Tony, the Head of Communications was sent an email by the CEO to publish an article for one of their top clients and forward the link to them. Tony decides to work on the article alone and encounters some difficulties as his laptop crashes. They needed to meet the deadline and the clients called in disappointed which made the company lose a major deal! He was called in by the CEO to explain himself, however, he kept giving excuses on how the work was too much for him and his reaction didn’t portray a sense of remorse. He was given a suspension.
Ever heard the saying – “It’s not what you say, but how you say it.” Well it is absolutely true! The manner in which you express yourself at the workplace speaks a lot about your personality. Knowing how to communicate well with your team/colleagues, helps eliminate misunderstandings and can encourage a healthy and peaceful work environment. Efficient and open communication with your team/colleagues will also let you get your work done quickly and professionally.
Workplace communication involves the exchange of information between one person or group and another person or group in an organization through emails, text messages, calls, verbal words/word-of-mouth, voicemails, notes, etc. Good communication in the workplace sets an environment for achieving productivity and maintaining strong working relationships at all levels. When communication flows clearly and effectively from top level management down to the workers, that organization thrives!
STEPS TO IMPROVE YOUR WORKPLACE COMMUNICATION
- Read About the Organizations Structures and Policies.
What this helps you to do is to know how to effectively pass down and receive information. Each organization has a system of leadership and knowing how to communicate with each level will increase your productivity. You don’t want to discuss with the CEO what your supervisor hasn’t approved.
- Establish A Foundation First.
When you arrive in an organization, establish a rapport with your colleagues and leads. Have a clear-cut understanding of your job specification. Learn your colleagues’ strength and weaknesses. Learn about their personalities and how to relate with them, find out what your team members are strong at and what they need a little help with, all these might be through observation throughout the months but in this way, you create and foster a conducive working environment for yourself.
- Ask Questions.
For anything you are not sure about, ask questions. It is often said that people who ask questions never miss their way! Talking to your colleagues or supervisors about issues you need clarity on positions you for greater results.
- Really Listen
Communication is a two-way street. When someone speaks, do well to listen! If you’re not actively listening to what the other person is saying, it’s difficult to end up on the same page and this can cause disagreements.
- Be Clear in Your Communication.
Invest your time and energy into delivering clear lines of communication with your colleagues, team leads, managers and customers. This will rapidly help you build trust among employees, make you a valuable asset to your organization and set you apart in the future.
- Set the Tone for Meetings.
What is the purpose of your meeting? Who will be heading it? What is the agenda? Who will be attending? Sending out emails and giving heads up before meetings is a way of ensuring that everyone attending knows what to expect.
To equally improve communication in the workplace, you can keep the workspace very transparent, offer constructive feedbacks in a thoughtful way as this retains trust, offer compliments in an observing way, e.g. instead of telling your colleague that they did a great job, you can go further to explain how what they did increased sales for the organization.
Poor communication in the workplace will inevitably lead to unmotivated staff that may begin to question their own confidence in their abilities and inevitably in the organization.
