Recently I worked with a client to train their managers for a team briefing initiative. It struck me once again what a pivotal role the manager plays in internal communication. Staff are more likely to trust what their manager tells the, more than information coming from any other internal source. A good manager can explain information in a way that makes sense to their staff. They are also more able to talk about the relevance of that information to their team. During the training, I gave wide ranging groups of managers the same piece of organisational information. Their explanations for their own teams had to vary widely to make them applicable to each team.
The flip-side of that is that staff want their manager to be 'in the know'. Team briefing is a way of demonstrating this while creating greater team buy-in. One way to build your personal presence in the team context is to keep the team informed of what is going on outside their team. Value this in your role rather than seeing it as a matter of compliance.
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