The art of effective communication—how to lead with confidence
As an aspiring leader in your organisation, you may assume you’re an articulate and confident speaker, but have you thought about how effectively you’re communicating with colleagues across your organisation?
When it comes to inspiring, motivating and empowering others, effective communication skills are integral to successful leadership management.
With an ability to communicate clearly, confidently and authentically, you are more likely to be heard, understood and trusted, enabling you to become an influential leader in your organisation.
Effective communication— a critical skill for leaders
As we work through a time of rapid change, there is a growing need for effective, responsible leadership. The University of Melbourne is offering professionals who may be leading, or aspiring to lead others in their organisation, an opportunity to further develop their leadership and communication skills.
Developed in consultation with skilled academics and industry professionals and endorsed by Belong, the University now offers six-week micro-credential courses in leadership, aimed at leaders and professionals in any sector looking to influence transformational change in their organisation.
According to a study in the Journal of Communication, fifty-eighty per cent of the workday is spent in communication, two-thirds of which involves talking.
This communication may involve important one-on-one conversations where direction and feedback are provided or leading meetings where key decisions are made.
There’s also the time employees spend on non-talking forms of communication, in particular, written forms— from detailed reports and presentations to shorter and less formal messages, such as email.
How managers communicate with their colleagues has a direct impact on the culture of the organisation and the success of organisational goals. Poor communication can result in wasted time, poor staff morale, and mistakes being made.
Once someone has reached a particular level of seniority in an organisation, it’s assumed they have the required communication skills to successfully lead their team.
Often this is not the case.
There is a great deal more to communication than simply delivering your message. An effective communicator strives to understand their audience by asking questions and actively listening to what others have to say. They encourage discussion and seek feedback to ensure their message has been understood and agreed upon.
If you aspire to become a leader in your organisation, being able to communicate effectively with the people you manage is a skill that needs to be continually developed and re-evaluated throughout your career. Leadership communication training is one of the most effective ways to do this.
Understanding team culture and dynamics—The importance of communication in diverse workplaces
As workplaces become more diverse, one of the key aspects of building upon and improving your communication skills is to understand the culture and dynamics of your team. Key to this is understanding how individuals process information and being able to effectively communicate with each of your team members.
Workforces today reflect diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. There are many advantages that come with this. Diversity, together with inclusivity, can lead to more creativity when it comes to generating ideas. Research has also shown a positive link between diversity and an organisation’s financial profitability.
However, communicating within a diverse work group has its own set of challenges. Employees present with varying perspectives and experiences, as well as their own communication style – depending on their cultural background, they may have different meanings and contexts for words and phrases.
Often, managers communicate important information to their colleagues assuming they’ve understood it and are aligned with the message. But sometimes, miscommunication can occur.
An effective communicator recognises communication is a two-way process. They have taken the time to know and understand the background of each of their colleagues—What their experiences are and how those experiences shape their views, opinions, perspectives and biases. Understanding differences in their team helps them develop positive work group relationships.
An effective communicator also recognises that individuals process information differently and can formulate their message accordingly. They achieve this by being clear about the content and the goal of the message and creating the appropriate message to communicate. It involves encouraging colleagues to ask questions and seek clarification if necessary. This also involves seeking feedback to ensure their message has been correctly understood and their team is aligned with it.
Communicating authentically
There are many aspects to effective communication, but possibly one of the most important is authenticity. Communicating with honesty, respect and positive intent helps a manager build positive and productive relationships with colleagues and important stakeholders.
Research conducted by the Californian School of Professional Psychology found a strong connection between authentic leadership and an employee’s individual feelings of inclusion. In particular, the research found higher levels of authentic leadership led to higher levels of Organisation Based Self Esteem (OBSE). Employees with high OBSE describe themselves as “important, meaningful and effectual to an organisation.”
When you communicate authentically, you present your whole self—your thoughts, feelings and experiences. You show others that you have moral integrity and respect yourself as well as them.
When you’re honest and direct, people pay attention, hear you and are more likely to trust you. Authentic communication not only builds trust but also encourages collaboration towards a common goal.
Communicating authentically involves:
- Creating a culture in which team members feel free to speak openly
- Speaking openly and clearly, keeping in mind the goals you want to achieve
- Engaging in difficult conversations rather than avoiding them
- Asking appropriate questions
- Actively listening to others and making a genuine effort to understand their point of view
How to be a confident and effective leader in meetings
Meetings are a regular and essential activity in every organisation’s calendar. Yet, they are often considered unnecessary distractions and time wasters. They are, however, the forum where important decisions are made and key relationships are forged. As such, becoming a confident, effective and responsible meeting presenter is an important skill for all aspiring leaders.
Since the rise of remote and flexible work, there has been an increase in the number of meetings, many of which are conducted virtually. According to the Union of International Organisations (UIA), which surveyed workplaces in 262 countries, the number of meetings held rose by approximately eleven per cent from 2022 to 2023, and figures from the US show workers spend an average of eighteen hours per week in meetings.
Virtual meetings also tend to be more cognitively demanding, more prone to distraction, and less effective than meetings in person.
Given the amount of time employees spend in meetings, the key here is how these meetings are led and managed.
Employees need to be clear about the goal of the meeting and understand why it’s necessary. They also need to be clear as to why they have been invited to the meeting and feel comfortable making a contribution.
Effectively leading a meeting that concludes with your colleagues feeling energised, aligned, and motivated requires specific types of leadership skills, including:
- A willingness to challenge organisational culture—just because a meeting has been run a certain way in the past doesn’t mean they have to continue to be run that way
- An ability to actively listen
- An ability to demonstrate diplomacy— Encourage and achieve co-operation
- An ability to be impartial and display sensitivity and tact when necessary
- An ability to be decisive and lead meetings to ensure they have a clear purpose and outcome.
Leading teams
As a manager, one of the most important meetings you’ll lead are those with your own team. Team meetings are an opportunity for colleagues to air any concerns they may have, explore new ideas and ensure everyone is aligned when it comes to goals and outcomes.
Team meetings also play an important role in fostering a positive team culture of respect, safety, and innovation. Learning how to present yourself more effectively and lead a successful team meeting will have a direct impact on the productivity and morale of your employees.
Like other meetings, a well-managed team meeting that engages everyone should be time well spent with the goal of making faster and better decisions.
An effective leader achieves these outcomes by setting clear goals for the meeting and ensuring participants are clear about why they have been invited, as well as the intended outcome of the meeting. They ensure team members feel comfortable asking questions and making contributions. They encourage discussion and debate and seek feedback on how a meeting could be better managed.
As the setting is often less formal than other forums, team meetings are also a good opportunity to acknowledge individual workplace achievements and celebrate personal events, such as birthdays. Bringing a personal touch to these meetings is another effective way to foster trust and display authenticity.
As a leader, being able to communicate clearly and effectively with employees within teams and across the organisation is integral to a successful business. In today’s complex world, where employees are working with multiple forms of communication and diverse work teams, being able to effectively communicate has never been so important.
Communication is a complex skill that involves a great deal more than simply exchanging information. Learning to communicate more clearly and effectively requires acquiring some important skills. These skills will help you build trust and foster respect amongst your colleagues. Effective communication skills also help with problem solving as well as managing team culture and dynamics.
Fortunately, with the appropriate training and support, you can master better communication skills and continue to build upon those skills throughout the course of your career.
Do you want to become a more effective communicator and lead transformational change in your organisation? The University of Melbourne’s online offering in Leadership Management and Change includes six-week micro-credential courses that develop in-demand skills aligned with industry best practice.