manager must determine the abilities and skills of employees without threatening the employees

Managers establish this climate by resisting the urge to criticize every time subordinates err. Continuous criticism will force a person to hide inabilities. Also,'employees should have the opportunity to ask questions even when it appears that they should already know the
answers. One can quickly inhibit questions by acting as if they are so simple that everyone should know the answers.
The tactful use of open-ended questions is also important when determining if a person has the
appropriate skills to do a job. Rather than saying, "Bill, "can you type up the report on the word processor? it is better to say, "I know you haven't been here long. How confident are you on this work processor?" Another approach might be, "Bill, how do we set up this process; it's been a while since I've looked at it." Doing so gives the manager an opportunity to work together to determine Bill's level of knowledge without directly challenging him.

Clearly, a manager must determine the abilities and skills of employees without threatening the employees. A manager must be able to listen carefully and ask open ended, non-threatening questions. If a person has successfully completed the job before, then it is possible to confidently assume that it can be done again. However, if this is not the case, effective communication helps to ensure that the employee possesses the necessary skills.

Clear instructions and expectations

Of course, hard work and excellent skills are of no avail when a person is doing the wrong thing. Not only must employees receive clear insu'uctions, they must clearly know what is expected of them. Feedback is the key here, and questioning is the most important skill a manager possesses to obtain feedback.

tactful practice is less challenging to the receiver than is that of asking cl\)sed questions and puts the responsibility on the .sender of the message. Another strategy might be to say, "Sometimes I forgot important parts when giving instructions; tell me exactly what you're going to do now just to make sure that I haven't skipped anything." Once again the sender takes responsibility for the message's accuracy.

This strategy not only assures greater clarity of the message, but it serves to help meet the ego needs of the ubordinate. It shows that the subordinate is important and that his or her thoughts are important to the completion of the task. Managers establish a cooperative climate rather than a "tattletale' climate in which the subordinate is always responsible for any en-ors that may result.