Has it ever happened that you sent a message to an employee, but they didn’t follow it? Well, it is not unusual. But the more frequent it gets, the more it can cause a significant setback to the entire business, reflecting poor workplace communication.
Indeed, workplace communication can be challenging, especially in enterprise-level businesses. However, it is the driving force behind an organisation’s success.
Effective workplace communication fosters a more profound understanding among employees, resulting in a more productive and positive work environment. But establishing such communication can be a challenge.
Different communication styles, personality clashes, or lack of understanding can be primary barriers to workplace communication. For those reasons, businesses should establish specific ways to communicate in the workplace.
As a business leader looking to make communication seamless across teams, you’ve come to the right place.
This blog will explore the top 20 workplace communication methods to address communication barriers. Furthermore, it will also describe what workplace communication entails and the importance of effective communication in the workplace.
What is Workplace Communication?
Workplace communication is the exchange of information among employees and employers. Usually, it has to do more with internal exchanges, such as:
- Between team members
- Between employees and their managers
- Between cross-functional teams
- Between employees/managers and company leaders
Among all these stakeholders, it is essential to maintain clear, precise communication. It will thus ensure the smooth flow of information across all levels.
Depending on the scenario, workplace communication methods change. For instance, your company’s talent acquisition teams onboarded a significant number of new employees. To recognise their effort, you can write a congratulatory email.
It is an excellent example of effective communication, as it reaches even remote employees who are not physically present in the office. Besides emails, workplace communication can take place through meetings/presentations, spoken words, and even body language.
Why is Effective Communication Important in the Workplace?
After understanding what workplace communication is, company leaders/managers should incorporate it as a part of their leadership capability. In an authoritative sense, communication is important for providing instructions, giving project briefs, and pitching to clients.
But effective communication in the workplace goes beyond that. The term is used in a more collaborative sense.
When it comes to communication and teamwork, effectiveness lies in how well managers/leaders listen to their teams and vice versa. When managers communicate information, the team understands it or raises questions if it is not clear, and the issues are addressed in the first place.
It thus saves the team or the member from having to redo their mistakes, allowing them to carry on with their own set of responsibilities.
Moreover, when teams articulate their problems to senior leadership and try to solve them, it makes employees feel seen and heard. As a result, it increases their morale and boosts overall workplace productivity.
Top 20 Methods of Communication in the Workplace
Effective communication is important, so you may be wondering which communication methods are used in the workplace. From verbal to nonverbal, various types of communication take place in a workplace.
The various communication methods in the workplace ensure a seamless flow of information across all levels. Be it getting information about a new company policy from the CEO or learning about project issues, with clear communication, businesses can address them all.
As a result, it drives the company’s and its teams’ success. Also, it creates a positive working environment for everyone. To achieve such goals, here are the top 20 methods of communication in the workplace:
1. Have a face-to-face communication
Sometimes, going old-school is the best way to convey a message to employees. As a leader, you can adopt face-to-face communication in the workplace. It will allow employees to receive a message, and you can determine whether they’ve understood it well.
When you’re introducing a new policy or strategy to employees, face-to-face communication can be effective. It will help analyse their body language so you can determine whether it will work for them, thus giving policymakers the room to make changes.
2. Create a receptive atmosphere
As part of team communication skills, creating a receptive environment is essential. An employee will raise concerns or queries only when they believe the respective team will address them. It is therefore essential to introduce mentorship programs that help employees develop the skills to foster a receptive atmosphere.
Through these programs, the managers/leaders will learn to create an approachable environment for their teams. It will thus create space for more open yet professional conversations in which they can address their issues without hesitation.
3. Minimise scheduling meetings
Meetings are a great way to bring teams together, but they also pull them away from their regular duties. Thus, before scheduling a meeting, the individual should realise its importance. When discussing an agenda for a new project, diverse viewpoints are essential.
For that, you can call a meeting. It will help understand different views all at once. Together, you design an effective plan to increase the team’s potential.
4. Create an environment of encouragement and feedback
In a workplace, just communicating a piece of information is not enough. It is essential to understand how the listeners felt about the communication. The effective method of communication is showing gratitude to the employees for listening.
Also, you should give employees space to provide feedback. Once they share their thoughts on a policy, project, or other matter, you can address the issue and develop better ideas.
5. Incorporate visual cues to communicate
Sometimes, a face-to-face conversation may fall short when explaining a project, especially a creative one. As you’re on the topic of communication methods, introduce visual elements into the conversation. It will help the team better understand the concepts.
Managers or leaders can even schedule a meeting to share the visual elements. Once the meeting discussion is complete, employees can return to the presentation to review the facts and statistics, enabling them to begin the project.
6. Send emails
Emails remain one of the core methods of communication in a workplace. It gives the sender the time to use the right words to send information. Likewise, the recipients can prioritise their work and check their mail at their convenience.
However, you must know the scenario to send an email. For instance, when you assign a high-priority task to a team member who already has a couple of deliverables, they may not have time to check their email. It is therefore important that you set a goal for the email and keep the details clear.
7. Consider the current communication methods
Switching to new communication methods that involve technology can be daunting, especially for organisations with large numbers of employees. Though computers and emails are common communication tools, they may not always be effective.
Instead, introduce a communication platform like Microsoft Teams or Slack with mobile integrations. Frontline workers will use the platform to log in from anywhere and check their messages without any hassle.
8. Explain and clarify your thoughts
Communication in the workplace is more than sharing facts. It involves the purpose and what to do after the conversation. Be it communicating a policy or client requirements for a project, the person initiating the conversation should address the purpose of the element.
As they understand the goal, the policy, or the requirements, they can develop a plan of action. It will thus create a transparent work environment, and the senior levels will also stay in the loop to guide them if they don’t follow an instruction.
9. Conduct team-building activities
As part of team communication, introducing them to activities will foster interaction. Through fun games, outdoor activities, and office parties, they can build a bond with one another.
It will thus allow them to communicate openly, where they will also discuss their problems and try to solve them. Company leaders can schedule such activities at the end of the week or month so that they don’t interfere with their regular duties.
10. Respect everyone’s opinions
Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, even in workplaces. As part of workplace communication skills, team members must show respect for each other’s points of view. Not everyone can agree on the same thing.
The real challenge is how to address the differences. The leaders can take the initiative to understand everyone’s opinions. Each member can justify their reasoning, and when that aligns with company goals, the leader can implement them.
11. Training new leaders/managers
The communication method in a workplace involves training new managers. When delegating new responsibilities, ensure they align with their job role and the company’s details.
Including leadership training for new managers will improve communication between them and employees. It will help new managers learn the skills needed to better understand the business. Also, the company will get new inputs that they have experienced before, which will create a seamless exchange of information.
12. Encourage transparency and openness
Transparency and openness are core communication methods. In the workplace, it is important to have professional conversations without keeping them to themselves.
For instance, if an employee is having issues with a new tool, they should reach out to their team members or superiors. Getting help will help them thrive, along with the entire company.
13. Keep the remote work employees in the loop
Communicating with your in-office employees face-to-face is easy. The real challenge arises when employees are working remotely. Through instant messaging or video conferencing, you can send critical information to the remote workers.
It will help them stay connected to the team. Also, it helps eliminate the feeling of loneliness that is common when working in isolation.
14. Include brainstorming sessions
Brainstorming is a communicative way to create more ideas. It is an exercise in which groups meet in person or virtually, and everyone pitches their ideas. The exercise considers all employees’ ideas.
In the brainstorming process, employees communicate and understand others’ ideas. Bringing in as many raw ideas as possible is the goal of such a communication method.
15. Keep business memos
As a communication method, business memos are effective in the workplace. These are professional documents that you send to distant employees. The main goal of such a communication method is to identify an issue and propose a solution.
It also highlights the answers the employees are looking for. They usually have subheadings, making it easy for readers to scan the information they need and saving time overall.
16. Use company notice boards
Companies can go old-school with notice boards. It is a workplace communication tool that lets you send messages directly to employees. The board contains information on changing work hours, company vacation updates, and more.
Moreover, notice boards also feature announcements about personal news, such as an employee’s birthday or work anniversary. You can also utilise it to announce corporate social events, such as picnics or outings.
17. Encourage two-way conversations
Effective communication in the workplace happens when everyone has the chance to speak their mind. As a company leader/manager, you should not always have the final word. Encouraging two-way conversations will allow employees to participate in workplace communication.
Ensure it feels like a conversation, not a set of instructions your employees must follow. When employees participate in workplace conversations, there’s a possibility of innovative ideas that can drive the organisation’s success.
18. Check your body language
As you explore the categories of communication skills, you will see that body language plays a core role in the workplace. It matters during face-to-face communication in the workplace, whether managers or employees, keeping a smile on your face and sitting up straight are signs of good body language.
These gestures allow everyone to listen to you. That way, the conversation flows. Once the conversation takes place, the participants can analyse each other’s body language to determine the effectiveness of the agenda.
19. Send videos
Instead of reading lengthy messages, employees often benefit from videos. Visual cues make a greater impact than words. Be it communicating new workplace safety policies or sharing sales tips, you can do so via video messages.
It will save you time to think about the right words that you require for a text or email. Add charts or animations that your team will remember even after the presentation.
20. Have a phone call
The most common yet relevant communication method in the workplace is a phone call. Giving any rapid instruction is still more convenient over a call than typing out an entire text or email.
It takes less time to call an employee and then pick up the phone. In a phone call, you can address project issues or share an urgent announcement that employees can work on immediately.
Leverage Effective Communication Methods in the Workplace for Business Growth
Now that you know the methods of communication in the workplace, incorporate them to scale your business. Effective communication in the workplace enables seamless information exchange.
It will ensure that leaders and employees are on the same page. Even if they have diverse opinions, they can talk it out to understand the differences and resolve issues.
If you’re still wondering how to create a business growth plan, SageFlow has solutions. We empower leaders with effective business growth strategies. Using them, you can streamline your operations and create a positive working environment.
Our skilled consultants will help empower your teams through effective communication. We will also include comprehensive market research and analysis to align your business with current market trends.
Contact our team to understand business growth practices that will give you a competitive edge in the market!
