Cracking the Communication Code: How to Ensure Your Direct Reports Feel Heard at Work

Apr 11

As a manager, you are responsible for holding everything together. However, if your direct reports feel like you are not listening to them, it can create a terrible cycle of miscommunication and frustration, damaging your team and work environment.

Recently, a client approached me with such a problem. One of her direct reports had given her feedback that she was not expecting: "I don’t feel like you really listen to me,“ they told her. In essence, her direct report didn’t feel like they were being heard by her. The disconnect between them was starting to impact productivity and their working relationship. My client was surprised by this feedback and needed help finding ways to improve the situation.

During our coaching session, my client asked for support on how to make her direct reports feel like they were being heard. We discussed common communication barriers and delved deeper into the root of the issue. It became clear that her communication style was very different from that of her direct report.

Before I go further, let's check in on why this is so important.

According to a 2021 global study by The Workforce Institute at UKG and Workplace Intelligence, there are some big (and measurable) business benefits when employees feel heard including:

Highly engaged employees are three times more likely to say they feel heard at their workplace (92%) than highly disengaged employees (just 30%).
74% of employees report they are more effective at their job when they feel heard.
88% of employees whose companies financially outperform others in their industry feel heard compared to 62% of employees at financially underperforming companies.

So, if you want to improve your communication and your bottom line, you need to be more receptive to others' opinions and express yourself in a way that they can understand. This means understanding your preferred style of communication and listening, along with the preferred style of the person you're speaking to.

Lucky for you, I'm here to help you discover your unique communication style.

Schedule a free coaching session with me, and I'll walk you through my guided "Mastering Communication: Your Personal Style Assessment" quiz. We'll then decode your communication habits and preferences so that you can create more connections and have more positive influence with those around you. Trust me; it's a game-changer!

For instance, if you have a controlling, visionary communication style, you may be incredibly self-driven, willing to live in the moment, and get things done. However, you may also be overly competitive, impatient, and even somewhat aggressive with a tendency to barrel through details at a high level. Your direct report on the other hand may have an emotional communication style and be more analytical, preferring to sort through more detail. Don't worry; every communication style has its pros and cons. The first step to effectively communicating with others is understanding your style and how it affects others.

Once you've figured out your communication style, it's time to consider the style of those around you. You can encourage your team members to take the assessment and use that newfound information to discuss different topics and work-related details in a way that everyone can comprehend but once you learn the styles, it’ll be easy to discern the styles of others just from listening to them.

But communication isn't just about talking; it's also about listening. Listening barriers can negatively impact the workplace environment, and how you listen is also very much based on your personal communication style. During our coaching session, we identified the listening barriers that could be preventing my client from fully engaging with her team.

In your session, we will identify the specific listening barriers coming up in your communication but here is one you should always be mindful of: automatic talking. This is where you're only listening to so much before shutting the other person off, interrupting them and then proceeding to talk over them. When this occurs, it's a sign that you are listening more to the voice in your head (aka your inner critic who is usually judging the conversation) than you are the person speaking to you. This and other barriers prevent us from genuinely listening and communicating better together.

We've all been guilty of tuning someone out or daydreaming during a conversation. It's not necessarily something you want to do, but it may be a bad habit you need to overcome. Now is the time to start listening actively and giving your objective, undivided attention to the person speaking to you.

Improving your communication and listening skills may not come naturally, but it's not impossible. All it takes is a willingness to learn and grow. That's where I come in!

Book the free 30-minute coaching call with me to learn more about your communication style and listening barriers. My goal is to help you recognize your default communication style and become an expert at identifying others’ styles so that talking to your colleagues and collaborating well with them becomes that much easier for you.

Remember, we're all a work in progress, so don't be too hard on yourself! With a little help, you can become a master communicator and listener in no time!