Communicate To Motivate
If the constructive criticism you give is too negative or direct, you risk destroying a good working relationship with your team, says Sue Chambers…
- by Sue Chambers
People are the most important resource of every organisation, but to if they’re to work to their best, they need to feel valued and empowered.
This can only be achieved through effective two-way communication, without which you cannot learn about their ideas, attitudes or concerns. As a leader, how can you communicate effectively with your staff and ensure all are working hard to make your setting a success?
Make time to meet
Team meetings are an excellent way of passing on information, discussing issues and solving problems. When they are run well, they should leave staff motivated and clear about their responsibilities. Meetings utilised as a communication tool also open up opportunities for staff to share their work experiences with one another, creating a more harmonious environment for everyone.
Set the agenda A successful meeting needs an agenda that staff have an opportunity to contribute to, and which they are given in advance of the meeting. When you sit down it’s useful to have a flip-chart available, to note down any important comments that may not be directly relevant to the specific topic under discussion. You can arrange to go back to these at a later occasion.
Consider whether brainstorming is a useful way of bringing ideas to the group and how to avoid the danger of having a list of ideas that are unattainable.
Keep control Encourage full participant discussion, ensuring everyone’s views are heard (not just those of the most vocal members), that everyone is paying full attention, and only allowing one speaker at a time. If it appears there is any miscommunication, take a moment to let people repeat their statements or follow up with additional information.
There are some people who save certain topics for open discussion at staff meetings and they may hold very passionate views. When others disagree with them, they may get hurt or defensive. It’s the manager’s job to remind them that everyone has an opinion and has a right to have it heard. If this issue isn’t addressed, people may be reluctant to participate in the future.
Strike a balance Find a good balance of being supportive and challenging – an overly supportive team can become too cosy with little learning, while, on the other hand, too much challenge can feel threatening. By focusing on how to solve issues, you can avoid being divided by differences. While you may not agree with someone else’s point of view, avoid personal comments or criticisms.
It’s important to keep your points focused on the ideas, not the personalities behind them. Getting personal is counterproductive and may even be considered bullying!
Thwart intentional or unintentional attempts to hijack or derail the meeting by keeping everyone focused on the agenda. By maintaining a good sense of humour throughout, you can lighten some difficult situations.
Constructive criticism Encourage different team members to take a lead on specific projects or tasks. Make saying ‘thank you’ a priority. Be clear about achievements and ensure reward and praise are given where appropriate. Giving praise to someone is easy, but what about doing the opposite – giving constructive criticism when someone’s performance is unsatisfactory?
The problem is that if the criticism you give is too negative or direct, you risk destroying a good working relationship with your team. The difference between constructive criticism and destructive criticism is the way in which comments are delivered. Constructive criticism is designed to point out mistakes and show where and how improvements can be made. It should be viewed as useful feedback to improve performance.
When criticism is constructive it’s usually easier to accept – even if it still hurts a little.
Summing up At the end of each agenda item, summarise what has been discussed and agreed, and identify those who will take responsibility for achieving action points. At the end of the meeting, ask the participants to review how effective the meeting has been at meeting its aims. Make a note of people who don’t attend the meeting. Make sure you connect with them afterwards and run through the things you discussed. Alternatively, ask a team member to volunteer to update colleagues who could not attend. Ensure the minutes are typed up and distributed as soon as possible, and check the absentees understand the key points arising from the meeting.
Performance concerns
Issues around an individual’s performance shouldn’t be discussed in a team meeting – this should be done through the formal appraisal process. Personal and workplace difficulties can both cause demotivation at work. You need to talk to the staff member about what’s going on and listen carefully to what they say.
It’s important to deal with an issue as soon as it becomes apparent – don’t wait for it to ‘go away’ because it may not. Although it’s not a preferred route, it may be necessary to use the disciplinary process in order to address the problem of under-performance.
You will need to look at what’s happening in the workplace and establish whether the systems in place are the cause of unhappiness and if they are, make the necessary changes.
Maintain their motivation
Finally, if you give people a chance to take the initiative, you may be surprised by their ability to create innovative ideas. Boredom is the biggest de-motivator of all. People don’t grow unless they’re given attainable challenges. You may need to start by giving them a small management task to undertake and then build up to more complex targets, all the time offering praise and encouragement.
By giving staff opportunities to grow, by offering them training, coaching and development, they will believe in themselves and realise their inner potential. You need to delegate and trust them to achieve without micro-management, but even those who are self-motivated will need continuing support and encouragement – another test of your communication skills!
Assess your practice
Being a good communicator is essential if you want to build an outstanding team. How effective are you in the following areas?…
1. Interpersonal communication skills This includes motivating others to want to communicate openly, honestly and safely; active listening; asking questions; knowing what you want to say and why, and how will you say it; and reaching understanding, agreement or consensus.
2. Presentation skills This involves communicating with groups of people; preparing and structuring ideas in a motivational way; controlling verbal and non-verbal communication.
3. Writing skills It’s important that you are able to write clearly and effectively.
4. Personal skills This is about the ability to deal with stress and anger when under pressure; recognise and deal with conflict; communicate assertively; notice, interpret and respond to non-verbal behaviour; recognise and understand your own emotions and those of the person with whom you’re communicating.
Sue Chambers is an independent early years consultant; she is one of the co-authors of Well-Being in the Early Years and a contributor to the LEYF research projects ‘Men in Childcare‘ and ‘The Twoness of Twos‘.
For more information, follow @suechambers14
