Feathers are soft: communication is a hard core management skill

Recently I came across Ten Tips on how to help your employees manage change in uncertain times from Towers Perrin. It’s good sensible advice like, have a strategy for uncertain times and communicate your strategy effectively. And, help employees understand the context they function within, let them know they area valued and give them an opportunity to air concerns. Have a look at them – I’m sure you will find them useful.

What intrigued me was the fact that the majority of the tips are communication related. We know that organizations that practice effective internal communication financially outperform those that don’t; up to 29.5% increase in market value and 50% higher shareholder returns. Impressive!

I don’t know why people call communication a ‘soft’ skill. Soft suggests something lightweight – like feathers. And feathers have a horrible habit of flying all over the place and being difficult to catch. I like to believe that we can be more targeted and deliberate with our communications. My business partner refers to communication as a fundamental management skill - a far more appropriate term, don’t you think?