Talking about the importance of effective communication in business is like saying that water is wet and fire is hot. It’s a truism that everyone knows. However despite the obviousness, many people don’t pay proper attention to it. And this is a huge mistake.
Let’s turn to statistics:
- 28% of employees cite ineffective workplace communication as the main cause of task deadlines.
- 86% of employees and managers believe that the main reason for failure in any case or project is poorly constructed communication.
- Poor communication costs companies, on average, $62.4 million annually. This amount includes low productivity, overwork, missed opportunities and sales.
But this is all just theory. Now let’s get directly to the topic of the article. How do you improve communication in the workplace?
Implementing Comprehensive Solutions in the Workplace
It’s impossible to make communication effective if some employees (or even whole departments) use a different communication tool than the others. This has become especially important recently, when more and more employees are moving to a remote or hybrid mode of work.
Cloud telephony brings everyone involved into a single network, no matter where people are. At any moment they can connect to a discussion, form a request or discuss a new project.
Of course, when we talk about universal solutions, we do not only talk about telephony. This includes the CRM system, which can be changed by an employee from anywhere in the world, the possibility of video conferencing on a single platform with easy connectivity, and even support for different devices.
If you can access your work tools not only from your computer but also from a phone or tablet, it will help you to speed up your questions and tasks considerably.
Not Arranging Useless Meetings
As different as normal communication and business conversation are, so different are useful and empty meetings. If used correctly, it is a convenient way to discuss all the issues on the agenda and make a decision. But when used incorrectly, it is a waste of time, energy and nerves. How do you distinguish a good meeting from a bad one? Here’s a sample checklist for a meeting:
- There’s no way to avoid a meeting. There are no other ways to discuss the issue that has arisen. As practice shows, if there is another solution, it’s better to take it.
- The meeting is devoted to one topic (agenda) and the whole meeting will discuss only this topic.
- In the work schedule, the meeting is not first thing on Monday and last thing on Friday. Otherwise, your employees will be thinking not about how to discuss a particular topic but about how they will come home and play at 22Bet or spend time with their families.
- The meeting has a clear time frame and the discussion ends exactly when it is supposed to.
- After the discussion, a letter is sent to all meeting participants that summarizes the meeting and lists the major agreements reached.
If the meeting you planned meets all of these parameters, it is truly a useful and productive event.
Understanding the Advantages and Disadvantages of Individual Communication Methods
A difficult issue is best handled face-to-face. It can be as simple as a regular phone call or a video call. On the other hand, it’s silly to put together a formal conference call to convey the idea of something new to an entire team, but that doesn’t change anything fundamentally. An email or messenger message is enough.
The point is to use the method of communication that suits the particular situation. Of course, common sense alone is not enough for this – you’ll have to teach the team and learn for yourself. But believe me, this training will pay off when the effectiveness of the work begins to grow.
Active Listening Technique
Effective communication is not only about tools and technical implementation. It’s about the presentation and perception of information. Even with the most effective services and in a properly organized meeting, things can go wrong if people do not want to convey information correctly. And the interlocutors are not just listening, but listening as well. In the latter, the technique of active listening is a great help. And here are some tips:
- When holding a conference it is considered good form to look at the interlocutor on the screen. It would also be great to periodically look into the camera to establish eye contact with the person you are talking to.
- Be attentive, but at the same time remain calm and relaxed. This is important, in general, for all modes of communication. Your tension will be felt not only when you’re on the phone or on a video call, but even in a letter or in a chat. And this can only turn the interlocutor against you, which will prevent you from coming to any result.
- If it’s appropriate, politely stop the interlocutor and ask him to clarify or to repeat the last thought. As practice shows, often after a long monologue it turns out that 90% of the speech was not understood by the interlocutor and you have to reconstruct everything in your memory and lose even more time than explaining some of your theses in the flow of speech.
These rules apply to personal conversations as well as to telephone and chat conversations. Be mutually respectful and make sure you are understood correctly. And that’s what our fifth point is about.
Being Polite
Even if you comply with all four tips above, but do not comply with the banal norms of politeness and respect – even the calmest conversation will be perceived as an attack and aggression. This should be observed at all levels of the company – both horizontally, among employees of the same level, and in the chain manager – subordinate.
The latter is perhaps the most important. It is on how the head will interact with the subordinates and will determine the atmosphere in the team and how the employees themselves will interact with each other. Remember that there are no useless employees. There are only those who are not performing their tasks.
Summary
Effective communication within the company is the key that will open the door to company growth by increasing employee productivity and increasing their loyalty to the business. Moreover, it greatly improves the customer experience from interacting with you, which will undoubtedly have a positive impact on sales and profits.
Simply put, a well-established communication process is beneficial in both the long and short term.