Google updates manager training with role-playing and chatbots – ragan.com
Plus, how Google makes their managers cultural ambassadors.
Open and transparent communication between a manager and their reports is key to any high-functioning team. Managers can help translate edicts and policies from the top of the organization and are positioned to have a great deal of influence on their team’s perception of the company.
As part of Ragan’s upcoming Manager Communications Certificate Course this August, Lauren Cursiter, global marketing and communications manager at Google, will share her insights on how managers can pair proper training and a culture-first mindset to unite and get the most out of their teams.
Cursiter told Ragan that Google’s manager comms strategy considers the fact that the company’s managers are juggling many responsibilities and reports all at once.
“Managers are the first line of defense, but they’re also overwhelmed,” Cursiter said. “Everything we build has to be useful to them first.”
Training managers in the AI age
A manager can have all the potential to be a great performer and communicator, but they still need training. Cursiter said that in many organizations, training ends at the knowledge transfer stage, which can stunt growth and the application of skills.
“People view training as a one-time event,” she said. “But until you actually do it again and again, you’re not actually skill-building.”
Cursiter provided a few examples of how Google conducts on-the-job manager training:
Managers as cultural ambassadors
When you work at a large company like Google, unifying employees under one cultural banner can be a bit of a challenge. That’s where managers become communicators of culture.
“When you’re at a company the size of Google you can’t top-down control culture,” Cursiter said. “But you can influence it by equipping managers to carry the message.”
Cursiter said that her comms team designs its employee culture surveys with manager training in mind. The results help shift the areas of focus that they train managers on.
“We create surveys based on drivers we care about, like sentiment and satisfaction,” she said. “We then analyze whether the things we’re doing are working.”
Personal touches are also a major part of Google’s manager and culture comms push. Cursiter said that the company circulates a manager newsletter to help managers learn how to better connect with their teams via their colleagues.
“We created a manager newsletter not just to push info down, but to let managers share their own stories,” she said. “That peer-to-peer learning builds cultural consistency.”
She added that one of the best ways a manager can communicate organizational culture to their team is by navigating through challenges with carefully coached skills built through proper training.
“When a manager is equipped to coach someone through a challenge,” Cursiter said. “Whether it’s personal or professional — that’s culture in action.”
Sign up for the Manager Comms Certificate Course here.
Sean Devlin is an editor at Ragan Communications. In his spare time he enjoys Philly sports and hosting trivia.
Topics: AI and Automation, Manager Communications
Topics: AI and Automation, Manager Communications
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