Introduction
Process Consultation (PC) is an organization development strategy that aims at building relationships. It supports clients by increasing awareness and understanding to empower them to apply skills to improve their performance (Cummings & Worley, 2009). PC ensures that the people receiving the help own their weaknesses or problems, gain knowledge, skills, and expertise to diagnose them, and then solve their issues by themselves (Waclawski & Church, 2002). This paper explains how I can use this approach to help a manager to communicate effectively with subordinates. It also discusses the potential obstacles that I might face while helping the manager.
How I would use a process consultation approach to help a manager with problems communicating effectively with her subordinates?
First, I will inform the manager that, even though great speakers are born, most of them learn to communicate well on the job. Therefore, she should not feel shame about consulting professionals. Communication is a core competency for employers or managers and hence the need for her to acknowledge the idea (Gupta & Chin, 1994). I will convince the manager to develop those skills because this can help her to communicate effectively.
The manager should create a culture that enhances the cooperation of employees and effective communication (Adair, 2009). Using process consultation, I will advise the manager to spare at least 15 minutes with the employees daily, and share with them about their social lives. The manager should help them to understand the goals of the company. She should be approachable. This is a good start in communication. In this case, with the knowledge of the business and understanding their manager, she cannot have problems communicating with them. The manager can organize to meet with them in groups or one-on-one. Employees feel good when they are updated about any changes or plans of the company.
I will help the manager to ensure that her message is heard to avoid communication problems with employees. I will inform her that the way she communicates is as important. In this case, the message of her communication will provide the way forward. Therefore, to communicate, she should evaluate her abilities, sharpen her message, and recognize the good work that employees do. She should also prepare for meetings, understand the unspoken signals, and do a follow-up among other strategies.
She should not be bossy to her employees to the extent that she makes decisions that are against the will of the employees. She should also listen to them and show by gestures such as nodding, eye to eye contact, or even say that she agrees with what they say. I will advise the manager to allow them to suggest any changes necessary because she cannot be perfect in everything. It is wise for her to take personal assessments to know her weaknesses and strengths. Thus, she should meet with them and develop strategies to improve the performance of the organization together.
While communicating to her employees, she can sharpen her message by keeping it short and sharp. When the meeting is long, she can keep the employees engaged with compelling moments. I will also inform the manager that, if her messages are always negative, employees may have a bad attitude towards her, and hence the need of complimenting them for the good work done.
The manager should prepare herself for meetings. She should plan what she is to say, and how she will say it. I will encourage her to understand the unspoken signals. This can be achieved by meeting some of the employees and inquiring about the wrong things she might have said during the meeting. Every message needs reinforcement, and she should do a follow-up by using a note or memo to examine whether the message was understood.
I will also advise the manager to adopt programs that are designed to improve the process of exchanging information. The computer alternatives, such as the email accounts, can save the manager from hearing excuses about how the messages have not been received. She can distribute her messages electronically using different channels. This will help save time by avoiding employees coming to her office for clarifications regularly. All these aspects can improve her communication with employees and hence can solve her problems by herself without difficulties.
The potential obstacles that I might face while helping the manager to assist her help herself
There are several potential obstacles that I might face while helping the manager to achieve the goals of process consultation. First, I may lack an understanding of the workplace environment. This can make her employ skills and knowledge that do not fit the workplace. The second obstacle is that the manager may lack the time for consultation (Gupta & Chin, 1994). This can affect her learning process and hence she will continue experiencing the same communication problems. Another obstacle may be the attitudinal problems of the manager. If the manager gets bored or lacks the interest in seeking a process consultant, then her problems cannot be solved.
Conclusion
Process consultant supports clients to help themselves. This is achieved by increasing their awareness and understanding. They learn skills and knowledge from consultants and then apply them in their organizations by themselves. There are many ways of helping a manager to develop skills of communication. Applying these skills in the workplace can help managers avoid communication problems with their employees. However, there are challenges one can face while offering process consultation. These may include attitudinal problems of managers, lack of time, and lack of understanding of the workplace.
References
Adair, J. E. (2009). Effective communication: The most important management skill of all. London: Pan Books.
Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. (2009). Organization development & change. Australia: South-Western/Cengage Learning.
Gupta, Y. P., & Chin, C. W. (1994). Organizational life cycle: A review and proposed directions. The Mid-Atlantic Journal of Business, 30(3), 269-295.
Waclawski, J., & Church, A. H. (2002). Organization development: A data-driven approach to organizational change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.