How to communicate when words fail

Suzie Henriques CMgr FCMI secured her first big promotion aged just 23, while working for a major retailer, where she would be managing a very experienced technical team. 

Suzie’s remit was to bring about a sea-change in culture and attitude, creating an environment that was flexible and customer-focused. It was a time of strong sales and Suzie was determined to make her mark. 

But some of the team started losing engagement. There was resistance and pushback from some team members towards the changes she was trying to implement.

Many people on the team only worked during the week. When Suzie tried to rebalance shift patterns and operations to meet customer needs over the weekends, it became an uphill battle. When there was a need to move people temporarily into other departments to make up for staff absences, her people would respond with a flat “no”. On one or two occasions, she even heard colleagues mutter about her under their breath.

• Eight ways bad managers kill conversations – and motivation

“It got to the point where I was thinking, it shouldn’t feel this hard! Why is this so challenging?’”