Communicating Policies And Procedures

Once the administrative system has been developed, it is important to communicate it to employees to ensure that employees are in line with the policies developed. This communication process must be dealt with in a sensitive manner.

Communication Styles

Management or policy committees will explain specific policies and procedures to employees with the purpose of hearing their input, making necessary adjustments and adapting the policies and procedures accordingly. Only then will these Policies and Procedures be taken up in a manual.

The following communication styles are available, with the assertive style being the optimal alternative.

Aggressive:  Policies are forced on employees and no communication or negotiations will be accepted. The audience may experience resistance towards the policy since the attitude of the presenter creates resistance and defensive attitudes.

Passive:  Information is shared, but no discussions or questions are tolerated since the person presenting the policy is not prepared to face confrontation. Discomfort or a lack of interest can be created in the audience.

Assertive:  Goal-directed information is shared, creating a win-win atmosphere. Participation in the presentation by means of questions and comments will allow employees to take intellectual ownership of what was discussed.

Feedback should be required from employees. It is proposed that different policies, pertaining to specific departments, be dealt with per department. A group session where the applicable policies and procedures are described and explained will proof help full to provide a general idea. Opportunities for employees to provide feedback should be given. These comments and questions should be taken into consideration before the policies and procedures are compiled in a manual.

Feedback Model

The following feedback model is suggested since it can effectively be applied to give positive feedback, negative feedback and neutral feedback in a constructive manner.

Step 1: Describe the current behaviour - Describe the current behaviour that you want to reinforce or redirect to improve the situation or the performance of the individual. Be very specific. Focus on behaviour and not personality, attitude or characteristics.

Step 2: Identify the situation - Identify the specific situation where you observed this behaviour. Be factual, give a date and time if required or describe the event.

Step 3: Describe the impact of the consequences of the behaviour - Describe the impact or consequences of the behaviour to the person. Be precise and objective. Include the consequences for the business/job/organization as well as the consequences for the individual/person.

Step 4: Identify alternative behaviour/corrective action - Discuss alternative behaviour that the person can consider for future purposes. Also, consider what corrective action should be taken to rectify or improve the current situation/ consequences.

Constructive Disagreements

Mention the word “conflict” and most people think of fights, riots or war. In fact, on just about every day of every year, one can find approximately two dozen armed combat situations somewhere in the world. But these extreme situations represent only the most violent expressions of conflict. During a typical meeting, you may encounter more subtle and non-violent types of conflict such as arguments, criticism and disagreement.