Fundamentals of Supervision

Book: Supervision: Key Link to Productivity 8e, Rue, Leslie and Byaas, Lloyd
Chapter 3 - Developing Communications Skills

1. Communication as a Supervisory Skill
   1. Supervisors must have many communications skills
      1. Give clear directions to people who work for them
      2. Must be able to motivate people
      3. Must be able to understand the ideas of others
      4. Must be able to persuade others
2. Interpersonal Communications
   1. Interactive process between individuals that involves sending and receiving verbal and nonverbal messages.
   1. Conflicting or Inappropriate Assumptions
      1. As a supervisor always check to make sure that the message that you sent out is the same that the other one received.
   2. Semantics
      1. Study of meanings of words and symbols
      2. Some words have multiple meanings to them.
      3. Technical languages develop in industries that cause confusion to others.
      4. Words need to be carefully chosen in supervisor role
   3. Perception
      1. The mental and sensory processes an individual uses in processing information received
      2. No two people will perceive something the same way.
      3. Selective perception is state where receiver will block out some information.
   4. Emotions Either Preceding or during Communications
      1. Emotions that a sender or a receiver is going through may affect how the communications take place.
      2. The emotions can be before the meeting or during
      3. Managers should learn to try to manage the emotional environment.
3. Learning to Communicate
   1. Understand the Audience
      1. What does it know
      2. What does it want to know
      3. What is capacity for absorbing the information
      4. What is gained by listening?
      5. Is audience friendly or hostile?
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      6. Developing Good Listening Skills
         1. An important skill for a supervisor
         2. Active Listening
            1. Absorb what a person is saying and respond to the concerns they have.
            2. Most people forget what they have heard within 10 minutes. It is almost totally gone within 48 hours.
         3. How to do active listening
            1. Listen to the speaker's purpose
            2. Identify the speaker's main ideas
            3. Note the speaker's tone as well as body language
            4. Respond to the speaker with appropriate comments, questions, and body language.
      7. Feedback
         1. A way of determining that the speaker got the right message
         2. Try to get them to repeat back what you said to them to verify it.
      8. d. Understanding the Importance of Nonverbal Communication
         1. Paralanguage - nonverbal communications involving pitch, temp, loudness and hesitations used in communications
         2. Gestures used - be careful with these as they mean different things in different countries
         3. Proximity to speaker can also be important
   2. Written Communications
      1. Principles of Good Writing
         1. Write as clearly as possible
         2. Be sure content and tone are appropriate for audience
         3. Proofread the document (do not just rely on spell check)
   3. Oral Communications
      1. The Importance of Oral Communications
      2. Developing Oral Communication Skills
         1. Make emotional contact with listener
            1. use names when possible
            2. keep eye contact going
         2. Avoid speaking in monotone
         3. Be enthusiastic and project positive outlook
         4. Avoid interrupting people
         5. Always be courteous
         6. Avoid empty sound words ('um', 'uh', 'like', 'you know')
   4. Choosing the Best Method of Communication
      1. Not all methods are equal in all situations
      2. Use the best for that situation
   5. Communicating within the Organization
      1. The Grapevine
         1. Informal channel in a company for communications purposes
         2. Handles mostly distorted messages and rumors
         3. Management needs to be aware of it, and listen to what is going on. They also need to dispel rumors that would damage the company that are heard there.
      2. E-Mail
         1. Saves time, wasted effort and provides written record of communications.
   6. Communications in International Business
      1. English is primary language in the world but there are 3,000.
      2. Nonverbal communications complicate things as different gestures mean different things in other cultures
      3. Basic rules
         1. Learn the culture of who you are speaking to
         2. Write and speak clearly, avoiding jargon.