Cracking the nut of effective line manager communication
During the lockdowns due to COVID-19, line managers were critical to keeping their teams connected and involved when they shifted to working remotely. We’ve always known that they are highly trusted by their teams and vital for supporting their teams and communicating the key messages and strategy in organisations.
Dan Holden, 2022 Chair of CIPR Inside explains “Time and time again, effective line manager communication has proven to be a tough nut to crack. We know it’s important in internal communication to get this right but frequently we don’t give it the time, priority or budgets needed to give it the energy it needs to really make an impact.”
During those lockdowns, the CIPR Inside committee, all of whom are volunteers, decided to undertake some research. Over the last 18 months the team surveyed 82 internal communication professionals, 16 line managers and 13 Human Resource professionals, and analysed the results to find out more.
The findings give us more evidence and points of discussion in how we improve line manager communications in our organisations.
The research findings, published on 19 September 2022 give three clear themes that many internal communication teams can use as leverage for their ambition to build effective line manager communication.
1 - Organisations set the tone from the top. Line manager communications need senior leadership support and commitment to be given the priority it needs. As the strongest influencers in the organisation, what the leadership pays attention to, matters to the rest of the organisation.
2 - We expect a lot from line managers and we need to start giving the priority and support that matches that expectation. Whether it’s supporting their development and communications skills or providing the best tactical and strategic communications that’s ready for them to use or adapt to communicate with their teams, it needs to help them be great communicators and ultimately to make the impact the organisation expects of them.
3 - Most organisations are communication heavy. There is a lot going on at a strategic level as we grapple with numerous big issues across industries. If internal communication teams want to help line managers to be great communicators and share those top line messages, we need to cut through the noise and engage with them. That means listening, sharing feedback, supporting them with the tools and techniques to be their best.
Read more in the research paper and join our conversation on how we can crack the nut of effective line manager communications’ via our Guild group or the CIPR Connect app for CIPR members.
The CIPR Inside committee will be hosting an online event, on Tuesday 18 October 2022 to share some of the headlines from the research.
Thank you to the following CIPR Inside committee members for their work over the last two-years to produce this report.
- Friedel Grant
- Fiona Hatton Chart.PR, MCIPR
- Binu Jacob MCIPR, Accredited PR Practitioner
- Katie Marlow Chart.PR, FCIPR
- Chaya Mistry MCIPR
- Becky Paul FCIPR, Accredited PR Practitioner
If you have any questions about this report, please email inside@cipr.co.uk.