Middle managers are internal communication weak link?

That's the finding of a national survey in the US reported on Reuters. And it's one that will be familiar to many internal communicators who see messages through the line frequently break down at the line manager level.

According to the national telephone survey of 420 employed adults with supervisors:

• Only half of America's employees (50%) agree that their supervisors give them the information they need to do their job well;
• And even fewer employees - four in 10 - feel their supervisor keeps them informed about what's going on in the organization (42%);
• Finally, only 41% of employees feel their supervisor takes action on the ideas and concerns of his or her employees.

Chicago-based internal communications agency dg&a commissioned the survey. The agency's founder and president, David Grossman, added another finding that internal communicators will recognise all too well:

"Supervisors are the preferred and most trusted information source inside organizations today - yet they're clearly not getting the information and training they need for those they supervise."

Grossman goes on to remind people, quite rightly, that 'mid-level managers who can engage and motivate their staff can be a company's strongest means of accelerating success'. After that the piece then turns into a sales pitch for dg&a's "Ultimate Leader Tools".

The piece does however focus attention on what remains a real challenge for many businesses. How do you turn trusted and visible sources of information into people who communicate clearly with their teams?

When speaking with line managers about the need for them to have solid two-way discussions with their teams, one frequently cited hindrance is time. Line managers always say they have a lot to do and too little time in which to do it. This is where the soft skills of the internal communicator should be employed, because it is possible to influence line managers - and the senior managers above them - to put more a greater priority on sharing relevant information with teams and listening to what the teams have to say. After all, communicating with colleagues and employees is too important to business performance to be pushed down a list of priorities.

Yes, there will always be the manager who doesn't have the inclination to communicate properly with their team, but that is a performance management issue for their own line manager to address. In fixing the weak link that has been identified by the survey, communicators already have the solution to hand in the form of our soft skill set. There is no need to accept middle or line managers being a perceived communication weak link.

Changing the behaviours and thinking in a business will likely require the use of soft skills such as negotiation and motivation. But this survey and many others like it provide us with the all-important evidence required to influence management into giving communication a much greater emphasis. As communicators it's just another example of the value we add to an organisation.