Managing is Listening
Managers are usually entrusted with many responsibilities: they have to execute plans, track projects, manage budgets, communicate with stockholders, and manage their subordinates. And, while managers often wear different hats day to day, they are always required to be 100% focused on everything under their umbrella, because major decisions depend on them.
In the article, “Managers + Communication = Results,” I reflected upon how communication is important in the workplace, and the fact that managers need to communicate effectively and frequently at all levels of the organization, especially with their subordinates.
However, there is one form of communication that I “intentionally” left out from my previous article, because I wanted to explore it in more detail and length — listening.
People all over appreciate being given the time to be heard, e.g., to vent or complain about something they are going through whether it be in their personal or professional life. How many of us have been faced with a friend/girlfriend/sibling/wife/parent who just needed to talk, and at the end of the conversation, said to you, “Thank you for listening to me”? And, while our natural response is usually,”No problem” or “I didn’t do anything except listen,” the action on its own is what mattered. Furthermore, since communication is basically the action of relaying information — whether through being on the sending or receiving end — then listening, by the same virtue, is communicating.
In the world of business, listening can have a big impact on organizational results. The way information is communicated (usually top-to-bottom, according to most corporate hierarchies), it is important to also consider relaying information bottom-to-top. Therefore, executives need to listen to what senior managers are saying, senior managers need to listen what managers are saying and managers need and must listen to what their staff are saying to them.
It is truly unfortunate these days to see how management at all levels turn a deaf ear (pardon the saying) to their staff’s needs, thinking, “If we ignore them, they will stop asking.” This notion has led many companies to alter their policies from one of caring about their staff needs to help them increase their productivity to one of simply opting to replace any individual that constantly complains about workplace issues.
While I agree that managers should not immediately act upon issues being brought to their attention until a thorough investigation takes place, I tend to believe that, when an issue is being raised by a group of people, it should be considered serious, due to the number of people complaining about the same thing.
Listening is one of those soft skills that don’t improve by taking courses or through learning; although one can learn how to improve one’s listening, it requires practice to be a good listener, and the more you practice, the better you get at it. This is because the reactions from someone who listens will be different from someone who does not. Managers (of course) are encouraged to listen effectively, and to do so, they should focus on the following:
Listening with an Open Mind
Management is difficult, and a lot of managers get that. I tend to think of it as parenting, but on a much larger scale, because it involves a huge deal of coaching and guiding (which is what competent managers are supposed to do). Furthermore, to be a good manager, one must master the art of listening with an open mind.
I indicated before that, for managers to be professional, they should’t involve their personal feelings and emotions in their judgment. They must also do the same when listening to their staff’s issues and problems. I remember a time — a million years ago — working in IT during one of my summers, where I made a decision that didn’t go well with my manager. I had moved a printer from one place to another in the office, as I felt the new location would serve everyone better. My manager, who was also the owner of the company, asked why I did this. I explained my rationale and he flipped out at me, telling me (in front of the entire office) to return the printer back to where it was and to never do anything without his permission. The embarrassment I felt that day was indescribable.
This is just one little example where a manager not only refused to listen, but also did not accept anything that did not align with his views, disregarding immediately any action that they did not recommend in order to feed their incompetent ego.
Many studies on management, and modern regulation on management styles, push for managers to spend an adequate amount of time with their staff and listen to them in an attempt to work with them to solve any issues they might face or concerns they may have — this is essential and a must. It’s not optional anymore, because otherwise organizations will find that staff choose to leave such an unsupportive environment (simply put).
Strategic Listening
This is one is a bit hard to explain!
As my current finance professor keeps on saying, a manager’s main goal is to increase the shareholders’ value in a company (of course, in financial terms). However, this statement could apply to a wide range of managers, because, ultimately, managers’ goals are to complete projects on time and on budget. BUT, managers are not the ones who are doing the actual work to deliver projects (and, by managers, I mean all levels of management).
To listen strategically means management should always listen to the professionals who are actually doing the work! Yes, pushing their staff to deliver on time is what managers are supposed to do, and there is some wisdom in that, but listening to the people who are actually doing the work and the challenges they are facing to deliver a project is an important factor in delivering a quality project. To ignore all of that and just insist on things being delivered on time and to threaten employees with penalties if things do not go as planned, that’s a big mistake any manager can do. In fact, this could bring down staff morale over time; instead of having a team that is full of energy and committment to their work, an ineffective manager will be stuck with a disengaged team that will just want to do what they are supposed to do and leave when the clock strikes the end of the workday, without any passion for the project.
Again, management is not easy — that’s why many professionals opt to stay away from it — but management is like art: it requires the mastery of many skills to be able to manage people effectively. However, once these skills are mastered, a very artistic image of efficiency, engagement and optimal performance can be drawn, and management itself could turn into a very rewarding career.
