Management and Supervisory Practices for Environmental Professionals

Advanced Competencies, Volume II

Herman Koren, Alma Mary Anderson

• Publisher: CRC Press
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000298314
• Edition: 4
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Environmental Law
• Index: Law

Based on the lifelong experiences of two authors as supervisors and teachers, the Fourth Edition of this bestseller provides up-to-date information for newly promoted or management-aspiring professionals and engineers in the fields of environmental health, occupational health and safety, water and wastewater treatment, public health, and many others.

This second volume explains the advanced principles that supervisors need to understand the art of communications, resolving communications problems, and the supervisor/manager's role in teaching, counseling, and managing employee performance and employee health and safety.

In addition to those already practicing professionals in their fields, this book is an excellent resource for students interested in learning management skills prior to entering the workforce.

Features of the Fourth Edition

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• Helps to understand and utilize organizational structure to facilitate problem solving

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• Offers a practical set of methods, tools, and techniques, all illustrated and easy to understand, for achieving leadership qualities

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• Provides concise but essential discussion material for each topic, using the practical art of communications

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• Includes thorough updates and many new case problems with answers provided

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• Introduces self-testing questions for different situations and practical exercises utilizing an individual's own work experience for answers

1

Communications Part I

The Practical Art of Communications—Communications Problems

Contents

Learning Objectives

Fundamental Management Information

Lesson Discussion

I. The Communication Process

II. One-Way versus Two-Way Communication

III. Human Barriers to Communications

IV. Communicating with Employees You Supervise

V. Communicating with Higher-Level Managers

VI. Horizontal Communication Systems

VII. Communication Problems

VIII. Grapevines

IX. Types of Communications

X. The Art of Speaking

XI. The Art of Listening and Perceiving

XII. Building Your Communications Skills

XIII. Communication Difficulties

XIV. Public Policy and Community Relations

XV. Summary

Case Problems

Practical Exercises

Self-Testing Examination

Answers to Case Problems

Answers to Self-Testing Examination

Learning Objectives

When you have successfully completed this lesson, you should:

1. Understand how the communication process works.
2. Recognize the importance of the concept of one-way versus two-way communications and why two-way communications are necessary.
3. Recognize the many human barriers to communication and how to avoid them.
4. Understand that communications go upward, downward, and in a horizontal manner, and know the types of communications that go in these directions.
5. Recognize the variety of communications problems that exist and know how to compensate for them.
6. Recognize that a grapevine will exist in the organization and what it is to continually provide proper information if grapevine problems are to be avoided.
7. Understand the art of oral communications and the techniques of speaking, listening, and perceiving.

Fundamental Management Information

Authors’ Note
The Best Practices and related competencies are of great significance to the success of new, existing programs; however, despite the finest of Best Practices and related competencies, the supervisor/manager’s communications to the working staff could make a program successful or could cause it to be a failure. In a communication, the presenter gives an oral or written statement and the receiver receives the statement, perceives what was said, and acts on it in a positive manner. The presenter then needs to evaluate the results to determine whether the communication has been successful.

This lesson sets forth in an easily readable and understandable format a large amount of information about communications, and therefore, the entire lesson, including the lesson outline, “Learning Objectives,” “Fundamental Management Information,” “Lesson Discussion,” “Case Problems,” “Practical Exercises,” and “Self-Testing Questions,” should be read through at least two times carefully before the reader starts to learn in-depth the information that has been presented here. Again, the importance of this lesson is such that the reader is asked to complete five practical exercises instead of the normal two practical exercises.

Influencing people through appropriate communications is the process of guiding their activities to achieve the goals and objectives of the organization. Influencing people includes leading, motivating, and controlling groups and individuals.

Communication is the process of sharing information with others to achieve a desirable result. The manager must understand the communications process, the role of feedback, and the importance of verbal versus nonverbal communications.

In a positive communication process, the individual speaks or writes, the other person or persons receive the message, the receiver perceives what is said, and some positive action is taken.

In a negative communication process, the message is received, but is misinterpreted, and a negative or non-response is the result of the original communication.

Barriers to Communications

Barriers to communications include the following:

1. Too little information is provided to carry out the prescribed tasks.
2. Information overload, especially in a situation where a supervisor/manager can easily receive 130–200 emails a day.
3. Too complex information.
4. Inadequate technical or people-type training for the communicator.
5. Lack of understanding of someone else’s culture.
6. Lack of knowledge of the audience.
7. Environmental problems interfering with the communication.
8. Use of ambiguous or multi-meaning words.
9. Feedback can be either verbal or nonverbal. Verbal feedback can be requested. Nonverbal feedback can be determined by observing facial expressions, gestures, body motions, and looking at the eyes, seeing if they are glazed, averted, or attentive.
10. Selectivity is a means of screening communications to accept or reject that which is of importance to the receiver. Selectivity can become a serious barrier to communications.
11. Perception of a message is the process by which an individual gives meaning to the communication. Perceptual defense is the screening out of environmental stimuli in order to concentrate on what is important.

Constant oral and visual stimuli can overwhelm you and affect the appropriate perception of the message. Some individuals have a specific set of ideas established in advance. If the message does not fit within their boundaries, the message is rejected. Further, a conclusion may be based on incomplete, hastily gathered information. If the communication is incomplete, the individual may erroneously fill in the blanks and react in an inappropriate manner. The individual may interpret the message improperly because of a highly specialized and restrictive perspective.

The difference between ineffective and effective communications in an organization may be based on its structure, the grapevine, verbal and nonverbal communications, and the level of upward, downward, and sideward communications.

Organizational Communications

Organizational communications are carried out through

1. Advertising and promotional campaigns.
2. Employee communications.
3. Media relations.
4. Training programs.
5. Public relations.
6. Governmental relations.
7. The grapevine.

Organizations can enhance upward communications by

1. Using employee opinion attitude surveys—the surveys should be unsigned.
2. Using suggestion boxes.
3. Using the open-door policy of management.
4. Using informal gripe sessions.
5. Using task forces to evaluate problems and programs.
6. Using exit interviews.

The good communicator is of necessity a good listener. This type of person will allow others to formulate ideas without interruption, ask stimulating questions, encourage all to participate, be a sympathetic listener, avoid premature judgments, and then briefly summarize the individual’s thoughts and give credit when the ideas are good.

Lesson Discussion

I. The Communication Process

What Is Communication?

Communication is basic to existence. It consists of the ways in which we express ourselves to other individuals and the techniques used to understand this expression. The first-line supervisor/manager must be able to communicate effectively in order to lead people, and to achieve the necessary objectives of both individuals and the organization. The effectiveness of a supervisor/manager will depend largely on his/her ability to interpret and relay information from a higher level in the organization to the working force and also relay the problems of the working force to the higher levels. The first-line supervisor/manager must be clearly understood—whether the supervisor/manager uses written or spoken words, or body language. The supervisor/manager is the medium whereby information moves from management to employees and then is used.

Gestures Are Communications

Communication consists of gestures, spoken words, and written words as well as the emotional or conscious state of the sender, recei...