There’s a common saying that employees don’t leave companies, they leave managers. Why is it that I observe some leaders, listen to them with interest, and want to collaborate with them, while at the same time, another manager’s communication and management style on the very same topic bores me or discourages me from cooperating?
It turns out that the way we communicate goals, delegate tasks, or provide feedback has a huge impact on team engagement and motivation. Good communication in management is another element that triggers long-term intrinsic motivation and increases employee engagement.
One of the most common mistakes in communication when motivating and increasing team engagement is using only informational communication, which employees might also perceive as directive. An example of such communication might be informing the team about “what”“to do, e.g., “our goal is to sign a contract with ‘X'”” or “how”“to do it, e.g., “let’s work with commitment””. Informational communication is necessary to convey criteria or essential requirements for performing an action, but it only minimally triggers the recipient’s motivational processes, which determine whether they will also engage in performing a given action.
What significantly triggers the aforementioned intrinsic motivation is communication that starts with “why,” e.g., “This year, we can become one of the leaders in our segment, which is why we need to implement our product with X clients.” “Why? How? What?” – this sequence explains why the best managers can inspire their teams to high engagement and rapid goal achievement. The most important element of communication starting with “why” is the idea at the core of the message, which also includes values that strongly motivate and determine whether or not we join in the execution of a given action. According to Howard Schultz, long-time CEO of Starbucks, “People don’t like to be managed. They want to be part of something bigger than themselves. They want to be part of a vision they can buy into, and they want to see themselves in that vision. They also want to feel important and appreciated.” Therefore, the manager’s role is to create an atmosphere of building something much larger than all company employees, and an effective tool for communicating this vision is communication that starts with “why?”, which encompasses values.
Author Anna Modrzewska
