Team Communication Tips

Today’s workplace employs multiple generations, with different verbal and writing styles, plus a variety of applications for electronic communication and collaboration. Many companies now have distributed workforces operating from their home offices.

Wow! What flexibility, what diversity! What an opportunity for miscommunication disaster! That’s right. Technology used ineffectively can also accelerate poor communication in the workplace. Technology advancements in the traditional work environment have fundamentally altered intra-company communications. It is essential that all employees know how to use today’s communication tools correctly.

Three questions to consider:

 

1. By what methods does your company communicate to its employee’s information that directly affects job execution?
2. How would you describe your company’s primary or preferred communication, i.e., email, instant messaging, videoconference, phone?
3. Are inter-office communications clear, and do people hear what you want them to hear? If not, why?

Consider a formal plan for your intra-company communications. It will only have a positive effect. A formal communication structure can improve employee engagement, increase morale, and create productivity in the workplace! The absence of a communication plan will guarantee an eventual overload of emails, text messages, or voice mails and result in personnel failing to respond timely to the original question asked, contribute to a delay in information, and then have you racing to meet the deadline on a project! Sound familiar?

Take the lead, meet with your team, and share these four simple tips:

 

1. Schedule a direct face-to-face conversation whenever you have difficult information to convey or tasks that generate many questions.
2. Reserve texting for a quick question or answer, for example, “what time is the sales meeting?” without the need for further explanation.
3. Assess the content of your message; consider how well you know the recipient to determine whether it needs to verbal or written.
4. Make sure the information you convey is clear and direct. Avoid vague and ambiguous statements.

How can we help?

If you or your team need help to identify obstacles and challenges in your workplace situation, contact Theresa, or visit our Contact Us page to schedule a 30-minute Complimentary Conversation. Reaching a goal is a journey, and Success Trek is here to take that journey alongside you.