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Supportive Communication

Imagine...

You are a manager at Cerner Health Technology and you receive the following email message from the CEO:

“We are getting less than 40 hours of work from a large number of our K.C.-based EMPLOYEES. The parking lot is sparsely used at 8:00 A.M.; likewise at 5 P.M. As managers – you either do not know what your EMPLOYEES are doing, or you do not CARE. You have created expectations on the work effort that allowed this to happen inside Cerner, creating a very unhealthy environment. In either case, you have a problem and you will fix it or I will replace you. NEVER in my career have I allowed a team that worked for me to think they had a 40-hour job. I have allowed YOU to create a culture that is permitting this. NO LONGER.” 

Image From: 
https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/angry-boss-shouting-people-office_8608919.htm
 

Obstacles: Defensiveness & Disconfirmation

The content of this message immediately made me feel defensive and put-down. The CEO made several statements about the problem that they perceive, but perhaps most harmfully their message was people-oriented rather than problem-oriented and a prime example of one-way communication (Whetten & Cameron, 2016). The CEO identified that employees working fewer than 40 hours per week as a major operational problem. The realities of that "problem" aside, the accusation that managers don't know or care what their employees are doing immediately puts managers on high alert and into a state of fear to lose their jobs. When we are emotionally charged it makes it difficult for us to respond and plan appropriately to satiations and feedback. If the CEO intended to scare their managers, I believe that they were successful. If they wanted to change their employee's behavior then I'm not sure if this email would get that done.

Attributes of supportive communication

When managers communicate with their team supportively they can avoid the negative emotional responses that are impediments to effective communication, According to Whetten & Cameron (2016) there are eight attributes of supportive communication; supportive communication is;

Congruent, Not Incongruent 

Descriptive, Not Evaluative 

Problem-Oriented, Not Person Oriented

Validating, Not Invalidating

Specific, Not Global

Conjunctive, Not Disjunctive

Owned, Not Disowned 

& 

Supportive Listening, Not One-Way Listening

While it sounds to me like the CEO could use a lesson on all eight elements of supportive communication here I will focus on supportive listening. Communicating a message widely to a group of employees can be a challenge, and supportive communication requires supportive listening and managers are probably not feeling empowered to respond to this message(Whetten & Cameron, 2016). It is difficult to listen when sending out a message, effectively an ultimatum to your team. I believe that an effective leader does not dictate behaviors to their team, rather, they should collaborate with them to identify the crux of the problem and work with them still to identify potential problems. In this example, the leader had identified the problem, and a consequence if it was not solved, but they did not work to come up with a solution with the managers responsible. Perhaps a more effective communication method would have been to hold a company wide meeting to discuss performance outcomes and time worked by employees. 

In my day-to-day work, I am responsible for communicating messages to my students and advising them on their choices in academic matters. In order to do this effectively, I must ask probing questions to help me gather more information and ensure I understand the situation adequately prior to rendering my advice. I cannot advise a student properly until I have listened to them and understand their goals, limitations, and capabilities. 


References

Whetten, D. A. & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing management skills, 9th ed. Pearson.

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