The_Essential_Manager_s_Handbook

242 / UNDERSTANDING COMMUNICATION SKILLS

Communicating at work

Tailoring your approach

Several factors alter the way we look

at communication in the business

context. We all have a personal

communication style, but within an

organization you often have to adapt

your approach to accommodate the

needs of those you work with and work

for. If you put the preferences of your

audience—particularly your boss and

your clients—above your own, you will

often get what you want faster. The way

you communicate also depends on your

position within the organization. The

higher your level of responsibility,

the more you have to take into account

when communicating. And as you

become more accountable, you need

to keep better records—a form of

communication to yourself that

may later be read by others.

Listening to your team

Organizations, like the people who work

in them, are in constant flux. Businesses

change by necessity with the conditions

of the marketplace and the lives of

the managers who run them. Your

communications must adapt to the

conditions in which you find yourself.

However, this never constitutes a reason

for signing your name to a document that

is false, or passing along information

that you know isn’t true.

Communication is a skill that is central to the human experience.

We each know how to do it; we’ve done it since birth and receive

additional practice each day. So why is it so difficult to communicate on

the job? As a manager, it is important to understand how the workplace

changes the nature of communication, for both sender and receiver.

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