Fostering better manager autonomy through comms

Manager communications are ultimately a “give a fish or teach to fish” situation. With all the training and upskilling, all the resources and FAQs on your intranet, and all the quarterly manager meetings with leadership, all support you offer should ultimately be in the service of helping them communicate with autonomy. This not only helps them become better communicators, but also embeds your team’s table stakes skills across the organization and positions comms as advisors to the business.

During Ragan’s Future of Communications Conference last month, I asked several leaders how their approach to manager communications has evolved to strategically prioritize autonomy, upskilling, and inclusivity.

Here’s what I learned.

1. Fostering autonomy provides a license to work more effectively.

Panelists explained how communicators foster a culture of autonomy that allows managers to make decisions with confidence because they are in defined frameworks.

This means: