What can a manager do to improve downward communications? Upward communications?

The
following are some typical communication problems (both upward and downward) which I observed
occurring during my years working in industry, along with some proposed solutions.

Frequently a manager or supervisor will sense that their ability to bond with all those
who directly report to them is limited or compromised. If this happens, managers tend then to
obtain most of their information about how work is progressing, say, on a particular project
from one or two people in the group, ignoring the rest. This is one of the worst things that can
happen in the supervisory process. Every manager should make it is their priority to communicate
personally with each of their direct reports whenever possible.

Typically, a
manager can run their own group more or less any way they wish to, since in business there is an
unwritten rule that employees are not supposed to overstep their immediate supervisor and speak
to the next-higher level of management. If there are problems within a group or department, the
situation doesn't generally change unless things get so bad that there is
no other recourse than to take matters to the next higher level.

This is
probably still the case even with issues that need to be taken to Human Resources (incidents
involving improper conduct, sexual harassment and similar matters). In spite of the changes,
most companies have been required to make over the past 20 to 30 years to provide protection and
empowerment to their employees. In all cases, managers should make it clear that it is
acceptable for their people to talk to others above them in the management chain, in Human
Resources, and in other departments within the firm.

Though it shouldn't even
be necessary to stress this point, a manager should at all times be honest with the higher-level
management to whom they report. Often directors or others high up in the supervisory chain may
be unfamiliar with the details, the nitty-gritty of the systems or processes for which they are
responsible. When, for instance, an unrealistic project-completion deadline is established or
even just suggested, a manager may be too timid to tell the director that the deadline can't be
met. Part of the reason for this is that in industry, as in life in general, it's often
impossible to know beforehand as a certainty that a project can't be
completed by a given date.

We don't live in a perfect world, but managers,
like everyone working for a business, must try to be as open and as honest as they can, without
fear of criticism by those in the firm who may not like to hear "inconvenient truths."
The "upward" form of management communication is problematic, but it should not be
impeded through intimidation, which is still too often present in companies both large and
small.