For a workplace to be comfortable and productive, effective communication needs to be a priority.
But this is one aspect of corporate life that can often fall through the cracks—if work is getting done, why does HR or higher management have to concern themselves with how people are communicating with each other?
This attitude is erroneous, to say the least. If this is part of your strategy, your business plan template needs to be updated.
In the current climate, when there are so many companies outsourcing work to other countries, or liaising with remote teams, communication is more necessary than ever.
How can companies ensure that their communication techniques are top notch at all times? Here are five tips that should help.
Clearly Communicated Goals
Goal-setting is crucial in any organisation—this would have been studied when an entrepreneur learned how to start an SEO agency and during the process of setting up the company.
And these goals need to be communicated to all teams and employees. Because, if there is one thing that can cause strife and disharmony in an organisation, it is a lack of defined goals.
This is something that can create a great deal of animosity between co-workers, leading people to accidentally overlap in their operations, and feel like due credit is being taken away from them.
Communicating goals needs to start from the top. C-level executives need to determine their goals and share it with the managerial level.
Managers then need to share these goals with their teams. It is important not to be overly broad with the goals, nor too specific.
Remember that not all goals effect all employees—overburdening people with information that has nothing to do with them will make the work environment less productive.
Undertake sessions in link building training or landing page optimization so your employees are all aligned with the team and company goals.
It is up to the manager to understand what goals need to be defined for their team and how to ensure that everyone is clear about what they need to do.
Two-Way Communication
The importance of two-way communication cannot be stressed enough. Whether it is with regard to goal-setting or understanding the project life cycle, communication cannot be one way.
As much as managers want to tell their teams what to do and how to do it—either because they have more information or more experience in the matter—listening to team members is essential for a healthy and productive work environment.
Managers should aim to hold one-on-one meetings with each team member—but one doesn’t need to hold them too often.
Conduct such meetings often enough so that the team knows that you are involved but not intrusive. Listen to what your team members have to say—get their feedback whenever possible.
It is important to note that employees are on the ground, dealing directly with certain matters such as finding the finding a WordPress backup service or how to optimize your Google My Business.
Their perspective is necessary to understand what is and isn’t working—especially because, as a manager, you may be more removed from a subject.
Talk to your team on a regular basis and learn from their experiences. Keep an open mind and ensure that you aren’t the only one talking. This will not foster a healthy work environment, and will lead to diminished productivity.
Team Meetings
While one-on-one meetings are important to understand what your team members are working on as individuals, you should also hold team meetings.
Team meetings are good for fostering a sense of community with your team—with people working separately, and sometimes remotely, teammates don’t always get to interact.
A team meeting is a great place for people to meet, or at least hear each other, so they can build a sense of camaraderie.
Plus, at team meetings, employees can share what they have been doing over the week or last two weeks—this helps people understand that they aren’t the only ones working. Everyone is busy!
Such meetings are also a great way to share new ideas, brainstorm, and to teach each other new tips and tricks regarding work-related tasks such as Facebook ad optimization.
And you will find that team meetings encourage employees to interact beyond the meeting room—you might just see them taking a short break later to talk about how to book cheap flights or the free courses they are undertaking.
All of which is necessary to foster a good work environment that will see more effective communication methods being undertaken.
Communication Tools
We have mentioned the popularity of remote teams which is what makes effective communication even more of a challenge now.
But there are ways to inculcate productive communication processes even when your team members aren’t all geographically located in the same place.
There are now a number of great communication tools—such as these Intercom alternatives or Slack competitors—that make it easier to message and chat with your team.
Though some tools may require a certain amount of monetary investment, it is well worth it if you can make communication in your workplace better and easier.
Target Your Audience
Target audiences have usually always been associated with marketing and advertising. But even within internal workplace communications one does have to keep the audience in mind.
We have mentioned how not all goals have to be shared with all teammates, and that goes for most internal communications.
Some of your team members may need to know about the new exit interview system, while others have nothing to do with it.
When you communicate with your team, it is important to remember who is involved in what activity and how it will affect them to know more or less.
Make Effective Communication a Priority
Communication within a workplace and a team will make all the difference between how an employee feels about their job and their team.
Effective communication methods can make the workplace a better place to function and improve productivity.