Ch. 9 Openness

Openness is a desirable goal in most supervisor-employee relationships. According to the text “ the parties in an open communication relationship perceive the other interactant as a willing and receptive listener and refrain from responses that might be perceived as providing negative relational or disconfirming feedback”. Researchers at Purdue found that there was a positive correlation between a supervisors open communication and employees satisfaction with the relationship. The researchers identified five key points of an open communication relationship. I feel that I could really relate to the number 2 key point, which states, “ Effective supervisors are empathic listeners. They respond positively to employees’ questions , listen to suggestions and suggestions and complaints, and express a willingness to take fair and appropriate action when necessary. My last manager was horrible at listening to suggestions; every time I would suggest something she would automatically shoot my idea down. If we had complaints about something we didn’t like she would never listen or wouldn’t care and basically tell us to deal with it. I believe openness is a very important part of being a good leader and it makes it difficult to work with a supervisor if they have trouble with openness.