Practical Coach: Management Skills for Everyday Life, The

Video Case: Case 2: Communicating

Although many managers experience much of the day-to-day formal and information communication in their jobs as a distraction from their real work, effective managers understand that communication is the real work of managers. They know that planned and unplanned communication is critical to building all-important relationships, obtaining timely information, developing support for their ideas, and enhancing employee performance.

Active listening and giving effective feedback are two of the most critical communication skills that managers can have. Active listening requires that we listen carefully to others on their own terms, resisting the tendency to quickly judge or evaluate them on what they are saying. It ...