5 Smart Ways to Improve Communication at Work
It’s crucial to communicate effectively at work because it leads to improved productivity and fosters a healthy relationship between you and your team members.
There is a difference between communicating and communicating well. As a leader or manager, you must know the tricks that improve communication and makes you a better communicator. Here are 5 smart ways that prove to be immensely beneficial:
1. Listening Is a Priority
Successful communication starts with listening. You can’t be a good leader if you aren’t a good listener. Employees will follow your habits, so start listening to your team. Be there whenever they need you and listen to their problems. Once you start listening and caring, a change will start to occur. Moreover, ensure that all your team members listen to each other. An active listening culture where everyone shares feedback and listens to ideas will give room for ample freedom in the workplace, leading to improved productivity.
2. Watch Your Body Language
Poor body language will lead to improper communication. Follow the below ways to have the right body language when speaking to your team members:
- Have a relaxed posture when talking
- Keep legs apart and don’t cross your arms
- Adjust your voice tone by speaking louder when giving presentations and speaking softer when having a one-to-one communication session
- Smile often and use hand gestures
3. Simplify Communication
Nowadays, we have access to so many tools that improve communication. However, the tool choice depends on the type of work your team undertakes. Here are some of the best tools to get started:
- Zipline: This tool is able to engage employees at every level and improve retail store communication with ease. This tool is the gold standard for retailers. Zipline offers an innovative way to coordinate with your entire team fast, cut the clutter, and simplify the entire work process. All emails, documents, articles, and instructions are available in one place that can be accessed from anywhere. Moreover, the right information is passed to the right individual at the right time.
- Flock: With shared to-dos and reminders, you can easily assign tasks to team members and get instant feedback on ideas. This tool easily integrates with third-party apps to bring all your team applications together. You can chat, share important files, or make video calls, all from one integrated dashboard.
- Asana: This is one of the most reliable software systems that not only improves communication but also helps improve productivity. You can easily tag members, assign projects and track individual projects from start to finish. You can create milestones and add individual tasks to each project. Moreover, you can visualize your work and see where it stands so that you never miss deadlines.
4. Adopt An Open Door Policy
Do not divide team members by asking them to keep their projects secret. Instead, adopt an open door policy that encourages easy communication so that everyone feels that they are part of the same team.
Moreover, this concept will make your team more reliable because everyone will start to trust each other. Encourage communication between introverted employees so that they open up and share their thoughts. Slowly and gradually it will develop into a team culture, leading to immediate problem solving as ideas will start pouring out.
5. Clear Communication
Most of us simply transfer work to our juniors and don’t tell them how it needs to be done. This is where the biggest lack of communication happens, causing missed deadlines. You must clearly communicate how it needs to be done, why it’s important and which tools or resources are needed to complete it on time. If the person responsible for completing the work is fully aware of their duties and remains informed, then the work will be completed on time, leading to improved team efficiency.
Without effective communication, it’s hard to solve problems, which affects your team productivity negatively. On the other hand, good and timely communication improves productivity and makes for a happier workplace.
