Fixing Poor Communication at Work
When you join a team, there is a collection of people who have different ideas, opinions, and experiences. This allows you to overcome challenges and obstacles in the most innovative and creative ways. Effective communication is essential when working in a team.
In some cases, poor communication can hinder teamwork. For example, the viewpoints of staff and managers are not necessarily the same. If not handled properly, these differences can become disputes.
How Leaders Communicate Effectively
Communication is the main key to successful teamwork. The bigger your company, the more important communication becomes. If there is conflict in the team, the work will not be maximized.
A leader is responsible for finding a way out and solving the problem. In the event of poor communication at work, here are some things you can do:
1. Create a communication strategy
Without rules, the possibility of overlapping in communication is very large. Therefore, you have to make some ground rules that all staff need to obey.
Not to control how it is delivered or what someone says, but to give everyone an opportunity to have an opinion. A communication strategy can be as simple as holding a meeting and allowing staff time to ask questions or provide opinions.
2. Create a safe space for communication
Not everyone is comfortable communicating face to face. Apart from feeling anxious, maybe they are worried that you will judge the ideas and opinions that are given. Therefore, discuss the right way and media to communicate with your staff and team. During meetings, pay attention to all staff and give them the opportunity to speak and express opinions.
3. Agree on how to communicate
Effective communication must be consistent, especially if you communicate in several ways. Misunderstandings may occur when a staff gets information from email and WhatsApp sends it via email. The staff will miss the email because they only focus on WhatsApp. To avoid this, use consistent media in communicating.
A leader must also regularly communicate with staff for everything, not just when there is a big problem. This is important to do so that they do not hesitate or avoid and hesitate to communicate with their superiors.
4. Open to feedback
The best way to improve communication between a leader and his staff is to show that you are open to feedback. If you only talk to the team without listening to opinions, this can show a lack of trust in the team.
If this habit continues, your staff engagement will decrease. Therefore, make it a habit of two-way communication. Ask for feedback or input from the staff through group surveys or face-to-face meetings.
5. Use the right technology for the team
For some people checking email is a daily routine, while others may be so focused on work that they forget to check email. In such cases email is not suitable. Therefore, find a communication medium that fits your team and work. Project management software that features tags, notifications, and comments is a great example of getting staff to be active and involved in team communication.
6. Conduct regular meetings
Although, it sounds simple, meeting regularly is very important. Because in the meeting every staff will discuss, find solutions, and find the final result together. Aagr meetings are efficient, involve people who really need to be present. Keep it short, but effective to cover any topic of discussion. Focus on discussion, so that every staff who leaves the room gets a clear understanding and knows what needs to be done next.
7. Establish communication standards for staff
Without everyone congregating in one place and at the same time, it's easier to miss important information. Therefore, establish communication standards with staff working WFH such as daily updates via personal chat or telephone. Think about and discuss good communication standards with the team. Communication must ensure that there are no misunderstandings, tasks are well distributed, and meet deadlines.
8. Create accessible documents
Communication is not just about what is talked about. However, it also includes written communication that can be seen by staff, such as easy access to the employee handbook. Since there are so many tasks to do, searching for documents can be a daunting task. To make it easier to grant access, create digital folders, and organize naming. This will make the document easier to find and understand.
9. Create an accountability system
Proper communication makes staff responsible for their work. Here project management software can help you write down staff responsibilities and deadlines for each task.
This way, your staff knows when to allocate tasks. If there's a problem, they also know how to communicate with you to be able to minimize unwanted things.
10. Keep the conversation professional
While openness is great for some corporate cultures, staff may not feel comfortable. This can lead to conflict in the workplace. It is important to remember that the more personal the communication in the workplace, the less professional the resulting relationship will be. Therefore, when in a work environment it is better to always separate personal affairs from professional life.
You can fix poor communication at work. However, it would be nice if you could prevent it in the first place. Therefore, pay attention to how you communicate with the team. Always prioritize two-way communication, where you can voice your opinion and so can the staff in your team.