Management The importance of managerial communication

Being a good communicator as a manager means much more than simply conveying information or giving instructions. It’s about sharing a vision, direction, and goals in a clear, effective, and constructive manner while fostering an open, two-way exchange. This type of communication boosts efficiency, productivity, and engagement while playing a key role in employee retention. However, communicating effectively as a manager remains a challenge. Between the challenges, essential skills, and tools at your disposal, discover the keys to excelling in the art of managerial communication.

What are the challenges of managerial communication?

1. Strategic alignment: Good managerial communication ensures that the company’s strategic objectives are communicated at all levels and that missions are executed in a common direction.
2. Employee motivation and performance: An employee who understands their role in achieving shared goals increases their willingness to get involved. Furthermore, knowing how to thank and congratulate spontaneously and regularly is a source of commitment, motivation, and confidence for employees and, ultimately competitiveness for the company.
3. Change management: During organizational changes, regular, clear, and transparent managerial communication plays a key role in explaining the reasons for the change, supporting employees in the transition, alleviating concerns, and thus reducing resistance to change and the risk of crisis.
4. Conflict prevention and management: Regular and attentive communication between team members allows for the rapid identification of existing tensions or misunderstandings and thus their rapid resolution.
5. Stimulates innovation and creativity: When we’re not afraid of making mistakes or being judged, we’re more daring. Also, positive managerial communication that encourages and supports inevitably stimulates the sharing of new ideas.
6. Strengthening corporate culture: Managers must embody the company’s culture, both in their actions and their words. Managerial communication, both verbal and non-verbal, focused on the company’s values ​​and vision helps create a sense of belonging among employees, thereby helping to retain them.
7. Reducing turnover and absenteeism: communicating monthly on financial results, events, and internal opportunities and offering a free and open space for each employee to speak, so that everyone can express themselves and feel valued are inseparable elements of employee well-being.
8. Successful employee onboarding: When a new employee arrives, the manager is responsible for conveying knowledge, objectives, and the company’s strategy, as well as briefing teams so they can contribute to the success of this integration. Finally, listening skills—an integral part of managerial communication—are key to quickly identifying challenges and dissatisfaction so that they can act quickly and prevent premature termination.
9. Company reputation: Well-managed communication during a crisis is crucial for building team buy-in and trust, thereby protecting the company’s image. But beyond crises, when managers communicate effectively with their teams, it promotes employee satisfaction. Employees, who, externally, act as true ambassadors to their network.

What skills are required for good managerial communication?

• Active listening

This is an essential skill to have when you are called upon to manage a team. It is about knowing how to listen to your collaborator without interrupting them , in an attentive and non-directive manner so that they can express themselves freely without fear of being judged or exposing themselves to reprisals, then, to synthesize and reformulate their words to ensure that there are no misunderstandings. Collaborators who are listened to are collaborators who will not hesitate to open up more about their expectations and concerns.

• Empathy

This skill is part of what is called emotional intelligence . It involves being able to put yourself in other people’s shoes, understanding their emotions and perspectives. This allows you to better meet the needs of team members, manage conflicts , and create a healthy work environment where everyone feels free to express themselves with confidence.

• Charisma

Charisma allows you to capture the attention of your audience, structure your arguments convincingly, and use body language and tone of voice to reinforce your message. This ability to persuade is essential for getting ideas across, gaining support for changes, or resolving conflicts.

• Adaptability

A manager with good communication skills knows how to adapt their style to suit the audience. They understand that each team member may have different communication preferences or needs and adjust their approach to ensure everyone understands them.

• The feedback

A crucial aspect of managerial communication is the ability to give feedback constructively. A good manager knows how to give criticism inpositivelyemphasizing possible improvements without discouraging or demotivating his or her employees.

• Integrity

A lack of integrity in managerial communication can be disastrous. For example, blaming one of your colleagues when you alone are responsible would destroy all credibility and legitimacy, or failing to communicate frankly during times of crisis or change would risk creating rumors or, worse, losing employee engagement.

What are the tools of managerial communication?

Managerial communication relies on several tools that allow managers to transmit information, motivate teams, coordinate activities and foster a coherent corporate culture.

Here are the main tools of managerial communication:

• Group meeting: to share objectives, monitor projects, and resolve problems as a group;
• Individual meetings: to provide space for personalized feedback, performance assessment , and professional development;
• Emails: to communicate formally, and idisseminateimportant information, reports, directives, etc.;
• Instant messaging (Slack, Teams, etc.): for quick and informal communication;
• Corporate intranet / social network  to centralize information, internal policies, andd resources but also to celebrate successes and performances;
• Dashboards and reports  for employees to visualize performance, key indicators, andd project progress;
• Satisfaction surveys  to measure the working climate and identify areas for improvement;
• Seminars and workshops:t o exchange ideas, solve problems an, and strengthen team spirit;
• Team-building:t o strengthen team cohesion informally;
• Team lunches: otodiscuss professional topics in a relaxed manner, strengthen relationships between team members, and, discuss less formal topics;
• Idea boxe : to encourage the sharing of ideas and suggestions from employees throughout the year;
• Annual performance reviews: alow both employees and managers to provide feedback and express their future needs and expectations.

Managerial communication can be written or oral, more or less formal, downward (from the manager to his colleagues), upward (from the manager to his hierarchy) or e, ven transversal (from the manager to other managers/departments of the organization).

It is up to the manager to choose the most appropriate communication medium based on the objectives, context, personalities and level of responsibility of his or her interlocutors.