Communication Strategies for HR Managers
by Jayanthi Shivakumar
Last week, EnglishCoach conducted a survey on communication challenges in the business scenario as a prelude to a workshop on Business Communication Strategies for HR in Hyderabad.The survey was aimed at collecting the opinions of managers and HR professionals about communication within and outside of teams and whether training could enhance this, as well as how employees and organisations view feedback. The survey showed that 60% respondents found it easy to communicate within the team. However, 80% were unfamiliar with the words and phrases to use while communicating bad news. They also rated their communication skills as average while engaging with audiences beyond the team.
Training efforts to enhance communication skills were found satisfactory by 50%. Also, communication for team building was a problem for 50% of the respondents.
Elaborating on average workday issues, a respondent said that communication challenges were either passed by or not properly understood by staff. Another mentioned that lack of clear communication led to lack of confidence when sharing information related to the organisation. Armed with this insight, we addressed these challenges in a workshop conducted at Jxtapose, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, in conjunction with Valeur Consultancy. It was attended largely by the HR fraternity; however, we also had some operation heads in our midst.
The session started with teams vying with each other to turn one member into an Egyptian mummy by wrapping newspaper around them. This was aimed at drawing out discussions amongst participants on responsiveness, empathy and trust, when faced with completing a task with a time constraint. The participants outdid one another in making the “perfect mummy”, while they took on roles such as team leader, members, and HR manager.
One positive idea that evolved was to not only complete a task within a stipulated time but also to do it well. While relating responsiveness to communication, the pointers were:
- to respond clearly and directly to what the other person tells or does.
- when we are responsive, we show that the situation or task matters to us.
Empathy and trust, which figured in the mummy activity, were related to communication and threw up a lot of pointers. Some of these were:
- to engage in active listening.
- to criticise ideas and not the person.
- to encourage expression of others’ ideas even if unpopular.
- to keep one’s word after committing.
- to be patient and value the goal.
In the one-hour session, we next addressed how to convey negative messages keeping in mind the words & phrases and body language to use in such situations. Participants had to huddle in small groups and chart the do’s and don'ts in such situations.
- to respond clearly and directly to what the other person tells or does.
- when we are responsive, we show that the situation or task matters to us.
Empathy and trust, which figured in the mummy activity, were related to communication and threw up a lot of pointers. Some of these were:
- to engage in active listening.
- to criticise ideas and not the person.
- to encourage expression of others’ ideas even if unpopular.
- to keep one’s word after committing.
- to be patient and value the goal.
In the one-hour session, we next addressed how to convey negative messages keeping in mind the words & phrases and body language to use in such situations. Participants had to huddle in small groups and chart the do’s and don'ts in such situations.
Some positive pointers from this activity:
- Use simple and inclusive language
- Avoid repeating negative words like problem, mistake etc., and using words such as challenge, issue etc.
- Replace vague words like maybe, probably, you know etc., with words and phrases such as I am certain, positive, sure and so on, which project one as capable of handling the task at hand.
Body language tips while conveying negative messages were:
- Maintaining a steady tone and an even pitch of voice
- Using open and neutral posture and gestures
- Mirroring the other person’s emotion to connect and dissipate negative feelings
- Being energetic and seeming capable without projecting oneself as arrogant or aggressive
The participants shared many instances of such sticky situations from work, and how they had handled them.
- Use simple and inclusive language
- Avoid repeating negative words like problem, mistake etc., and using words such as challenge, issue etc.
- Replace vague words like maybe, probably, you know etc., with words and phrases such as I am certain, positive, sure and so on, which project one as capable of handling the task at hand.
Body language tips while conveying negative messages were:
- Maintaining a steady tone and an even pitch of voice
- Using open and neutral posture and gestures
- Mirroring the other person’s emotion to connect and dissipate negative feelings
- Being energetic and seeming capable without projecting oneself as arrogant or aggressive
The participants shared many instances of such sticky situations from work, and how they had handled them.
The workshop culminated with EnglishCoach sharing a framework for communication, which would assist HR professionals with the effective delivery of messages regularly. The participative audience with their enthusiasm to share ideas made it an invigorating and engaging evening.
