Communication is vital to a successful organization. With effective communication, people feel comfortable talking to those of all levels of the business, and communication is essential to creating productivity, as giving employees the freedom to ask questions creates strong working relationships.
In this article, we will show you how to encourage good communication within your business and how to create a great company culture for you and your employees.
Poor Communications Lead to a Poor Business
If you are in a management position, be approachable. You don’t want your workers to be scared of you, as this will only hurt your business; research suggests that team members who have an approachable manager have the confidence to contribute ideas.
HR advisor Fred Holloway talks about how poor communication can cause problems in a company: “You can tie back almost every employee issue – attendance, morale, performance and productivity – to communication.”
Being a strong manager means being a strong communicator, and being able to communicate with your team means you will be able to manage them better when delegating tasks, motivating them, and ultimately building relationships with them. In addition, you will understand which tasks they will be best at and how to motivate them in a way they will respond positively to.
Creating Effective Communications Within Your Business
Establishing strong lines of communication will encourage employees to talk to whomever they need to within the company, which can help with cooperation. This, in turn, ensures that a task will be completed in the most efficient and effective way.
On a personal level, knowing each employee’s name is a simple way to strengthen connections and encourage communication, too. By being able to address your employees by name, you can have a more personal conversation, and your workers will feel like you care. Your customers know your staff members’ names because of their name badge, so you should, too.
Having regular one-to-one meetings with each staff member is another great way to open the lines of communication and show employees their work is appreciated by discussing their recent progress. These meetings are also a good opportunity for you to raise any concerns you may have about their work and be able to fix any issues. Furthermore, you can speak to your employees during this time on a personal, private level and help them with any problems they may have both inside and outside the business.
Additionally, group meetings can also be a great opportunity to talk to your entire staff. Informal group meetings can be hugely beneficial, too, as they allow employees to voice questions or concerns they may have and give you the opportunity to praise individual employees in front of the rest of the company.
Overall, communication is vital for all parts of a business, as employees’ being comfortable enough to speak to anyone in the company allows your organization to run more effectively. Although communication has been more difficult because of the shift to working from home, businesses are retaining those all-important communication lines using software such as Microsoft Teams to create virtual offices.
Adam Johnson is a Guest Contributor at HR Daily Advisor.