Persistent Communication, Research Paper Example

According to Forbes (2013a), persistent communication refers to repeated communication from managers to other managers working under him or her or to supervisors and other employees asking them to speed up in achieving organizational targets or goals in stipulated periods. Such communications sometimes seem nagging to employees or supervisors, but in the end organizations applying them achieve tremendous results (Ibid). Therefore, managers who inundate their employees via such messages should not feel sorry about it, but forge ahead towards meeting the organizational goals and targets.

There are various techniques in making communication persistent or assertive, and managers need to apply them in order to succeed using persistent communication (Gerzema & D’Antonio, 2010). One of the techniques is flogging. Flogging involves a minimal calm response. The technique applies especially where the recipients of the persistent messages reply argumentative or critical messages back to the sender. The sender chooses to remain calm, or send back placating non-defensive messages. While using flogging, a manager can choose to be calm, and then respond when the situation has returned to normalcy (Forbes. (2013b). Replying when heated arguments and criticisms have ceased enables managers to discuss issues with employees or supervisors and agree on how to meet the organizational targets. Stuck record technique is another way of using persistent communication. In this technique, the manager repeats the same message repeatedly, without expressing anger or raising the tone of the conversation, being irritated or engaging in side issues (Panzner, 2009). Here, a manager should stay calm and be clear in what he or she wants while sticking to the point without giving up.

A third technique for persistent communication involves the use of positive and negative enquiry. Positive enquiry is applicable when dealing with positive comments such as compliments and praises (Gerzema & D’Antonio, 2010). In this case, managers should give necessary positive feedback to employees or supervisors for work well done, as well as reacting appropriately to positive feedback from them. Negative enquiry is a way involving response to negative feedbacks, for example, when receiving negative criticism. Negative enquiry helps to find out emphasis about critical communications, which is an excellent alternative than angry responses to criticisms (Ibid). The use of these assertive techniques helps the persons involved in the communications to reach an agreement without hurting their relationships, thus influencing successful business relations in organizations.

Use of persistent communication for post-crisis reputation rebuilding can help pass crucial messages across the board and influence people to change their attitude. Managers need to understand how to apply these assertive skills during post-crisis reputation rebuilding. A manager should learn to operate transparently, establish credibility, and generate awareness (Melcrum, 2015). He or she should bear the responsibility of the failures experienced, while giving fair judgment of all employees to the business. A manager should also avoid blame game. He or she should be careful enough to handle the post-crisis situation in a way that there is no high handedness, thus encouraging other employees to concentrate their efforts towards realizing desired business targets. The manager should also make strategic communications as part of the daily business activities. These communications informs stakeholders on the future direction of the business. The communications also serves for sustainability and transparency purposes. It is also crucial for managers to learn communicating via as many media as possible. Using social media (Zhao & Rosson, 2009) such as Twitter and Facebook can help an organization win the hearts of all stakeholders including employees and customers. Through such communications, organizations can provide encouraging information such as offers provided by the company to shield employees and customers from losses.

In conclusion, persistent information although seen as nagging at times, can help organizations achieve their goals and targets. Managers should learn how to use persistent communication effectively to achieve the best as well as regain trust after crisis business periods.

References

Forbes. (2013a). It’s Not Nagging: The Power of Persistent, Redundant Communication. Forbes.  available at http://www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2013/01/11/its-not-nagging-the-power-of-persistent-redundant-communication/

Forbes. (2013b). Successful Business Communication: It Starts At The Beginning. Forbes. Available at http://www.forbes.com/sites/amyanderson/2013/05/28/successful-business-communication-it-starts-at-the-beginning/

Gerzema, J., & D’Antonio, M. (2010). Spend shift: How the post-crisis values revolution is changing the way we buy, sell, and live. John Wiley & Sons.

Melcrum. (2015). Rebuilding Trust in the Organization. Melcrum ltd. Available at https://www.melcrum.com/research/employee-engagement-leader-manager-communication/rebuilding-trust-organization

Panzner, M. (2009). When giants fall: an economic roadmap for the end of the American era. John Wiley & Sons.

Zhao, D., & Rosson, M. B. (2009, May). How and why people Twitter: the role that micro-blogging plays in informal communication at work. In Proceedings of the ACM 2009 international conference on Supporting group work (pp. 243-252). ACM.