Comments on Ask a Manager: helping an employee with bad communication skills

As her manager, you would not be "snooty" to help ...

2009-08-07T09:39:05.840-04:00

As her manager, you would not be "snooty" to help her communicate better. She will be impeded communicating your services to your clients if you do not help her. Just shape your feedback as mentoring, instead of criticism.

Here is an article on the power of short words in business writing: http://blog.instructionalsolutions.com/2009/05/16/power-of-short-words-in-business-writing/. You and she can search our business writing blog for examples and corrections.

I hope this helps!

I think a great leader needs to learn to communica...

2009-06-27T17:24:10.646-04:00

I think a great leader needs to learn to communicate, inspire and lead by example for his/her employees. If that means helping them with their bad communication skills, then you need to start a mentoring relationship that will benefit both parties.

As John Maxwell says, “If you call yourself a leader and no one is following, you are just out for a walk.” You can read more about fostering this mentoring relationship in my article Effective Leadership: Mentoring Yourself, Your People and Your Organization, the feature article on my site for April (http://leaderskillstraining.com). Thanks.

For affordable, effective, training in business wr...

2009-06-26T06:06:52.340-04:00

For affordable, effective, training in business writing I recommend contented's online program.

http://www.contented.co.nz/

They're great on web-writing, but good web writing is good business writing. I have read Rachel McAlpine's book and it's excellent. (I have no financial interest in this - I just think it's a good product)

I am curious to know how someone with such bad com...

2009-06-23T09:19:55.951-04:00

I am curious to know how someone with such bad communication skills got hired in the first place.

... And if you can't afford a business writing cou...

2009-06-22T14:20:30.258-04:00

... And if you can't afford a business writing course, have a look at the Plain English website. They have a lot of good advice on writing clearly.

I agree with Charles that everyone at your organiz...

2009-06-22T12:26:26.361-04:00

I agree with Charles that everyone at your organization would be helped by a business communications class. Actually, I felt that some parts of this letter were worded in an unclear way.

It wasn't until I started working as an editor that I realized how much more I could learn about grammar and expressing myself clearly! We can always use some fine-tuning. Also, if the entire organization takes the class, this employee won't feel alienated.

I also think that pointing out specific examples o...

2009-06-22T11:34:23.809-04:00

I also think that pointing out specific examples of where the employee makes mistakes would help, as she probably doesn't realize she's making them. (For example, I bet she has no idea that "I had went" is grammatically incorrect, so telling her to be more vigilant about grammar isn't necessarily going to fix this problem.)

Perhaps in addition to or instead of a writing class she could be given a list of common grammar mistakes, particularly as they relate to her field/company if possible. There are plenty of words people tend think of as synonyms that are in fact not (retrieve/get, finalize/finish, utilize/use), which it sounds like is the employee's problem.

As a trainer (and no, I am not trying to drum up b...

2009-06-22T10:10:19.878-04:00

As a trainer (and no, I am not trying to drum up business here!), I'd like to second the idea of a business writing class. There are also classes that help with English grammar in general.

If the writer is afraid of hurt feelings, these classes are a good way to go. Approach this as a benefit for employees to improve themselves. By bringing in someone from outside the organization it might help to mitigate (sorry for the big word!) any hurt feelings.

I would also strongly suggest that everyone attend. It can be surprising at how helpful such classes are to everyone, not just the folks (employee and supervisor)mentioned.

If cost is an issue (and when isn't it? especially at a non-profit) try contacting the local college or university to see if they might offer the "free" resources of a graduate student (s) who might be interested in helping out as part of a class project.

I think it would also be helpful to see how the other employee explains the program. Is there a set description somewhere? If not, why not? Maybe that is something that all the employees can work on when taking the business writing class together.

Everyone should keep George Orwell's rules for eff...

2009-06-22T02:31:16.065-04:00

Everyone should keep George Orwell's rules for effective writing in mind:

1. Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
2. Never use a long word where a short one will do.
3. If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
4. Never use the passive where you can use the active.
5. Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
6. Break any of these rules sooner than saying anything outright barbarous.

Although I do believe clear communication is impor...

2009-06-21T21:03:58.027-04:00

Although I do believe clear communication is important, I hope that the issues are more severe than the examples provided in this post. Has anyone else ever complained about or been confused by this employee? If not, it sounds like the manager may be the one that needs to brush up on her communication and comprehension skills.

The reader writes, "I am not old but am amazed at the lack of writing skills people just a few years younger than me lack." She seems to be bragging about her superior writing skills, but she failed to proofread her own post. By using the word "lack" twice in the same statement, she created a double negative - implying that younger people *have* writing skills.

This manager is free to counsel her employee, but she should also consider a self assessment.

Thanks AAM. How to give the feedback was what I w...

2009-06-21T20:42:27.081-04:00

Thanks AAM. How to give the feedback was what I was struggling with. I'm not secretly feeling snotty, just not wanting to hurt feelings.

You're right. The examples I gave were not the most egregious. They were just the most recent. This person is such a wonderful person and good worker that I want to give her all the tools she needs to advance.

This situation reminds me of a past coaching clien...

2009-06-21T19:59:47.780-04:00

This situation reminds me of a past coaching client. The board of a nonprofit asked me to coach the executive director after he received 360 feedback that many people left meetings scratching their heads because they had no idea what the ED was saying most of the time. He would say things like, "one of my managers is not tracking with any intensity" which I found out translated to "I have a manager who is missing important details"!

I think your assessment and advice in this case is spot on. That direct communication of the problem supported by specific examples usually works. In my case the ED was not aware of the impact his communication style had on the organization and almost immediately took steps to improve.