Level up your communications
Communication, we all KNOW it’s important, but why? Why is communication so important in relationships, workplace environments, on a night out on the town, or even on your first date? Well… I wish I could be your life coach and help with all things personal, but this blog is strictly business.
In terms of working, communication is the crucial ingredient to a happy and healthy work environment and success in leadership is adamant upon strong communication and social skills. Organizations with connected employees show productivity increases of 20-25%. Not only that, 97% of workers believe that communication impacts tasks every day and 28% of employees cite poor communication as the reason for not being able to complete their work on time. So, not only does communication provide for a happier and healthier workplace, but a more successful and efficient workplace as well. I mean…. who doesn’t want to work for a company that their sh*t together and utilizes talking as a key element to success? Count me in….
Communication is how the active executive receives the most out of relationships, enhances relationships, or maintains relationships depending on how well they communicate with the individuals associated. It is virtually impossible to get everyone to smoothly work together and continue to produce outstanding results at work if successful communication is absent. It’s like trying to operate your workplace speaking a language that no one understands…. If you cannot communicate effectively, how can you expect your employees to? Teamwork makes the dream work!
But here lies the big question: How so you know if your communication skills are polished? How can you help your team enhance their communication skills so that effective outcomes become the norm? Luckily, I got you covered, and yeah… you can thank me later.
#1. Take Time to Self-Reflect:
First Step, It’s as simple as examining how well you communicate with your team across the business AND observing how team members communicate with one another. A little self-reflection and observation go a LONG way.
#2. Analyze and Remove your Bad Habits:
Now, to begin the journey with efficient communication, you must first recognize your bad habits. Efficient communication starts with removing some of the bad habits you may have developed as a leader without paying too much attention to it. I admit, it does kind of suck to deeply reflect on the negatives of one’s personality, so I would prescribe a glass of wine while completing this task to lighten the blow. Remember, producing work quality requires that both your team and you engage in a specific role in getting work finished by communicating well.
For example, it’s possible your employees are struggling to match their potential because the work environment that’s already been created is a place where interactive collaboration feels unwarranted or awkward. These are things you can fix. And when you fix them, you will find that your workplace culture can shift and improve as well. No one wants to feel like their voice is a nuisance at work, so make sure you establish an environment that promotes conversation! In this example, you can learn to build an environment that promotes workers to share their thoughts and come up with new methods to complete tasks.
#3. Support your Team
Also, supporting contributions from your team is a great way of providing them confidence that you respect their presence as well as ideas. Employees who feel their voice is heard in the workplace are almost five times more likely to feel empowered to deliver their best work. Don’t be afraid to hype up your team! Throw them a pizza party, tell one of your employees you like their hair, buy a company fish…. Do whatever you need to do to boost company moral to get those productivity scores up, up, up!I
#4. Identifying your Key Points
Make sure to write down key points when preparing notes for every meeting. This way you can place importance on your main points at the beginning of the meeting as well as the end. This is how you guarantee everyone present remembers the important information you want to leave them with. Another great reminder is your time management. When you keep your meetings short and concise, it’s a great way of making sure everyone remains involved. Communicating efficiently involves avoiding repeating words or phrases when talking to others. Make sure you speak clearly! Remind yourself to ask for feedback and address concerns or questions that your team members may have to make yourself approachable.
As we come to an end on this blog post, I ask you to challenge yourself and try at least ONE of these methods for improving employee happiness. You just might surprise yourself with the outcome and become the badass boss you have always dreamed of becoming! You might just turn into the stereotypical boss we all see in romcoms, where the employee’s go to you for their relationship advice, and I mean…. who doesn’t love relationship drama?
Don’t lie, we all know everyone does.