If you’ve just been promoted, this is obviously for you. If you have been in your role for awhile, but your relationship and communication with your boss/supervisor/leader isn’t perfect, this will be of great help to you too.
If your relationships and communication with those you lead isn’t where you would like it to be, you need this information too. The advice that follows is most effective, and probably easiest, if done from the beginning, right after you have been promoted. If you are past the first weeks or months, this list may help you identify the gaps that could improve your relationship and communication with others.
Five conversations you must have with others
- Getting to know them. Some people reading this are cringing, saying something like, “Business is business. I don’t need to know everything about my boss/employees/coworkers and vice versa.” That’s true on some level; however, the reality is that relationships drive all sorts of organizational success. Different people have different relationship needs, and they desire a different depth of relationship at work, but relationships always matter. Your job is to do what you can to figure out the relationship needs of other people and do you best to improve those relationships. That doesn’t mean you say “Hey boss/employee/coworker, can we have a getting to know each other conversation?” Rather make learning about others a natural part of your day-to-day conversations.
- Clarifying expectations. We all know job descriptions don’t tell the full job story. If you want to be successful, you need to know what your boss expects of you and what success looks like to him or her. You also need to let your employees know what you expect of them. Meet with your boss or employees to establish a list of expectations and goals.
- Understanding goals. Goals likely go beyond expectations. Let your boss know what your goals are, both personally and professionally. In addition, ask your employees about their own personal and professional goals. When your boss offers you support, and you offer your employees support, you all have a better chance of reaching your goals.
- Setting the stage for help. In a new job, you might want or need help and assistance, as do your employees. However, many like to put on the John Wayne “I-can-do-it-myself” hat, assuming asking for help shows weakness. While you don’t want to go to your boss to solve everything, and you certainly want to discourage that behavior in employees, receiving coaching from your boss and coaching your staff will ensure that everyone gets up to speed as quickly as possible, and it reduces time-draining and costly errors.
- Agreeing on communication strategies. With your boss and employees, you need to agree on how to communicate. Should you use email? How often should you meet face-to-face? How will you handle informal exchanges? The more you can build common ground here, the more successful you will be. A huge percentage of workplace conflicts and challenges stem from a lack of agreement on communication needs and the misunderstandings that stem from that lack of agreement. Having this conversation will alleviate or eliminate those challenges.
All five of these topics might be handled in one conversation, but more likely they will evolve over a (hopefully short) period of time. If you have been in your role for awhile, perhaps this article will help you find areas for new or deeper conversations. Either way, success in those five conversations will lead to greater productivity, less stress and a better working relationship with others. Who wouldn’t want that?
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