Managers Are The Gateway

Managers contend with a tremendous amount of responsibility and have an infinite amount of expectation sitting on their shoulders.  They’re expected to put out fires, manage projects, make sure people are getting to work on time, implement procedures and processes, prepare performance evaluations, resolve conflicts, ensure employees are properly trained, provide progress reports to their superiors, be accountable for any failures or mistakes on the part of their employees, execute the overall mission of the organization on a day-to-day basis, align employees with organizational goals, and a million other things.

Now that’s a pretty exhaustive list and I only scratched the surface.  Nevertheless, in addition to the significant amount of responsibility, managers also have a significant amount of power.  Think of this - managers have the extraordinary opportunity to develop an individual, both professionally and personally.  Managers have the extraordinary opportunity to empower an individual; to help them become a leader.  After all, it takes leadership to develop leadership.  

Therefore, the communication that takes place within the manager-employee relationship should be just as much about connectivity, empowerment, and employee development...as it is about productivity.

The interaction between a manager and his or her employee(s) has the potential to be so much more than task-oriented communication or performance evaluations.  Each relationship individually, has the ability to impact an organization, collectively.  You want to minimize turnover, foster healthy work environments, and ensure that employees realize they are valued and seen as assets to your organizations; well I say...start with here.