I recenlty had a significant team issue with disagreement and outright refusal to work together.  Initially I allowed this behavior, however, this was the wrong decision for the team.  I brought everyone together, refocused on our team plan and goals and assigned collaborative projects to build team trust.  It took several months but it worked out much better than I had anticipated.

I've seen similar situations at my workplace, I found it interesting to observe how our supervisor handled the situation. He used a lot of the tools I learned about in this course very effectively.

I agree you need to know your staff to make sure you know how to handle them effectively nothing is black and white but some managers feel it is and that is how they handle their staff.

You are correct.... often we tend to communicate in a manner that works best for us. But the most effective way is to understand the individual.

One thing that really makes communication difficult is large groups with various styles.

 

 

It is amazing the more you know, the more you receive. I believe it falls back to a trust issue for the employee.

Communication is vital for a transparent understanding of their limitations and coaching them to improve in meeting objectives.  

Knowing the person will also help if there is any difficult interaction instance that occurs.

I totally agree once you know your staff's learing styles you have a better picrture of how to handle certian situations with them and how to motivate them to improve there performance. It also helps me understand them as an individual and how they think.

In order to retain top performers, you need to know what motivates them. Not just top performers, but those who want to be a top performer and just simply do not know how to get there.