Communication at Work

This past week at work, I was asked to fill in for another manager. Part of this “filling in” included an invite to a meeting. The assistant store manager, who happens to be a bit hardnosed and rough, was in charge of this meeting. I had always wondered what type of dialogue the department managers had with the assistant store manager during these meetings so I was excited to sit in and witness the interactions.

I arrived to the assigned room on time with pen and paper. The other two department managers were also present on time with pen and paper. Slowly time ticked by as we waited nearly thirty minutes for the assistant store manager to make his appearance.

Immediately he asked us to bring out our weekly reports so we could review our numbers. The discussion on numbers was brief but pleasant as our store was performing well in comparison to the district. We moved on from the reports to new changes in our installation programs. And here is where I witnessed what a typical meeting looks like.

The department heads were criticized for their lack of installations, one department (my own), was really in the doghouse. As the assistant store manager shot down almost all legitimate concerns from the other managers, I felt I should step in. I recognized from some of my social interaction training here at Alverno that the assistant store manager’s dominating demeanor and negativity was not resolving the install problem and not the best way to communicate with his staff.

I briefly interrupted and shared my perspective as a non-manager. I shared with the group how the new implementations would reduce employee morale and prove ineffective in boosting the install numbers. My information was solid and difficult for the assistant store manager to disprove. The brief break from his viewpoint also allowed the other managers to voice some frustrations they had with the assistant store manager.

I am not sure if it was because I was present and the assistant store manager did not want to look bad but he appeared to listen to his management team. He responded in a positive manner to both their feedback and mine. Although I believe the management team has work to do on their communication techniques I hope that some of the things I pointed out will help them in the future.