According to the latest research, there are several effective tools that managers can use to increase the effectiveness of communication in the workplace. The study was conducted last year after the global health crisis had begun, but its lessons can be used outside of that historical context. The study was done by holding 30 interviews with communications managers operating in various industries. The breadth of the experience of these communications managers suggests that these lessons can be applied in many different settings.

The biggest lesson is perhaps the most obvious lesson. Yet it's a lesson that can never be emphasised enough because it's all too commonly ignored. It's important to listen to listen to your employees in order to overcome any challenges in communications during this pandemic.

Not only must managers listen to their employees, they must do so with unconditional positive regard. This means that the manager must listen with openness, without judgment, and without losing sense of the value of the employee even if that employee has done or said something terrible. It means that one must listen with empathy. This is an incredibly difficult skill to develop, which perhaps explains why it is so unused and so easily abandoned. Yet, it is the secret to overcoming many of the challenges in communication that organizations have in times such as these. If you want to be a force for good in an ethical sense, and if you want to be able to improve the productivity of your workers, this is the skill that you need to develop.

Ethical listening, which is listening with a sense of unconditional positive regard, opens up a space for free talk. It makes employees comfortable to speak and communicate their fears and anxieties, the things that make them angry and the things that stress them. It's easy to get people to say the good, it's the negatives that people find difficult to say. And it's these things that managers need to hear.

The researchers found that there were several barriers to ethical listening within an organization, for instance:

• Little interest from executive management
• A belief ny management that they lacked the time to listen
• Distrust of managers by employees
• The difficulties of keeping connected with remote workers
• Problems understanding body language during a conversation

Some of these skills can be learnt through organizations such as Ethics Demystified.

Managers worried about staying connected to their employees can use technologies such as video conferencing platforms,and mobile messaging apps, as well as feedback surveys. These tools will allow you to learn how your employees are doing.

It's important to build trust by utilizing these technologies and utilizing ethical listening. Managers need to take the initiative in building bridges. They should be open in explaining to employees how feedback surveys will be used to improve communications with them.

Finally, the study found that shorter meetings were better for employee morale and that using more visual communication tools helped employees understand communications things better. This is a study that deserves to be read carefully and implemented.