Many of the most frustrating and damaging workplace challenges boil down to workplace communication problems, so improving communication can often alleviate them entirely.
Recognizing this, most top companies work to develop effective workplace communication both on a face-to-face basis and through use of electronic tools.
Companies that invest in improving communication strategies and using the best-fit tools are 2.5 times more likely to be high-performers.
Improve efficiency with High-Quality Workplace Communication
To help improve your company’s performance, reduce problems and prevent frustration, work on implementing the following communication improvement methods with your team:
Workplaces tend to develop huge communication gaps in how they provide feedback on employee work and performance. Employees may receive only occasional, cryptic feedback, so, not only do they not know how they are performing, they also do not know what a discussion about their performance should normally look like.
Get practice by offering praise when an employee goes above typical expectations, crafts some exceptional work or aids in an accomplishment. You should also begin to offer mild criticisms and redirects as suggestions for improvement that are helpful but not mandatory.
If employees begin to hear about what they are doing right and what can improve upon, they often respond better to criticism that tells them they did something wrong and need to avoid it in the future. By introducing nuance into conversation and highlighting all ends of the performance spectrum, employees are less likely to feel defensive or attacked upon hearing criticism.
Take Responsibility
Good leaders are humble and honest. Some managers and executives see these qualities as weaknesses, but employees recognize and respect a superior that owns up to their own mistakes. These frank admissions also set a standard for others to be realistic about their own behavior and recognize their role in low-performance areas during communications.
Define and Discuss Your Company Culture
The biggest, most successful companies in the world work hard to develop a company culture and express the importance of adhering to it with employees. Explaining company culture involves more than just using words like “vision” and “excellence.” You must define these words, coach them in concrete terms and explain why they are important.
So, a statement like “Our vision is to bring excellence to every customer interaction” can be followed up by “we expect every transaction with a customer to be a positive experience that encourages repeat business.”
Introducing, even more, concrete statements can provide further instruction on how employees can adopt employee culture into their everyday practices. “Excellence” in a customer interaction, for instance, can involve an employee having certain knowledge available during discussions and assuming a friendly, pleasant attitude. Defining terms and providing examples allows employees to be genuinely inspired by company culture materials rather than just baffled.
Regularly Check In With the Team and Ask How Things Are Going
Having conversations about their work signifies that it is important and just as valuable as the work upper management does. It also gives them the opportunity to suggest improvements or point out growing challenges.
Make Time for Fun
Sharing a funny image you found online or going on company outings can smooth over workplace communications. As people communicate about non-work subjects, they can adopt the things they learn about each other into everyday conversation.
Use the Communication Tools That Make Jobs Easier
If you are having issues with communications across email or in person, research tools you could adopt that eliminate these problems entirely. Apps like Slack, Skype and Yammer, for example, can enable quick “chat” conversations and, also, sometimes organize discussions just like an email filter.
Having the right tool for the job is critical, after all, so make sure you also have the right tool to get cleaning tasks done efficiently and thoroughly by using a tabletop ultrasonic cleaning bath.
By following these tips, your team could soon be communicating — and cleaning! — better than ever before.
