The Communication Problem Solver 14. Managers need top-flight communication skills to keep their staffs productive and collaborative. But often, those who manage lack the ability to get things back on track once miscommunication occurs. This book helps readers analyze their communication skills and challenges and explains how they can use simple problem-solving techniques to resolve the people issues that derail productivity at work. Easily accessible and filled with real world management examples. This no-nonsense guide is packed with practical tools to help any manager be immediately effective, as well as a handy list of common communication problems and corresponding solutions | How to Use Your Process Skills to Prevent and Solve Communication Problems Identify consequences for not meeting expectations. Document the conversation and use it as a baseline for future performance issues. Set up and hold twice-weekly job check-in meetings to make sure employee is on track with performance expectations. Discuss issues and build rapport. 4. Decide preferred solution action steps. Eliot decided to follow all the action steps in Step 3 and then observe subsequent performance. Follow-up steps would depend on whether the analyst met expectations. If the lead analyst meets expectations Employee keeps job and grows in skills and expertise. Job check-in meetings might become less frequent. If she does not meet expectations Document facts. Consult Human Resources. Counsel and begin disciplinary action according to company policy. Eliot felt better once he had a plan instead of an unsolvable judgment. It may be difficult to converse about these issues with the employee but it is a whole lot easier than confronting the employee with the word lazy. B. Old Dog 1. State the problem as is. In this case David the manager stated the original problem as The old dog does not like change. 2. Identify observable behaviors facts what did you see and hear David said he was dealing with an older foreman who will only do what he wants to do. David continued that this foreman is an experienced person who only likes to do the fun work. The foreman doesn t like to do housekeeping tasks and he milks the job David reported. When we teased this information apart we got to the facts. 112 How to Break the Judging Habit The experienced foreman spends 85 percent of his time doing his familiar construction tasks roadwork at which he has expertise rather than new duties industrial . He should spend 80 percent of his time on the industrial work. Instead he defers the industrial work to other employees laborers . He doesn t finish the industrial work that he begins. He does complete
