INFLUENCE OF GROUP COMMUNICATION SKILL AND OFFICE MANAGERS’ JOB PERFORMANCE IN PUBLIC TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN RIVERS STATE

Abstract

The study examined the relationship between group communication skills and office managers’ job performance in Public Tertiary Institutions in Rivers State. The objective of the study was to examine how group communication skills interact with measures of office managers’ job performance such as early task completion, creativity, and actionable decision making. The cross-sectional explanatory survey research design was adopted for this study. The population of this study consisted of two hundred and sixty (260) office managers in six (6) public tertiary institutions in Rivers State. The sample size of the study was one hundred and sixty-five (165) respondents obtained using the Krejcie and Morgan Sample Size Determination of 1970. The collection of primary data was done using a questionnaire designed by the researcher. Structured questionnaire was used as instrument for data collection after face-validation. Cronbach alpha was used to test the internal consistency of the instrument. Out of 165 copies of the questionnaire administered, a total of 140 were retrieved. The test of hypotheses (bivariate analysis) was done using Spearman Rank Order Correction. The findings revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between group communication skills and measures of office managers’ performance such as early task completion, creativity, and actionable decision making. The study concluded that group communication skills are instrumental to improved performance of office managers in Public Tertiary Institutions in Rivers State. The study therefore, recommended that office managers across tertiary institutions should imbibe the culture of persuasion and emotional intelligence in order to get along with their colleagues and achieve targets smoothly.