8 Tips to Improve your Communication at Work
Even though 89% of people believe that effective communication is extremely important, 8 out of 10 people rate their own business communication as either average or poor. Considering organisations with connected employees show productivity increases of 20-25%, it’s in every company’s best interest to start working on the effectiveness of their communication.
Why is good communication important in the workplace?
Increasing efficiency & productivity
Having a workforce that is productive and efficient is the goal of many companies, and it’s easy to see why. Miscommunication or bad communication costs companies an average $420,000 per year (based on companies with 100 employees). Having a highly productive team reduces business costs, benefits customers and contributes to greater revenue.
When a task isn’t communicated effectively, the task takes longer to complete, the quality of work is lower, and more mistakes are likely to be made.
With better communication, employees can ask more questions and get the answers they need to successfully carry out the task, reducing time, effort, and resources.
Increasing engagement
Good communication makes people feel part of a greater mission, making them more motivated to work towards a team goal. Employees benefit from knowing what’s going on in the company as well as being in an environment where their voices and opinions are heard.
According to Gallup, employee engagement is determined by factors such as feeling clear about your role, having the right materials to do your job, working with a common mission and having strongly committed co-workers, all of which are influenced by good communication. A similar Gallup study found that employees who are engaged are more likely to improve customer relationships, resulting in a potential 20% increase in sales.
Building stronger internal relationships
Honest and open communication helps bring people together. Employees should look forward to talking to their team and collaborating about ideas. Employees who enjoy communicating and collaborating are more eager to perform well as they don’t want to let their colleagues down.
Employees should also have open communication with their managers and senior members of the team, so they are more comfortable sharing thoughts or problems. Building stronger teams increases tenure and employee loyalty.
Strategies to improve communication
1-2-1 or team meetings are a great chance to discuss changes, issues, or ideas. Having set times in the diary reassures employees of your dedication to them, allowing them time to ask questions and get valuable information from you.
Diarising time to discuss issues allows them to be addressed before turning into bigger issues and allows time to discuss next steps, priorities, needs and happiness on a more personal level.
Whether you're making structural changes within your company or designating a task, always explain why you’re doing it. Without the ‘why’ tasks, changes can seem pointless to those around you, which can lead them to question their position at your company. Explaining why things are happening or why a task has been given to someone allows people to understand the greater picture and understand your way of thinking as a manager/leader. The ‘why’ shows you haven’t simply designated a meaningless task at random. Good communication increases motivation and gets everyone on the same page to be able to contribute to the company’s wider goals.
Feedback is only effective if it is constructive. People don’t know where to improve if they are not told how to. Criticising employees without constructive feedback is the perfect example of bad communication and can create a frustrating environment.
Feedback shouldn’t be a guessing game for the recipient. If you know where they should improve or what they need to do it, tell them.
Showing employees where they can improve builds trust and belief that open communication is important.
Effective communication is not only talking about and listening to issues that can be improved. It also includes recognition.
Employees need to know they are doing a great job and that you appreciate their hard work to make them feel valued and engaged. Shine a spotlight on those that go the extra mile. Recognising employees publicly or in front of their teams encourages open appreciation, showing you see and acknowledge the efforts of the people around you.
Effective communication is a two-way street. Showing that you can listen to your employees shows them that you care about their opinions and take an interest in the things they choose to talk about, whether that be work-related or not. Listening to people increases trust and encourages people to be more open with you as well as having the potential to transform your company culture.
Technology made for communicating is great. It has helped us stay connected wherever we are on the planet; however, it can be very difficult to convey a tone of voice digitally. Don’t rely on communicating online. Follow complex emails up with phone calls to fully engage with the person you are communicating with. There are always ways to improve your communication.
Nothing quite beats communication like a face-to-face conversation; however, it’s important your body language shows you are listening. Don’t attempt to multitask, and give your full attention to the person you’re with. Employees will only communicate honestly and openly with you if they feel as though they are being listened to in every capacity.
Company changes and updates are usually decided and implemented on a senior level and trickle down to affect every level of employee. Be open and honest with your employees about changes that you have planned and why you’re making them. Keeping people updated about changes not only makes people aware of them but also sparks discussion and feedback, which could help improve plans further.
Don’t spring changes on people, and expect everyone to be fine with them. Show that you respect and trust your employees by communicating effectively.
Frequently asking for feedback from your employees is one of the best ways to improve and maintain communication in an open and honest way. Although face-to-face communication is sometimes the most effective way of communication, criticism is sometimes difficult to give to senior members of the team. Instead, invest in creating surveys so people can maintain communication and feedback in an anonymous way.
By gaining this feedback, you are getting insights into real experiences, and you can find out what your employees really care about and what they think needs improving. By listening and acting on this insight, you are showing you care about their opinions and that their thoughts are important to you.
Based on the statistics, poor communication in the workplace typically leads to missed deadlines, lower employee engagement and a lack of confidence in senior team members. Improving communication not only benefits you and your employees but immensely benefits your overall company.