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So how adaptable should managers be in communicating with their staff?
Many managers are middle aged and grew up in a world where a PC was a revolutionary tool. Typically, they tend to be more comfortable with face-to-face communications. Many staff workers under 30 are quite comfortable using technologies, such as instant message and personal video conferencing. A friend of mine is a management consultant and recently held a staff meeting. He felt out of place (in fact, he is thinking of retiring) because many of the participants were online instant messaging one another during the meeting. He did not know whether to encourage or discourage such communication. What would you do? How do managers strike a balance between what they use to communicate and what their staff may feel comfortable with?
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2 Answers
Your friend should adapt by integrating chat and email into his communication repertoire, but should never replace the in person meeting. I am a young manager with younger employees and prefer the in person meeting at least once or twice a week and for all mission critical communications. Despite the fondness for technology of our age group, nothing says “I need you to pay attention/understand this critical message/see this data,” better than an in person group meeting.
Chat and email has a place for any manager for daily reminders, communication when your employees are on the phones and non-mission critical communication. It should be noted that in person and electronic communication should be mutually exclusive; chatting, emailing or otherwise using your computer should ALWAYS be prohibited during in person meetings.
I also agree that you need to integrate chat and email into your work environment. I am also a young manager with both younger and older employees and a good mix of email and IM is needed to quickly adapt to changing work environments and to projects. That said there is a time and place for everything. I often tell my staff that during our staff meetings and one on one meetings that they need to stay off their phone and IM.
I like to think that it is important to encourage these new communication tools. If they don't work or become a distraction then we can deal with it, but so far that hasn't been the case. In environments where you aren't centrally located it becomes even more important. I also like that fact that it is easier than e-mail and help to keep the clutter down, which is always a positive.
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