A recent study conducted by monday.com revealed some interesting insights into the way employees communicate with their managers. They surveyed 1,000 American workers to better understand their relationship with their managers in the workplace.
As the findings show, there is a communication gap between managers and their teams:
a. 63% of people surveyed feel their teams can better communicate needs and goals
b. A disturbing 28% of people reported not really knowing how they spend their time at work
c. 37% feel their manager does not have an accurate understanding of how they spend their time
Yet, the employees surveyed still feel overwhelmed at work (46% catch themselves saying they are too busy). "The employees of today’s workforce feel so busy, even though they may not understand why. They’re working harder than ever before, but not always smarter,” says Roy Mann, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at monday.com—a team management platform that open lines of communication to foster transparency at work.
With his company, Roy Mann is on a mission to increase efficiency and productivity in the workplace. He believes relationships play a big role. As he says, “Transparency is one of the fundamental cores of our business, and monday.com allows teams to easily visualize and manage any possible workflow or business operation across departments—eliminating confusion and improving employee performance .”
I spoke to the company's Head of Customer Success, Matt Burns, and he shared some tips on improving communication between managers and their teams:
Connect on Mondays
Start the week off right by meeting with your boss and assessing priorities for the week. This will set a productive tone for the week and you will be clear on what needs to be done and what's expected of you. It might even change the tone of your Mondays, making you more excited to dive back into the week knowing that you have clear goals in mind.
Share regular updates
The study conducted by monday.com revealed that only 20% of people surveyed share updates on projects via Slack, G-chat Skype, etc. Instead of using these tools only for personal conversations, put them to use at work by sharing regular updates on your different projects. With 54% of people only discussing projects and tasks with their managers once a week, it’s likely to create confusion and inefficiencies. As Burns says, "I’ve found that even a simple sentence recap works wonders for both employees and team leaders. No one wants to be micromanaged and keeping yourself accountable for informing everyone makes a world of difference."
Go into meetings with an agenda
Meetings can be a great place to brainstorm or work through an issue, but it’s important to make sure they have a clear purpose. As Burn recommends, "Creating a bulleted list of objectives along with a note saying ‘should we meet about this?’ helps a lot." Before booking a meeting with your manager, clearly lay out what you’d like to discuss. Send an agenda as you drop the meeting in the calendar. It’s important to make meetings worth your managers’ time and ensure you’re both productive.
Make time even when you're busy
It’s easy to fall back on the words “I’m too busy” as an excuse not to take on new projects. In fact, 46% of people catch themselves saying they’re too busy at work. This might have you miss out on growth opportunities that will take you further in your career. People will likely stop coming to you with new ideas and projects if "busy" is a constant part of your work vocabulary. Reframe your thoughts and have an open conversation with your manager to figure out how to make a little room in your schedule. Chances are they’ll be able to help you prioritize so that you can get everything done without closing too many doors.
A version of this article appeared on forbes.com, posted on October 21, 2018
EXPERD, Human Resources Consultant, Jakarta - Indonesia