ryan, the fresh college recruit, to assist her with the software.
Ryan shoots Wendy an instant message explaining to her how to operate the new software. He’s using words Wendy has never even heard before. She’s having trouble visualizing what he is talking about in the instant message. She wishes he had just come over to show her personally.
Our take:
Effective communication in the workplace is the primary building block to team success. Barriers to effective communication are often culturally driven, age gap driven, technology gap driven, and gender driven. Even just by understanding that these barriers exist can make us much better communicators, both as senders and receivers of communication. Managers can effectively develop communication skills in their teams by constantly providing opportunities for team members to develop their communication skills through activities. Refer to some of our older posts for activity ideas for refining communication skills on your team.
photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mugur/63045951/
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