Role of Communication in Effective Leaderships

Question: Discuss about the Role of Communication in Effective Leaderships. Answer: Introduction Project Management is the most effective discipline of the business world which allows the managers to plan, initiate and implement to collaborate all the crucial business units and meet the specific goals of the firm in a defined time period span. This business tool also encourages the leaders to implement the knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to project activities so as to meet the project requirements on time. Communication skills could be considered as the leaders information highway allowing the leaders to deal with their subordinates in both the situations of good times as well as the challenging ones. Through communication, the leaders inspire its followers towards the quick completion of the tasks and operations. The elements of Communication if not handled with care prove to be the biggest obstacle in the maximizing success of a firm. The following report is precisely written to evaluate the actual role of the communication elements and skills in reforming the leadership activities during crucial projects. The prime aim of this report is to unveil that whether the communication factors are the only requirements of the managers to discharge their duties well or these factors need to be accompanied by other factors too. The report in the first few sections talks about the definition of the issue or the problem along with the justification why the topic has been undertaken for the discussion. The Projects aims and Objectives are also discussed to give a candid vision of the details that would be followed. These sections are followed by the Literature review depicting the various authors view over the chosen topic. This section is followed by the Project plan including various Data Collection and Analysis methods that has been used during the project. For a better understanding, the projected timeline would also be di scussed. The last sections will reveal the Outcomes of the Research being carried out followed by the candid conclusion section. Background and Definition of the issue/problem The Researchers in this field have suggested that the effective Communication skills not only help the leaders to transfer the crucial information in a two-way manner but also simultaneously allow the subordinates to understand their roles and responsibilities in the company. The impact of the good communication skills is not only restricted to the subordinates, but the leaders could also use this skill to lure a number of other stakeholders like the suppliers and the investors in a limited time for the projects (Boyaci Aksu, 2009). The successful leaders in the business world use the language and the communication skills to appropriately manage the requirements of the project in the proposed budget and within the allocated time. It is not crucial that how much knowledge a leader posse but the difference is made by the ways in which it communicates these skills and information across all the stakeholders in the company. The Communication not only involves passing numerous orders but at the same time it demands a two-way interaction in which regular feedbacks are gathered from the subordinates to increase their participation in the ongoing events (Team, 2010). Most of the Researchers consider Communication as a pivotal element of the effective Leadership but at the same time the actual role of the Communication has not been made clear. The Researchers are unable to evaluate that what could be the possible consequences of eliminating the communication elements from the leadership qualities. Hence, the report will critically evaluate this issue all possible manner. Communication plays a crucial role is all the facets of business and hence it becomes quite important to build a great communication within the organization and also prepare the employees to deal pleasantly with all the customers and suppliers of the firm. The Communication allows the firm members to build a positive relationship with the stakeholders that last for a longer duration providing great benefits to the company. Without the effective communication skills, it becomes difficult to construct and foster strong relationships in the business world (Beslin Reddin, 2004). When the employees are comfortable at their workplaces then they open up easily and suggest a number of innovative ideas and thoughts. Open Communication allows them to suggest possible changes irrespective of the pressure from the leaders. If the staff members are unable to communicate ideas due to inefficient communication skills, then there are numerous chances that the new ventures and change plans could not be implemented with a full potential. Not only a good ambience is maintained at the workplace but in the presence of good communication skills, the leaders could easily maintain high ethical levels among the staff members by simply reminding them periodically about their goals and their responsibilities towards the firm. Through communication, the leaders encourage the employees and build their morale. The encouraged and well informed employees feel more secure within their role and hence deliver better services than the other counterparts (Wertheim, 2012). Justification of choosing the topic The topic was chosen because through effective communication, the leaders could understand the actual needs and requirements of the subordinates with the firm and hence could devise such rules and policies that are highly oriented to satiate these needs. The other benefit of good Communication needs is to attract the most suitable investors towards the firm so that the company gets a good source of financial resources for its current and upcoming ventures. A good understanding of the actual role of Communication skills will help the managers to work more frequently in improving the skills. Moreover, a good understanding will also allow the managers to incorporate other factors also that will support the communication skills for a longer term (Benna, 2015). It is also crucial to analyze the role of Communication skills in the effective leadership because implementing an effective leadership is a complicated process and it becomes pivotal for the managers to understand the importance of all the factors influencing it. If the actual role of the Communication skills is effectively evaluated, then the leaders could easily build strategies to enhance its role (Agarwal Garg, 2012). Projects aims and Objectives This Business Report has a straightforward aim of analyzing the precise role of the communication skills in building an effective leadership among the current and the potential leaders. This report also aims to evaluate the methodologies that are to be adopted by the firm members to improve the communication skills of the leaders and equivalently satiate the changing needs of the stakeholders. The changing consumers and suppliers attitude towards the business has also compelled the managers to communicate with them and understand their changing needs with the companies in the markets. The objectives of this report are as follows: To evaluate the efficiency of the managers in appealing the customers and the other stakeholders towards the current and the upcoming events in the company (Burnison, 2012). To suggest strategies and the methodologies that could be quickly adopted to improve the communication skills of the leaders. To identify the other potential factors that could be held responsible for building up an effective leadership. This is important because instead of focusing all the resources in enhancing the communication skills, the managers could work over a number of factors side by side for better results. To critically evaluate both the positive and negative impacts of the communication skills in the leadership style so as to implement the best strategies to curb the negative aspects while promoting the positive ones. Literature Review The leaders actually communicate those messages to the subordinates that are already rooted in the values and culture of an organization. The effective communication helps the leaders to maintain a strong bond with the key stakeholders of the company including the employees, customers, strategic partners, shareholders and the media people (Schwieren, 2012). The precise trait of the Communication, every leader must possess are: Significance: The messages being conveyed to the subordinates must reflect about the crucial issues of the firm that has played a pivotal role in the success of the company. Values: The contents of the Communication should highly reflect the actual Mission, vision and the Working Culture of the company. This will help the firm members to easily get acquainted with the goals and objectives of the company and align their services to achieve them in a required period of a time (Miller, 2012). Consistency: The messages that the subordinates receive should point towards the stated values and behaviors of the company. This will allow the followers to have a candid view of the working strategies of the company. Cadence: The communication established between the leaders and the followers should not be temporary rather should maintain regularity. The subordinates should be constantly reminded of their duties towards the firm so that they remain loyal to the company for a longer duration and deliver their best services in times of economic turmoil. The effective leaders exhibit such qualities that allow them to be smart in the industry and at the same time build and motivate teams and get lucrative results for the firm. Good Communication skills allow the leaders to share the vision and plans effectively to the subordinates. When the followers know on which path they have to work, then they are encouraged to deliver best of their services as now they do not have to consider about the failures and hindrances in the implementation of the new ideas and projects. The Communication also allows the managers to convey the important ideas over the inessential ones so that the subordinates know in which sphere they have to work hard (Turkalj Fosic, 2003). When there is no communication gap between the Leaders and the Subordinates then it doesnt take much effort to retain the best talents for the firm. The employee retention is quite pivotal for the firm because the Change Implementation plans could only be implemented if the wise and the experienced staff members are present in the company. The strong Communication bonds are not only built with the subordinates, but the effective leaders also create good bonds with the managers at the same level. The good leaders often communicate all the success and even failures to the ones that are working at the same positions so that they get a chance to learn from the mistakes and at the same implement the success strategies of their coworkers for quick success. Communication is a two-way process in which both the involved entities have to exchange ideas and experiences. The effective leaders are the ones that not only guide the followers towards specific goals but at the same time allow them to contribute effectively in the decision making processes. This helps the leaders to understand the demands of the followers more closely and then transform the companys policies and working strategies accordingly (Philipp, 2013). When Communication skills are installed in the correct manner then the leaders easily find the common ground with the people while maintaining the individuality and integrity of all the stakeholders involved in the decision making process. All the stakeholders could not be handled by adopting a single communication style. The Communication styles are changed depending upon the audience needs and requirements. For instance, while communicating companys policies and working strategies to the employees, the leader needs to be more directive in his communication style (Engen, 2012). It is the basic requirement from a leader that he should identify the audiences and their precise requirements and interests. With the changing demands of the stakeholders the leaders also have to change their leadership styles so as to encourage the respondents to react to meet the goals of the company (Barrett, 2010). Apart from guiding the followers, the leaders have to also develop a good sense of listening. The active listening has always been a crucial element of an effective leadership in which a good leader is required to focus both on the verbal as well as the non-verbal language of the speakers (Abbasi, Siddiqi, Azim, 2011). The listening activity also needs to be done in a critical manner. The leaders need to analyze both the good and bad aspects of the thoughts, ideas and feedbacks given by the stakeholders and work accordingly to deliver good results. The leaders gain a lot of skills and knowledge in their entire career. This gained knowledge is only valuable when it is practically applied when called for. Great Communicators possess a heightened sense of contextual and situational awareness. Most of the great communicators are great listeners which eventually allow them to gather crucial elements of success and implement them in their operations. These elements are gathered directly from the feedbacks they receive while communicating with the firm members over the ongoing projects in the company (Kauppi, 2007). The effective communication skills often equips the leaders with an ability to transform any sort of destructive conflict into a constructive one while aiding the company with more reliable workforce (Jasper, Pentony, lee, 2006). Through positive conflicts, stronger bonds are built which acts as a boon for the company and these people even have a tendency to create a productive working environment in the firm. Moreover the staff members are able to have a refined approach towards the ongoing problems and hence make wise decisions for the firm (Guo Wu, 2015). Methodology The prime impact of the Communication skills on the effectiveness of the leadership can be easily determined by collecting the primary data from the most reliable sources within the company. This source is the employees and the managers working in the firm. Data Collection To collect the most relevant data, the employees and the managers could be interviewed personally and could be asked about their thoughts and opinions over the communication skills and its role in formulating the most effective leadership style. The choice of the data collection method is often influenced by the point of data being collected and the skill of the enumerator (Sykes, 2011). For this purpose, the firm could hire a team of experts that could interview the firm members. The Secondary ways could also be adopted to collect the data and in this a number of research articles and thesis could be referred for a better understanding of the chosen topic (Duncan, 2009). Different researchers have different attitudes towards the issues and challenges prevailing in the business world. For instance some researchers believe that Communication is essential for building effective leadership traits in an employee but at the same time it has not been made clear that what actual role is played by the Communication in influencing the members following the leader. On the other hand, the other researchers believe that it is the Communication only that differentiates a good leader from a bad one and a leader from a follower (Kuncoro, 2006). According to these people the leaders have a clear understanding of the companys vision and aims and they effectively convey these elements to their subordinates who would certainly align their services according to the needs and requ irements of the firm. The researchers who believe in the crucial role of the Communication in the effective leadership also have a strong belief that it is not a good leader that with a lot of practice develops good Communication skills; rather it is the good Communication power that eventually creates a great leader. The power of Communication allows building a great trust among the leaders and followers. When the followers place their trust in their leaders then they easily follows what the leaders preach and even tries to take risks in times of complicated situations. Hence, Communication skills are indispensable part of an effective leadership (Kolzow, 2014). Data Analysis The collected data could be analyzed both in a Qualitative as well as in a Quantitative manner. To analyze the data collected by the secondary sources and the interviews, the qualitative methods are to be used. On the other hand, to analyze the data collected through online surveys, the Quantitative analysis could be used. The most appropriate statistical tool for Quantitative analysis is the Regression Analysis Method in which the independent relationship between the considered variables is precisely analyzed (Mayfield, 2009). This method is undertaken when the research process involves dependent variable and one or more independent variables (Dewan Myatt, 2008). Findings and Outcomes Effective Communication is the key to a successful leadership. Studies by Bass and Bass (2008), unveils that in order to discharge effective leadership activities over the followers, personnel need to have six crucial traits. These traits are: interpersonal skills, personality, intuition, character, task competence and biophysical characteristics. Out of all these six traits, four belongs to the Communication skills. The only aim of the communication is to create understandings among the two entities involved in the communication and create a two-way transfer of information (Froschheiser, 2013). The leaders must understand the vision and the strategic direction of the firm and combine it with the benefits of all the stakeholders of the company. The above discussion suggests that Communication is an integral part of the leadership. This participation could be enhanced or curbed by including the other factors too. These factors are effective Reward policies and Employee Retention schemes that can enhance the Communication skills role in the leadership (Morgeson, DeRue, Karam, 2010). As soon as the leader reaches at the top position, his responsibilities double up and to meet the demands of all the subordinates at a single time, there has to be a great communication among all the business units of the firm. The good communication skills never allow a good leader to fail in times of economic turmoil as he can easily convey the upcoming risks to the followers beforehand only. The isolation at this level may cause barriers to grow which ultimately ends up in a mutual unhappiness. The ill communication often leads to problems associated with motivation, productivity and focus. The followers easily get demotivated with the ongoing trends and changes at the workplace and often fail to give constructive feedback wherever possible (Zaccaro Rittman, 2001). The above discussion has led to a number of outcomes which could be concluded as follows: Leadership is an indispensable part of the firm and to make the leadership styles more effective, a company has to build strong communication skills among its workers. Communication can never be separated from Leadership because in order to govern wisely a leader needs to convey the actual goals and objectives of the company and in return receive the actual feedbacks over the ongoing operations in the company. The Communication needs to be strong within the company but at the same time a strong relationship is to be maintained with the customers and the suppliers too. For this, the employees should also be trained to communicate in a descent manner with the customers (White, 2007). The leadership style could be changed according to the audiences being dealt and according to this change the communication style could also be changed. The communication skills of the leaders could be improved by organizing myriads of Communication Training Courses headed by various experts. These sessions allow the leaders to enhance their knowledge and apply them in different challenging situations. Conclusion Communication skills are important for all the business units of the firm to allow a smooth flow of information across the firm. The Communication skills could be instilled irrespective of the level and position of the employees in the company. The leaders need to maintain a strong bond with all their subordinates so as to understand their actual needs with the firm. A good communication is built as a two-way process in which the strategies are made keeping in mind the needs and interests of both the entities involved in the process. The exchange of ideas and thoughts from both the sides help to create a strong bond that yields a lot of lucrative results for the company. References Abbasi, M., Siddiqi, A., Azim, R. (2011, June). Role of Effective Communications for Enhancing Leadership and Entrepreneurial Skills in University Students. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 2(10), 1-9. Retrieved from https://ijbssnet.com/journals/Vol.%202_No._10;_June_2011/25.pdf Agarwal, S., Garg, A. (2012, August). The Importance of Communication within Organizations: A Research on Two Hotels in Uttarakhand. IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSRJBM), 3(2), 40-49. Retrieved from https://iosrjournals.org/iosr-jbm/papers/vol3-issue2/E0324049.pdf Barrett, D. (2010). What is Leadership Communication? The McGraw-Hill Companies. Retrieved from https://online.columbiasouthern.edu/csu_content/courses/business/bsl/bsl4040/12d/uniti_chapter1presentation.pdf Benna, S. (2015, July 01). The 3 communication skills every leader needs to master. Retrieved from https://www.businessinsider.in/The-3-communication-skills-every-leader-needs-to-master/articleshow/47901293.cms Beslin, R., Reddin, C. (2004, December). How leaders can communicate to build trust. IVY business journal. Retrieved from https://iveybusinessjournal.com/publication/how-leaders-can-communicate-to-build-trust/ Boyaci, C., Aksu, A. (2009). The importance of communication within organizations: a research on two 5 star hotels in antalya region. Akdeniz University. Retrieved from https://www.opf.slu.cz/vvr/akce/turecko/pdf/Boyaci.pdf Burnison, G. (2012, April 05). Why communication is essential for great leaders . Retrieved from https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/careers/careers-leadership/why-communication-is-essential-for-great-leaders/article4098019/ Dewan, T., Myatt, D. (2008). The Qualities of Leadership: Direction, Communication, and Obfuscation. University of Oxford, Department of Economics. Retrieved from https://personal.lse.ac.uk/DEWANta/downloads/LQ_April.pdf Duncan, K. (2009). Leadership and Communication: Improving leadership and communication Skills for Municipal Managers and Supervisors. AMCTO. Retrieved from https://www.amcto.com/imis15/Documents/Kevin%20Duncan%20-%20Leadership%20and%20Communication.pdf Engen, K. (2012). The role of communication and listening in leadership. Gonzaga University. Retrieved from https://web02.gonzaga.edu/comltheses/proquestftp/VanEngen_gonzaga_0736M_10167.pdf Froschheiser, L. (2013). Communication: The most important key to leadership success . Retrieved from https://www.reliableplant.com/Read/12675/communication-most-important-key-to-leadership-success Guo, W., Wu, N. (2015). Empirical Study on the Effects of Leaders Verbal Communication Style on Employees Job Satisfaction. Journal of Human Resource and Sustainability Studies, 3, 211-227. Retrieved from https://file.scirp.org/pdf/JHRSS_2015122813240719.pdf Jasper, D., Pentony, D., lee, S. (2006). Leadership and communications: Curriculum Content Framework. Retrieved from https://ace.arkansas.gov/cte/informationforms/curriculumframeworks/documents/frameworks/agricultural/leadershipcommunications2006.pdf Kauppi, A. (2007). Transformational leadership. Retrieved from https://www.langston.edu/sites/default/files/basic-content-files/TransformationalLeadership.pdf Kolzow, D. (2014). Building Organizational Leadership Capacity. Retrieved from https://www.iedconline.org/clientuploads/Downloads/edrp/Leading_from_Within.pdf Kuncoro, S. (2006). Culture and Team Leadership Communication Effectiveness: A Cross-cultural Study from Japanese and German Leadership Communication Literature . Retrieved from https://unitec.researchbank.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10652/1263/fulltext.pdf?sequence=1 Mayfield, M. (2009). The Role of Leader-Follower Relationships in Leader Communication: A Test Using the LMX and Motivating Language Models. The Journal of Business Inquiry, 8(1), 65-82. Retrieved from https://www.uvu.edu/woodbury/docs/theroleofleaderfollowerrelationships.pdf Miller, P. (2012, January). Leadership communication: the three levels. Researchgate journal, 19-21. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254664129_Leadership_communication_the_three_levels Morgeson, F., DeRue, S., Karam, E. (2010, January). Leadership in Teams: A Functional Approach to Understanding Leadership Structures and Processes. Journal of Management, 36(1), 5-39. Retrieved from https://msu.edu/~morgeson/morgeson_derue_karam_2010.pdf Philipp, L. (2013). Leadership: The Importance of Communication and Sensemaking. Linnaeus University. Retrieved from https://www.diva-portal.se/smash/get/diva2:626235/FULLTEXT01.pdf Schwieren, C. (2012). Communication Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.christiane-schwieren.de/orgbe/Leadershipcommunication.pdf Sykes, A. (2011). An Introduction to Regression Analysis. The Inaugural Coase Lecture. Retrieved from https://www.law.uchicago.edu/files/files/20.Sykes_.Regression.pdf Team, K. (2010). Business communication. Retrieved from https://faculty.kfupm.edu.sa/MGM/yeokkr/files%5CTeaching_Handout_1%20(Introduction).pdf Turkalj, Z., Fosic, I. (2003). Organizational communication as an important factor of organizational behaviour. Interdisciplinary Management Research. Retrieved from https://www.efos.unios.hr/repec/osi/journl/PDF/InterdisciplinaryManagementResearchV/IMR5a03.pdf Wertheim, E. (2012). The Importance of Effective Communication. College of Business Administration. Northeastern University. Retrieved from https://ysrinfo.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/effectivecommunication5.pdf White, D. (2007). Management Communication Skills. University of London Press. Retrieved from https://www.londoninternational.ac.uk/sites/default/files/documents/sample_materials/ba1060_study-guide.pdf Zaccaro, S., Rittman, A. (2001). Team leadership. George Mason University. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/5392/b82c7297f13abb83275c3b8f853dfd009f98.pdf