How to Communicate With Employees

If forced to go long during a meeting, Galbreath tries to keep his audience engaged with a compelling moment every few minutes. "I'm going to give them a giggle, or an 'aha,' or something that is going to engage them at a deeper level than just listening," he says.

Recognize good work. If your message is always negative, it won't be heard. Balance criticism with compliments. Do this two ways: Thank employees personally for their efforts, and hold up their behavior as an example to the organization.

Prepare for meetings. Whether your meeting is one on one or in a group, plan what you are going to say and how you will say it. It's important to tailor the delivery to its audience, says Tweedy. "If I brought in an employee who likes direction and formality, and if I presented none of that, they would take my communication as less valid, because it's not what they're accustomed to."

Understand unspoken signals. Body language, for example, can undermine a spoken message. Slouch while disciplining a staff member, for instance, and your demeanor might be read as uncertainty -- or as a lack of interest in the problem you are trying to fix. Even where you hold the meeting can be suggestive: Calling an underling into your office, for example, emphasizes your hierarchical advantage and could affect the dynamics of your conversation; visiting an employee in his office, on the other hand, emphasizes collegiality and could result in more open discussion.

Follow up. When a message needs reinforcement, follow up afterward with a memo or note that recapitulates the conversation.

Listening to Your Employees

Successful communication is a two-way street. If management is doing all the talking, employees tend to tune out. What's more, the people doing the real work of the company often have the best suggestions for improving it and are often the first to see danger approaching.

Create formal feedback mechanisms. Establish a mechanism for input, such as a suggestion box or a hotline. Ensure anonymity if necessary.

Take input seriously. Otherwise, employees will see through the window dressing, which can actually make things worse. "Just because someone gives you a suggestion doesn't mean you have to implement it," says Patricia Veesart, a regional director of the Kansas Small Business Development Center. "But if you don't, you ought to offer some kind of explanation."

Check management attitude. Employees will keep quiet if they perceive that the company culture and management discourage, if even subtly, risk taking, or show downright hostility to questions. According to one recent study, if employees don't think company managers and their policies are fair, all the staff feedback in the world won't create a good employer-employee relationship.

Reward feedback. According to researchers from the Harvard Business Review, employees have difficulty weighing the immediate risks of speaking up against the uncertainty of being recognized and rewarded for the contribution. Managers, they suggest, might "tailor their reward systems so that employees share more directly in the cost savings or revenue streams they help create by volunteering ideas."

In Person or in Writing?

Choosing the medium for a message depends on your office culture. E-mail is increasingly acceptable, even for conveying important information. But there are exceptions. As a general rule, anything that requires development of an interpersonal relationship with an employee requires face-to-face communication. That includes first-time instruction, coaching, counseling, significant delegation, conflict resolution, and, especially, delivering bad news.

Urgent matters, too, are best handled in person. Written messages are often read with divided attention or even ignored for a while; to ensure full and immediate focus on a matter, deliver the message orally.

Finally, recognize that words on a page or screen lack the context, tone, and nonverbal cues that help people understand your meaning in person. When in doubt, talk face to face.