The key to success Behind any team effort or an organization is effective communication, as it helps us to build strong relationships, which in return helps us to deliver the projects with good quality in due time. According to a study conducted by Watson Wyatt, it is evident that the companies which communicate effectively are bound to show 50% or more, likely to report low turnover levels in contrast with the industry average.
There is no such company that communicates with 100% efficiency, as there are some weak links in every chain of communication which often can lead to misunderstandings and frustrations. As John Powell an English composer, best known for his scores in motion pictures. Who is based in Los Angeles since 1997 and has composed the scores to over fifty feature films, have said, “Communication works for those who work at it.”
Hence to overcome these common mishaps in communication and to work and develop more efficient communication to leverage most out of it, So here are 5 Effective Ways to Improve Communication at the workplace
Establish a foundation first:
The first and foremost thing to do here is to build a rapport with our employees or colleagues, this ensures that there develops a bond of trust which will ensure that when a communication glitch happens or some sort of problem happens the employee can come to you directly and the problem can be resolved expeditiously.
Set up weekly or monthly 1:1s:
We must not wait for the opportunities to come so that we can communicate. Rather we must build them by setting up lines of communication by taking weekly or monthly meetings, where we can get to know the inner workings and the whereabouts of the ongoing things in the workplace and hence we could root the problems in the communication lines and improve our lines of communications at the workplace.
Really listen:
We are oftentimes mistaken thinking that effective communication is about delivering our message to the desired person or group of people clearly, but there’s more to it. Effective communication is a two-way street. Owing to the fact that if we are not a good listener, chances are that we will not end up on the same page. Hence we should practice asking relevant questions for more clarity alongside active listening to have better communication.
For instance, we can look at George Scorsis who is a Toronto-based entrepreneur and the Executive Chairman of WeedMD. Who as President of Red Bull Canada, George was instrumental in restructuring the organization from a geographical and operational perspective, growing the business to $150 MM in revenue. Where George Scorsis Florida and Canada business trips were very crucial at the time of starting the business.
Avoid making quick assumptions:
If we will analysis we will come to know that one of the biggest impediments in communication at the workplace or anywhere is missed signals and hasty assumptions. For instance, if our employees are lagging somewhere, where we expected them to excel, we should not assume immediately that they are slacking who are careless about the assigned task. We should instead of this comfort them and ask and dig in where is the actual problem lies.
Learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses:
Effective communication is also about knowing the person next to you so as to communicate with them effectively. It’s not a secret how we can improve our communication lines if we come to know each other’s strengths or weaknesses or perhaps understand their communication style and communicate with them accordingly.
Conclusions:
Effective communication is all about trying and learning from our experiences and as mentioned above, it’s more about working for it. By pondering upon the following points we can refine our communication at workplace and increase our overall productivity not only helping our organization to grow but as well as develop ourselves as an individual.
Daryl Green