As I've stated, I went into my job already knowing that communication was a huge bit of an issue. I had watched the Programs Manager interact with the Director and saw a breakdown in how the two spoke with one another and related to (or not to) each other. The Director spoke and the the Manager shied down. It was kinda like ...
Now I'm not going to say one separate individual was at fault for this breakdown in communication, but between what I saw and the ignored texts and the lack of return phone calls and so on and so forth, I knew this was not going to work for me.
According to Barbara Bowes, "poor interpersonal communication accounts for most problems in the workplace between employees and their colleagues, and employees and their managers. It's a serious issue that negatively impacts employee morale, and in the end, results in the deterioration of teamwork and overall productivity (Bowes, B. 2008)."
Who wants to start a job when they know that interpersonal communication is an issue???
Ooh ooh, pick me! Pick me!
That's right. I looked at this organization that I really wanted to be a part of, with a position that perfectly lined up with my goals and interests, and said, "I'm going to make this work!"
So, there I was on day two of being a paid employee and I walked right into my director's office, sat down and said, "Can we talk?"
I'm not quite sure where the courage came from, but I did know that if I was going to be successful at my job, I needed to get my concerns out in the open right from the start.
And I wasn't all ...
But I did come right out and say, "I feel like maybe communication has been a problem, and I was wondering what we could do to make that not become an issue." (Or something of that sort.)
What surprised me was that my Director responded with, "Yeah, I could probably do a better job at that."
This, dear readers, was the start of what I hope to be a beautiful relationship. I can definitely say things are much better communication wise than when I was merely volunteering. Well, at least between the Director and I. The rest of the office is a topic for another post.
References:
Bowes, B. (2008). Building effective communicators. CMA Management, 81(9), 14-16. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/197856913?accountid=28644
Now I'm not going to say one separate individual was at fault for this breakdown in communication, but between what I saw and the ignored texts and the lack of return phone calls and so on and so forth, I knew this was not going to work for me.
According to Barbara Bowes, "poor interpersonal communication accounts for most problems in the workplace between employees and their colleagues, and employees and their managers. It's a serious issue that negatively impacts employee morale, and in the end, results in the deterioration of teamwork and overall productivity (Bowes, B. 2008)."
Who wants to start a job when they know that interpersonal communication is an issue???
Ooh ooh, pick me! Pick me!
That's right. I looked at this organization that I really wanted to be a part of, with a position that perfectly lined up with my goals and interests, and said, "I'm going to make this work!"
So, there I was on day two of being a paid employee and I walked right into my director's office, sat down and said, "Can we talk?"
I'm not quite sure where the courage came from, but I did know that if I was going to be successful at my job, I needed to get my concerns out in the open right from the start.
And I wasn't all ...
But I did come right out and say, "I feel like maybe communication has been a problem, and I was wondering what we could do to make that not become an issue." (Or something of that sort.)
What surprised me was that my Director responded with, "Yeah, I could probably do a better job at that."
This, dear readers, was the start of what I hope to be a beautiful relationship. I can definitely say things are much better communication wise than when I was merely volunteering. Well, at least between the Director and I. The rest of the office is a topic for another post.
References:
Bowes, B. (2008). Building effective communicators. CMA Management, 81(9), 14-16. Retrieved from https://search.proquest.com/docview/197856913?accountid=28644
Bravo for being bold enough to say something! Often times, it just takes one person to have the courage to speak up and begin the change.
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