It’s been covered before but it bears repeating – communication in business is key.
Communications is vital to a successful business. Effective communication means that people will feel comfortable talking to people at all levels of the business. Communication is essential to create productivity within a business. Allowing each employee the freedom to ask what they like will create strong work relationships in your business.
Let’s explore 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
Poor communications in a business can lead to unmotivated staff who will question their own confidence and abilities.
If you are in a management position, be approachable. You don’t want your workers to be scared of you, as this will not help your business. Team members that have a manager that is approachable will have the confidence to contribute ideas.
HR advisor Fred Holloway talks about how poor communication can cause problems in a business: “You can tie back almost every employee issue – attendance, morale, performance and productivity – to communication.”
Team members that have a manager that is approachable will have the confidence to contribute ideas.
Being a strong manager means being a strong communicator. 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. You will understand which tasks they will be best at, and how to motivate them in a way that they will respond positively to.
Creating effective communications within your business
Establishing strong lines of communication will encourage employees to talk to whoever they need to within the business. This will help with co-operation on tasks. In turn, this ensures that a task will be completed in the most efficient and effective way.
On a personal level, knowing each member of staff’s name is a simple way to strengthen connections and encourage communication too. You can have a more personal conversation, and they feel like you have cared enough to learn their name. Your customers will know your staff members name’s because of their name badge, so you should too.
Having regular one-to-one meetings with each member of staff is a great way to open communication. Telling the employee what progress they had made recently will give them the confidence to see their work is being appreciated.
This also gives you the chance to raise any concerns you may have about their work and be able to fix that. One-to-one meetings also allows you on a personal, private level to speak to your employees and be able to help them with any problems they may have in and outside of the business.
In group meetings, this is a great time to talk to your entire staff. Informal group meetings can be hugely beneficial too, as it allows employees to shout out any questions or concerns, they may have. Praising individual employees during this time will also give them a bit of spotlight in the company.
Overall, communication is vital for all parts of the business. Having employees comfortable enough to speak to who they need to in the business allows the business to run more effectively.
It has been difficult to communicate well due to many employees working from home at the moment. But businesses are retaining those all-important communication lines using software such as Microsoft Teams to create virtual offices.
About the author
Rachel Gray is a copywriter at Badgemaster.