Mastering the Management Skills of Communication and Empathy

While different fields of work require different technical skills, soft skills (also known as people skills) tend to be the same regardless of the work being performed.

People skills don’t require intricate knowledge of algorithms or coding. In fact, many of them emphasize collaboration and consideration, things most of us have been taught since childhood: Play nice with others, be helpful and be courteous.

Simple as they may seem, though, many leaders have a tough time mastering people skills. Teams whose leader takes a “my way or the highway” approach are in danger of getting bogged down in conflict, egos and hurt feelings.

Minerva Cruz, EdD, is a former financial advisor, a 25-year veteran of the Philadelphia Police Department and an instructor at Philadelphia’s Police Academy and Villanova University. Dr. Cruz teaches Strategic Organizational Leadership, Essentials of Business Analysis, Essentials of Business Process Management, Essentials of Commercial Contract Management, and Essentials of Government Contract Management in Villanova’s College of Professional Studies.

To call her experience varied is an understatement. Yet when she discusses people skills essential for managers, there are no qualifications based on occupation.

“The same people skills can be useful to all managers, whether in business, policing or academics, Dr. Cruz said.

Communication is Key

Dr. Cruz named three skills essential for managers to drive the best performances from their teams. A common theme that runs through all of these skills is the acknowledgment and consideration of fellow team members as professionals essential to the success of a project.

Communication is number one on Dr. Cruz’s list.

“Strong communication skills are paramount,” she said. “It’s critical to be able to communicate clearly and concisely for clarity and understanding.”

Villanova’s Maximizing Team Effectiveness course teaches that a manager devoted to effective communication must do more than be clear and concise on his or her own terms.

Maximizing the effectiveness of communication with team members means identifying each team member’s communication preferences through their words and body language. The manager then must adapt his or her words and body language to the team member’s preferences.

Knowing the communication preferences of your team is important because individuals receive information in different ways.

Most people, the course teaches, are visual in nature, and so the most effective means of communication with them is through something visual, such as an image or photograph.

Others take in information kinetically, meaning they prefer to touch and feel something, both physically and emotionally.

Auditory, the act of listening, is the least common method of taking in information, with between 12% and 18% of people using it as their primary means of receiving information, according to the course.

Knowing how team members best receive information, and adapting communication methods to match, helps managers ensure maximum understanding and increases the potential for a project’s successful communication. 

“Effective communication can clarify things people need to understand and connect people in ways that support productive teamwork,” Dr. Cruz added.

Successful Change Requires Flexibility

Change is constant. Change can be frightening.

No matter how many changes a professional goes through at work, change may still bring on feelings of apprehension and fear. When change has a team feeling nervous and uncertain, the manager must exhibit positive flexibility to counter the fear.

“Flexibility is key,” Dr. Cruz said. “A manager must remain flexible for his or her team to be able to thrive as things evolve and change.” 

In the book, “Managing Transitions,” author William Bridges divides change into three phases: ending, neutral zone and new beginning. How the leader handles the first two phases can determine if the third phase is a success.

The ending phase finds the team in the process of letting go, but still holding on to the old, familiar way of doing things. Workers may feel angry or depressed. Everything is different and what the new beginning will be isn’t yet clear.

As taught in the Maximizing Team Effectiveness course, if a team member expresses fear, the manager should ask him or her to talk about the change that’s occurring, particularly what will change for the worker. Ask what they will lose or what they fear they will lose. Acknowledge their fears but do not argue or try to convince them that their fears are wrong or unjustified.

The neutral zone phase can be more unknown for individuals, as the old and familiar is completely gone but the future still is hazy. People may start coming into work late or leaving early. Little is accomplished.

The leader can help by discussing what has been lost in the transition, and also encourage workers to consider what can be gained in the new beginning. Managers can also help the team refocus energies to create ideas about meeting the challenges of the new beginning. 

“Employees who recognize flexibility in a manager are more likely to feel safe enough to be open and share, especially when things are shifting, need to shift or are in danger of collapsing,” Dr. Cruz said.

Teams that successfully make it through the first two phases are rewarded with a new beginning phase, a time of learning, optimism and hope. The realization that the team has settled into a new normal may take time, but workers will already be experiencing a sense of comfort and security even before the new beginning is completely acknowledged.  

Empathy Fosters Resiliency

Empathy, understanding and sharing another person’s feelings, also are vital for leaders helping their teams navigate change.

“Managers who are able to empathize with people can recognize when employees or customers are giving critical cues about what they feel in ways that aid in productive communication, trust and overall engagement,” said Dr. Cruz.

Further, empathy is a valuable tool for a leader trying to make his or her team more resilient.

Resiliency is essential, as taught in the Maximizing Team Effectiveness course, because there is increasing pressure in the workplace to get more work done with improved quality but with fewer employees, less time and less money.

Resilient workers thrive in constant change. They are flexible, agile, creative and adaptive. They learn from experience and gain strength from adversity.  

Emotional intelligence is an essential part of resiliency, as noted by author Daniel Goleman in his book “Emotional Intelligence: Why it Can Matter More Than IQ.” Likewise, empathy is an essential element of emotional intelligence. 

Managers can bolster an employee’s empathy, and by extension, his or her resiliency, by following these five guidelines:

1. Help them understand others’ perspectives
2. Tolerate mistakes on the journey to development
3. Focus on service to others
4. Leverage diversity to create agile teams
5. Be aware of things that could create surprise changes

“Demonstrating empathy helps managers be in a position to better understand what someone is saying, and to pick up on non-verbal cues about what someone may be hesitant to say,” said Dr. Cruz. “Empathy can enhance the ability to connect successfully with people you are responsible for leading.”