How can communication skills help in resolving management issues?

In just about every way.

First, it’ll help identify where a problem is occurring. When even one person on a team has exceptional communication skills, they’re able to provide a place for others to open up about what’s going wrong and why.

Second, it will allow people who are coming from two different mindsets to start to see the other’s point of view. (Communication, after all, is as much about how we receive information as it is how we share it.)

Third, it will increase productivity—nothing slows down a team’s effectiveness like a lack of communication. If team members are able to quickly and efficiently share information, they’ll move faster.

Fourth, when things do go wrong, and a team member needs to get back on track, it will help provide clarity without condemnation.

While I don’t believe that good communication skills are the only thing required to be a good manager, I do believe you can’t be an excellent manager without them.

What is the most overlooked skill when dealing with customer interactions?

A sense of humor.

Not laughing at the customer, in the moment. But I’ve seen challenging customer interactions be handled successfully only for the representative to go into the break room and start full volume screaming.

I’ve seen others nearly have a panic attack because they made a mistake in front of a customer.

It’s not easy, but being able to appreciate people’s foibles and absurdities (including their own) will greatly extend a customer service representative’s stability in a position.

What are the most effective team building initiatives? How do I get a better return on time and resource invested?

I recommend steering away, at least initially, from team building exercises in the form of retreats and games. Those can be used later on to bond those who already work well together, but expecting a ropes course or a cup stacking exercise to change the effectiveness of a team is bit like planting an apple tree and expecting oranges.

Start by answering a few questions:
What kinds of problems does your team need to tackle on a day to day basis?
What metrics are you looking to hit?
What tools do you need to use or are allowed to use to accomplish the required tasks?

Then either select or build a task that uses and requires these same skills and tools but can be completed in a day (or an hour, or a week—whatever the length of your training time). If Joe always needs to build a spreadsheet that then Sally, Joaquim, and Denise add data to, and Latasha collates that data… well, make sure that is required of them in this exercise. If your team never works on one project at once, but always has at least three things going, build three to five mini projects that they practice balancing.

Before you begin, lay out clear, but challenging, goals for the project. If speed is your issue, try for 1.5x or 2x as fast as you have been going. If accuracy is your issue, layout your goal for 100% accuracy, even if you have to go more slowly and add team members double checking each others work. As your starting pick one problem area to focus on. Once you have the main problem under control, you can always highlight another area.

Before you being the exercise, talk through what you’re going to do, then do it, and then debrief what went well and what didn’t. As these sorts of practice tasks begin to become familiar, you can carry this brief/debrief process over to the “real work” (assuming you don’t do it already).

You can still make the content fun (what you name the project, the kind of information you’re asking for—determining the donor potential of each of the Muppets based on factors x, y, and z), but building strong teamwork systems and training that produces quantifiable improvements will happen most quickly if you build the training around the work that actually has to get done.

Who makes a better "boss", one with a lot of empathy that listens to his subordinates, or one that has definite ideas of their own and is well organized and can make things happen?

I don’t know that it’s better vs. worse. The best boss will be the one who knows their strengths and weaknesses and sets up their team accordingly.

The boss that has a lot of empathy will create a thriving team if they have action oriented team members, the boss is supporting the efforts of the individuals, and turning them into a cohesive strategy.

The boss that is action oriented themselves will need more supportive employees. If their team is filled with people just like them, the team is likely to pull themselves apart as they all have a lot of ideas. But if the boss can find supportive people who are less interested in coming up with ideas and more excited about supporting someone else’s vision, they can do very well.

Both bosses should be upfront with their team about what they do as a boss, how they manage, and what they expect from their team members. If they do this consistently and effectively, there’s no reason both bosses shouldn’t be successful.

As a "boss" of 50 or more individuals, what do you consider to be your greatest asset?

I can’t pick one. How about two?

Time management and delegation.

The ability to nurture of the growth of that many individuals is impossible for any one person. Especially within the bounds of a 40 hour workweek. But the ability to manage your time well and pass off tasks that don’t need your attention to those on your team best set up to take them (including, perhaps, “team captains,” or something similar to assist you in supporting the team as a whole) will serve you very well.

How can I improve my communication skills, what are the ways I can adopt?

Congratulations! This a great area to invest in—it will pay off highly over time.

First, I would recommend you reflect on how you currently communicate. Do you get aggressive with people or do you allow yourself to be walked over? Are you gossiping behind people’s backs or do you manipulate individuals to get them on your side? Do you act differently in different situations?

Be completely honest because it’ll effect how you adjust your behavior going forward.

Your goal in communication.
Be clear about what you believe, what you want, and what you need while also respecting those beliefs, wants, and needs of the those you’re communicating with. It means being open to the possibility that they might have a reason for thinking differently than you do.

In an interview, this might mean be firm about how much you should be compensated and being confident in the value you bring to the table, while also recognizing the needs of the company and listening to what they’re looking for.

In a conversation about politics, it means being upfront about your values, but giving your conversational partner space to articulate the values and reasons behind their views.

Adjusting from your current communication style.If you’re usually aggressive, this means pulling back and making more space for your conversational partner. If you’re usually a bit of a doormat, this means asserting yourself and owning your own perspective and value.

There’s a lot more to learn. I spent over 300 hours researching and developing my Communication Course. (Communication at Home — Artisan Business Solutions) Taking some time to reflect on your current style and how you might adjust to achieve a healthier balance is a great place to start!

How do I make my team follow my decision?

I was going to start my answer by clarifying if you were the leader of the team or a member, but y’know, it really doesn’t matter.

Teams should be guided by the best ideas out there, so regardless of your role within the team, your goal should be to convince through demonstration that your idea is the best one. This produces what is called “buy in.”

Start by answering a few questions:

What are the goals behind your decision?
How does each individual team member benefit?
What is required of them?
What is the time frame that is affected?

A convincing argument will have the best ratio of high benefit to low requirement.

That’s not to say some decisions won’t need to be made that will require a lot from the team, but you should be able to demonstrate that a successful outcome will result in an even higher benefit to them. Go through the uncomfortable bit now and you’ll reap the reward in weeks and years to come.

Startups use this as their pitch to new employees. Low pay and long hours now, yes, but there’s a possibility of a huge payout if we are successful and get a large buyout or take the company public and you can cash out your shares of stock.

If you are just pointing into the dark and wondering why your team doesn’t run, it’s likely because you haven’t demonstrated the value to them yet, and more than that, you haven’t built up the trust that when you ask them to do something, it will pay off for them.

If you start now by explaining the “why” behind your decision and how it will benefit them, each decision will require less and less explanation because you will have demonstrated that you will always take their effort and their personal goals into account.

Doing this consistently over the next year or two will set you up with a team who’s excited to follow your direction.

How unethical is it to complain about a co-worker’s job performance?

I don’t know that I would frame it in terms of ethics—unless you’re lying, in which case it’d be highly unethical.

Sometimes reporting someone else’s (lack of) work is appropriate, but do make sure you’ve taken the following steps first.

1. You’ve made sure your coworker’s job performance affects you (or your team’s) ability to do your job to the highest quality. If not, it’s not your responsibility, move on. Perhaps things that annoy you will be put in two buckets—one that’s relevant, one that’s not.

2. You’ve addressed the concerns directly with the coworker, with no success. This should be a conversation framed in a supportive fashion and it should demonstrate the effect the low quality of work is having on you and the rest of the team. Start with lots of questions to give them the opportunity to open up about struggles they’re having. Maybe at home, maybe with new software, maybe with communication with your boss. You may realize you’re able to help without escalating it to the next level.

3. You’ve listed your concerns in a factual manner. Instead of “Joe’s always late,” it’s “Joe’s been at least fifteen minutes late to four out of the last five meetings.”
   
   If you’re able to do this, and in your final conversation with your boss you can walk them through your attempt to work first with your teammate, I believe you are within safe territory to share your experience with this teammate without breaking any ethical boundaries.
   
   But be prepared to be part of the solution!