After the pandemic, we have witnessed a change in working cultures and office communication perceptions. The new vision for many companies is to create a diverse and open environment at the workplace. They also emphasize their employee’s personal growth along with the organization’s.
Communication plays a vital role in making employees feel empowered. It also determines how satisfied an individual will be with their personal growth at a job. The good news is that modern managers have caught on to this idea. They wish for their workers to have positive experiences.
Hence, engagement and communication improvement are popular topics today. We have prepared a list of ways to amp up team communication at your company.
1) Know your team members
You must know all your employees. It includes information about their professional and educational struggles. Why, though? Because it makes your subordinates feel valued. This feeling is a necessity when it comes to feeling content at a job. Happy employees actively bring ideas to the table and share their opinions.
There is nothing more a manager looking to improve communication wants. Hence, have a small discussion with all team members to ask them about recent events in their careers. It might also mean giving suggestions to people who are looking for advice.
2) Provide awareness about Emotional Intelligence
One has to have the right qualities to influence everybody in communicating. A manager with the interpersonal skills to understand their employees has won in life. Emotional Intelligence is one of the many things needed to manage conflict, engage people and understand emotions.
All of these social skills come under the umbrella of communication management. It is undoubtedly the best degree for the future. Most recruiters prioritize it over other academic and professional successes. Workplaces have become more sensitive to people’s emotions, and everybody needs to catch up.
3) Appreciate people often
A healthy and engaging culture is only possible when all employees feel confident about their skills. You can hire a workplace culture services company to make sure everyone is comfortable and happy working in the office. Managers might not be aware of employees’ pressure always to do their best. There are a lot of sacrifices and extra hours that might go into a project you like. Hence, ensure you let your employee know they have performed well.
A few words of appreciation or a round of applause is usually enough to make a worker feel valued. People are more likely to communicate in meetings when they believe their idea is worth it. This confidence comes from regular appreciation from the authorities. The validation allows them to trust that their two cents are good enough for the company. All in all, they are motivated to take part in discussions.
4) Feedback is valuable
Nobody is all-knowing. Even the managers are capable of making mistakes or lacking somewhere. This concept should not be foreign to people who wish to improve workplace communication. Whenever you put out work, accept all kinds of feedback.
Allow and encourage your employees to give their opinion on how they like your idea or the new proposal. Ensure that your response to their feedback is always positive.
Implementation of their response is also necessary. Make changes to your plan if a team member has a better idea. Or, explain to them why you did not choose that route. Doing this will allow for learning. It will also make employees feel like they have a say in the company’s function.
A harsh and unaccommodating response to their feedback might discourage them from ever communicating their suggestions again.
5) Make all responsibilities known
Regardless of their hierarchical placement, all members must know about the ongoing project. Employees must be aware of the roles they are playing. It begins with dividing responsibilities according to people’s abilities. Ensure that each person knows what they are expected to do.
A broken chain of communication can lead to negative consequences. It can cause a haul in the functions. People might make mistakes out of confusion. They might also struggle to deliver quality work if unaware of the task and expectations.
You can avoid this by holding weekly meetings with your entire team. The topic of discussion could be the progress made or any concerns people have. Moreover, you can hold similar meetings to assign tasks to all individuals.
A wiser to do this would be to choose a team leader from each group. These people can be made responsible for assigning tasks to the members. However, ensure that you keep one-to-one meetings with the team at least once in two months.
6) Issue a newsletter
Employees dread long meetings that convey all milestones and updates on the business. Some might even sneak on earphones to keep themselves awake. Much of what is said goes unheard this way.
A solution to this problem is to issue a monthly newsletter. It can be in a catchy magazine form that includes all updates that managers want to communicate to the workers. They can be sent digitally or distributed physically amongst all employees.
7) Find the best mode of communication
The success of the tip mentioned above depends on the answer to this one. All managers must analyze the best mode of communication for their workplace. It can depend on the personalities of the employees a company has.
Some people like to read things while others prefer listening. Ask your workers if they are more comfortable with written or verbal communication. Take votes and choose the one that the majority finds the best. Doing this will set the tone for how you should engage with the team members.
Written communication has become quite outdated because of the lack of responses from people. But, it allows them to look back at the email if they are confused. However, workers now prefer meetings and taking down notes.
Conclusion
It is necessary to remember that the success of these tips depends on the motivation levels of the managers and employees. The first step to good motivation is feeling content at the job. Hence, lay the foundations for greater employee satisfaction to promote two-way communication.
Moreover, managers must make it a point to provide communication training to employees who might struggle with it. Investing in polishing your workers’ skills will lead to fruitful results for the entire organization.
