Growing your business requires a multi-tiered approach to reaching your goals; however, one of these goals has to be improving communication. When your employees communicate better, the business runs better, and improved communication can also help to onboard more new clients.
Transparent Communication
Human beings have imaginative brains and are very good at creating fiction; that is why rumors begin and then grow because there is not enough transparent communication in the workplace, and employees fill in the blanks. If you want a healthy workforce, you need lots of transparency.
Transparent communication means keeping employees informed regularly about the mechanism of the business. This can be carried out informally during daily tasks on the reach in deli case or by using semi-formal meetings to give everyone reliable information about how the business is working.
Active Listening
Active listening is easier for some personality types than it is for others. Some people are very easily distracted, so as soon as someone starts talking, their mind wanders into their thoughts or something in the local environment. These people need to work harder at active listening skills.
Active listening is just as important as communication; in fact, it is one-half of communication. The good news is that active listening is easy to achieve, even for those with inattentive personality types. Focus on individual words begging spoken, and your concentration improves.
Clarification
As part of your active listening approach, seek clarification when the speaker has finished communicating. Clarification is one way to check you have understood what has been said; it also gives the speaker some confidence that you have heard what they said and understand.
In order to clarify some information, repeat the message back to the person in your own words. Using your own words helps you to onboard the information and lets the speaker know you’ve been genuinely listening. In some interactions, you might only need a few words to clarify.
Communication Channels
Using multiple communication channels is an excellent way to ensure that communications get to the right people and that tasks are carried out on time. Nowadays, communication channels include things like email, chats, phone calls, and in-person conversations; all can be used.
Of course, it depends on the nature of the communication; there’s no need to send the same message through multiple channels if it’s a lunch request (although it depends on how hungry you are). For serious business communications, select multiple channels to send your message.
Consistency
Consistent communication is also very important. You might think that it’s unnecessary to send regular email updates that don’t offer any substantial news, but the point is to keep the channel of communication open so that you can build a sense of trust and security within the workplace.
The fact that your employees see a message from you and glance over it is not a bad thing; it means they can expect communications from you in that format. When employees know what channels to go to for certain communications, it makes the business more reliable and profitable.
Non-Verbal Communications
Non-verbal communication includes things like facial expressions, eye contact, gesture, body language, and postures. These things are part of communication and can help you to improve your general communication if you can tune into body language and adapt to communication.
When you notice that someone you are talking to is squinting their face, looking away, or seeming distracted, it’s a sign they are not listening to you, or they disagree with what you are saying. While you don’t want to lose your focus, you can adapt your tone and angle for results.
Personalization
Everyone has a different personality type, and finding and adapting to employee personality types is needed for effective communication. Some people like direct communication, or face-to-face communication, while others prefer to communicate through email, so be aware.
Whether you stay alert to communication styles and work out what is best for an individual employee or whether you simply ask them directly what form of communication they prefer, it’s important to find the channels that suit people best. The more comfortable they are, the better.
Feedback
An effective manager accepts feedback from her employees; it shows they are willing to listen to their employees and take on criticism – just as employees are expected to accept feedback and criticism. Not only does it strengthen your business, but it helps employees to share freely.
There is no requirement to adapt to every piece of employee feedback, but some of their ideas and strategies might prompt some new ideas and approaches. It’s not a good idea to take an authoritative stance on communication; that is the best way to create problems in the company.
Simple Communication
When you are communicating with clients and customers, it’s important to keep your communication simple and avoid any jargon. Jargon might be natural to you in your everyday operations, but to clients, it can feel confusing and create a power dynamic you don’t want.
Feel free to use jargon in the workplace with employees who understand the lingo; in most cases, this makes your communication more efficient. That said, it’s still worth keeping your messages short and simple to avoid any miscommunications. And keep messages professional.
Poor Communication
Communication matters in the workplace. It’s very important that the right ideas are communicated at the right times to ensure the workplace is efficient, and the bottom line is under control. If you spot poor communication, make efforts to resolve the issue or provide training.
Poor communication occurs when someone does not understand the meaning of something that is said. Poor communication also occurs when the focus is placed on a person instead of a problem. For instance, that person is incompetent. Consider communication retreats for training.
Final Thoughts
No matter what size or stage your business is at, you can benefit from better communication. Whether you think you are a strong communicator or not, it’s sensible to adopt a learner’s approach to communication in order to develop yourself and spot issues in the business.