It takes a great leader to keep a team moving in the right direction, motivated to do better and work as a cohesive unit. But, it’s not just about the leader alone. How leadership is demonstrated and communicated greatly impacts the level of engagement employees will show. Regardless of the level of skills a person may have, if they are ineffective communicators while they’re in a leadership role, they will not be successful at driving their team forward and building solid employee engagement. Here are some communication tips for leaders to remember, while trying to build and develop employee engagement.
1. Be Present
Things can get hectic in the day to day world of business and management, but it’s important to always take at least a little bit of time to engage with your employees. Even just a short amount of time being actively present can have a huge impact on their perception of you as a leader. If you’re never able to find time to engage with them, you’ll find that they quickly disconnect from you on a personal level and in your leadership role. It could be something as simple as asking how their weekend was – and truly, actively listening to their response. Another great way of showing your interest and being present in their daily lives is through periodic written communications. If you’re stuck on where to even start, Email Excellence gives you templates for all sorts of emails, giving you a jumping off point to get started, and even explaining each element.
2. Do less talking and more listening
In order to truly be engaged in a conversation, it’s got to go both ways – not only do you have to be an active speaker, but you’ve got to be an active listener. Rather than thinking about what the next words you’ll say will be, focus on what is being said by the other person or people. Leadership isn’t about being the loudest in the room, it’s about listening and learning in order to make informed decisions. If you’re doing much of your communication through email, you’ll have plenty of time to carefully read through what the other person is saying before responding. And, in your response, you want to ensure that, not only is it thoughtfully composed, but that it’s also well written and error free. By installing WhiteSmoke, you can automatically check all of your outbound email for errors before they’re sent. So, not only will your response show that you’ve taken what they have had to say into careful consideration, but it will also show that you’ve taken the time to compose an error free response.
3. Instead of asking ‘Who did this?’, ask ‘What can we learn from this?’
Staff will almost always make mistakes. No one is perfect, after all, not even the manager or team leader. It’s important to keep the lines of communication open when mistakes are made, and rather than focusing on who to blame, turn the focus onto what lessons can be learned. By treating an error as a learning opportunity, not only are you helping other staff members avoid the same mistakes in the future, but you’re also keeping the doors of communication open, so staff aren’t afraid to be honest about things in the future that may go wrong. If you’re stumped on how to turn a specific error or event into a learning opportunity, turn to the experts at Essay editing for advice. Because they’re all experienced in the fields they write in, they’ll likely have dealt with similar situations and will be able to see the positive teaching moments.
4. Remain calm and positive
Whether you’re communicating in person or electronically, it’s always vital to stay level headed in any situation. Panic can quickly set in and escalate, so in staying calm in your body language and tone, you’ll be helping to keep the situation under control. If you’re putting together any type of document, no matter if it’s a termination notice or other important communication, it must be written in an even mannered way, in order to remain professional. Docstoc is a great source for commonly used business forms, so you don’t have to start from scratch, giving you professionally written documents for any situation.
5. Know what you’re talking about
You’ve got to have credibility to be an effective leader, and that involves knowing what you’re talking about. It’s essential that you show yourself to be at least, if not more, knowledgeable on the subject than the employees you are leading. How else can they follow your leadership, if they are more of an expert than you are? Get the facts straight, especially in your written communication, because once that’s distributed, it can’t be taken back. If you need a little help in this area, turn to EssayRoo Sydney, whose expert writers are professionals in their fields, so they know the subject inside-out.
6. Show more empathy and less ego
Along with speaking to people like grown ups, rather than children, leaders should show empathy in their communications. That is not to say that a leader needs to be a pushover. But, employees do respond well to leaders who put aside their egos and show that they are caring human beings. That is also not to say that, just because you aren’t letting an over-inflated ego write your emails, you shouldn’t be sending out completely error-free messages. Keep your communications empathetic, while still keeping them free of mistakes with the help of Grammarly.
7. Speak to people as if they are grown-ups
There can sometimes be a tendency to talk down to employees, or speak to them in a demeaning or subservient manner. Remember that respect is always earned, not automatically assumed or given, so by speaking to employees as if they are grown-ups, a leader is showing them a level of respect that they should expect to be reciprocated by the employee. Treat them as if they are children, and chances are you’ll see childlike behavior. Have open communication and trust in them. While you’re putting together emails or other written communications, writing services like UK assignment can compose high quality, professionally written items for you, so you can focus on other areas of business.
Build employee engagement through these communication tips in order to boost your effectiveness as a team leader, and help your team become a better, more united group. A great leader not only does the right things, but also says the right things and demonstrates in their behavior what they wish to see reflected in their employees.
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