Helping our accidental managers become effective communicators – why internal comms needs to do more

It’s crazy to think that four in five managers in the UK workforce are ‘accidental managers.’ These are people who’ve become leaders simply because they were good at their previous, non-managerial role, because they were popular or even because they happened to be there when someone needed to step up. Crazy, or rather worrying, too, is that a third have never had any formal leadership training and that includes a quarter of senior managers. And when it comes to communication skills (absolutely vital if you’re to be a good manager), according to a different survey, these people are being ‘set up to fail.’ Only 15% get compulsory communications training when they become managers, leading the CIPR to describe the comms support they’re given as ‘inadequate’ for their needs.   

Now, some accidental managers will be natural leaders and communicators, but many won’t. A lot of us will have experienced bad managers in our careers and will be sadly familiar with how devastating their impact can be, not just for the individual but the organisation as a whole. Why, then, are so many workplaces seemingly leaving it to luck as to whether a team’s new manager is any good or not?  

We wish we had the answer, but we don’t. We do, however, suspect that in the case of comms it might have something to do with the pervasive belief that, as a soft skill, knowing how to communicate well should be obvious to anyone who makes it to management level… We hear the moans all too often though to know that poor communications skills among middle managers is a problem for many internal communicators. So, what do we do about it?

Well, we think it’s time for internal comms (and the senior leadership) to take responsibility and help their accidental managers become the best communicators they can be. Here are our top tips to help you make that happen:

1.       Be sympathetic. It’s easy to become frustrated by people you perceive as doing their job badly, but look at it from their perspective: They take on a new job and are dealing with things they’ve never had to consider before, very quickly they realise they’re out of their depth and, as they flounder, team morale and productivity drops. They need help, not judgement.

2.       Commit to identifying where your accidental managers’ knowledge and skills gaps lie and develop a short- and long-term training plan. Training courses should cover written and verbal communication, including how to express themselves clearly, listen actively and provide constructive feedback. You could also consider offering public speaking courses, as well as mentoring schemes where leaders with good comms skills help out those who are new to it. While you can’t train for every eventuality they’ll face, broad brush coaching and comms training should be available for every manager – and this in itself will help with point 3. 

3.       Help them understand why good communication is important. Some people, even once they’ve been in management a while, just don’t think communication is their role. And if we’re trying to be fair to them, it might not have even featured in their original job description. Make sure the importance and benefits of strategic communication is covered in any training. Bring managers together to do interactive exercises to help them think through the best way of communicating with their teams. And don’t forget the importance of leading by example; get the CEO to stress that communicating to their teams is a key part of leading.

4.       Develop a manager communication strategy so that their role in the cascading and feedback process within the organisation is clearly defined. You’ll want it to be championed by senior management to ensure it gets taken on board and you’ll need to provide them with materials and support so that communicating your messages feels easy for them.

5.       Develop a suite of managers’ communications toolkits. This can range from short ‘talking points’ about company performance or initiatives, so that they know what they’re allowed to share in their team meetings, to comprehensive kits for big comms initiatives around change, for example. Keep an archive somewhere all managers can access, as and when they need to.  

6.       Encourage them to communicate their way. It can be very tempting when you work in the centre to want to control the message as much as you can. But no-one likes being dictated to and, providing you’ve built their confidence with training and coaching, managers will feel more valued when they’re trusted with information and given time to ask questions before being expected to relay it to their teams. It will also sound far more authentic if they’re allowed to communicate it their way. You’re there to support and help them tailor your messages so they best resonate with their team.

7.       Engage HR and get communication added to the list of managers’ core competencies. Define and clearly explain what is expected in terms of managers being better communicators and what specific communications responsibilities they will have.

8.       Be friendly and supportive. Make sure managers know you are there to help them, whether that’s with coaching, providing key messages or answering questions. You want to be their trusted source of information and guidance.

Good internal comms isn’t just about communicating, it’s about coaching too. It’s why training line managers is one of the packages we offer clients. Because making people better communicators – and seeing the benefit that brings to their teams – isn’t only rewarding, it’s a valuable way of demonstrating the strategic worth of internal comms.