By Yinka Bolarinwa
Managers should not just accept diktats from higher authority without discussion.If he or she believes that there is a more effective and productive way that a task can be completed, or that further resources are required to achieve budgets, they must be ready to discuss this openly with their own superiors.

In essence, managers not only have to be disciplined to be able to effectively play their role, they also have to be good supportive leaders and able to communicate and discuss the needs of their team as effectively as they communicate the needs and objectives of the business to that team.

An easily recognizable model used in sustaining and boosting a supportive management style is The SUN Communication Model.  The model integrates the supportive management styles and SUN denotes S= Seeking, U= Understanding, and N= Nurturing. As earlier stated a supportive manager is always in a two-way communicative mode.

This model is concerned with developing behaviours that are consistent with it. More so, it would always be taking care of people’s self-esteem which in turn guarantees a development in rapport.

Using the SUN model Supportive managers should know (seeking) when to listen and ask reflective questions, thereby creating a supportive climate for the employees to work in.  It is always advisable that the supportive manager realises emotions which hinders progress within the employee, e.g. fear of risk taking or failure or sense of incompetence.

With the afore-mentioned skills implemented, the supportive manager is ready to apply Seeking (getting information). The best way to seek information is to use open-ended, probing questions, whose answers cannot be ‘Yes’, ‘No’ or ‘maybe, etc.

Open-ended questions develop peoples’ ideas, tapping their potential and of course, giving the supportive manager the desired information. By throwing out open-ended questions, employees are exposed to self-discovery and self-directed learning.

By using this model we must adopt the skill of constantly Nurturing self esteem. We must be mindful of our interactions with people. We must endeavor to be SPECIFIC and SINCERE when discussing issues. Nurturing is all about building employees’ self-esteem and self-confidence.

This skill is tricky to adapt because one’s personal emotions get in the way when dealing with people. It helps when the manager shares his own mistakes, encourages self-respect, cajole employees into risk-taking and above all, rewards successes as at when due.

As you nurture self esteem, Understanding comes to play. Here, the supportive manager is sensitive to the way people are feeling. Managers can imbibe this skill by identifying and telling them how you think they are feeling. This can be done if the act of listening is exercised carefully.

Organizational success depends on employees, thus, the more informed, coordinated, satisfied and happy the employees are, the more success the organization expects. Using the SUN communication model critically will aid achievement of our personal and organizational objectives more efficiently.

This concludes the supportive manager series.