Michael Ogbu

One of my core duties as a college lecturer is to supervise a number of students during their final year Research Projects. It is a duty in which I would take each of these students through their individual projects from the scratch to the end. This, in the course of time, became one of my most riveting duties as it affords me a closer interactive relationship with the students. But, the duty, as expected, also comes with an equal challenge.

I’m usually quite invested in these projects to the point that I would consider an individual student’s success or failure as mine. However, one particular year stood out. It nearly broke me when a set of students who were assigned to me were all finding it hard to commit to their projects. All five of them. It had been a strange and frustrating situation because in every set I had previously supervised, I was sure to find a few who were very committed, and in whom I would set a precedence for the rest.

Faced with a peculiar problem as such, I was left to think up a new strategy, even if it had to be an unconventional one. So, I came up with a method which I would call a Linear Engagement Strategy. Having observed and understood what their major problem was, I deliberately designed a system in which our discussions had progressed from Non-Academic to Academic topics. With my core intention being to ease them into the process. By this, I merely created a convivial atmosphere for a better engagement.

We started off our first few meetings with topics on sports, arts, entertainment, politics, etc. At that beginning stage, I had us discuss general stuff they had interest in, nothing personal or private, and nothing related to their academics nor the project at hand. After a few meetings, I found that we had succeeded in creating a dependable engaging system with which it had been easier to linearly advance our interactions to the core. Interestingly, it has seemed almost a seamless transition, and by the end of that session, each of the students had not only completed their projects within the timeframe, but had done so efficiently and enthusiastically.

This goes to show how pertinent effective communication is to every management process. Communication is a multi-layer system which encompasses the basic processes of Listening, Thinking, Speaking, and Empathizing (Nonverbal). It is a system that goes beyond the specifics of speaking and hearing to include the ability to listen intently, observe and think analytically, and judge empathically; and also by crystallising the entire process through an effective feedback mechanism.

The mistake we often make is to assume that communication comes to us instinctively – like an inherent trait. In other words, we tend to think that being able to speak is the same as communicating. But this is not actually the case as it is rather an intuitive craft that needs to be learnt and mastered. Therefore, it is most expedient to understand the basic components of communication and to apply them in every form or style of communication. Be it the Aggressive, Passive, Passive-Aggressive, Manipulative, or Assertive communication style, the underlying processes must apply.

Meanwhile, each of these communication styles is said to be suitable for different undertakings. Yet, it is incumbent on the managers to pinpoint what works most for a given project based on the peculiarities of the members of their teams. However, judging by the descriptions of the five communication styles mentioned above, the assertive communication style has been identified as the most suitable style for management as it connotes and promotes collaborations.  

Apparently, we can never overemphasise the importance of communication to people management. It is one effective tool that yields the most conformity from a team of humans. By this, it makes the most immediate impact for problem solving because it is the best way to get others to perform a task. As a leader or a manager of sorts, you must master the art of effective communication to be able to translate your ideals or that of your organisation to the rest of your team. It is a skill that transverses every facet of human endeavour, serving as a great social bridge.