Did you know that some of the biggest losses happen due to faulty, shaky, and dishonest internal communication? Most managers focus solely on the revenue without paying much attention to what’s happening in between. However, if the employees are dissatisfied and unhappy, business owners will spend much more resources on retention and new recruits. Is there anything you can do about it?
Since effective communication is the key to satisfied and happy employees, you can start there! Best businesses are recognized by a healthy and friendly environment, and one of the most efficient ways of creating it is by improving communication. Here are a couple of tips that will boost in-house communication in no time!
1. Focus on the onboarding process
Even though the communication with the future employee starts well before their first day, the onboarding process is the crucial aspect of building quality in-house communication. Not every new recruit will be friendly and open straight away. Therefore, you need to focus on the onboarding process and make them feel comfortable.
During the process, highlighting the importance of communication in your firm is essential. Try to come up with different approaches that will suit different individuals during their first week on the job. On top of that, be hospitable enough, and introduce the new employee with their colleagues, help them start the conversation and get to know each other better!
2. Create a healthy atmosphere
Sadly, toxic workplaces are more common than healthy ones. No matter where you go, you’ll certainly meet at least one toxic person. That’s why it’s HR’s and manager’s job to create a healthy and friendly atmosphere where everyone will feel welcomed!
The truth is, you can’t spot a toxic person straight away. But if it is in your team, don’t indulge in gossiping, maltreatment, bullying, and similar. That’s how you’ll support healthier workplace culture and enforce your beliefs onto others. In addition to that, a healthy atmosphere creates effective and honest communication, which is much needed in any type of workplace.
3. Build trust and honesty
How much time do you need before genuinely trusting someone? Some people build bonds within days, weeks, months while some may even take years! While trust and open communication are important in business, you don’t have time to waste! Is there a way to speed up the process in the workplace?
Give your team a little nudge in the right direction by organizing team building and team bonding activities. By getting to know each other you’re building an atmosphere where trust and honesty will grow. This results in open communication and better productivity, which will naturally lead to a happier and more satisfied team. Keep in mind that you don’t have to agree with everyone to be their colleague! So, put your differences aside and work together towards the shared values and goals.
4. Enforce feedback culture
Without feedback, communication doesn’t make sense! It’s a two-way process that encourages people to grow and develop their skills and abilities further. However, to ask your colleagues or teammates for honest feedback, you need to teach them how to provide one. Is there a wrong way of giving feedback?
Definitely! Feedback should be aimed towards behavior, never towards someone’s personality. It should include advice on how to improve or where to seek improvement. Also, if you want to enforce a feedback culture, you need to learn what is the appropriate context to ask for one. Face to face and one on one situations are more suitable as you wouldn’t want to insult anyone. Feedback is a fantastic way of improving communication as it will strengthen the bond and create room for improvement.
5. Use apps and tools
We can agree that in-person communication works the best for some people. However, is it always the most efficient way of reaching out to someone? Various communication apps and tools can help you get the information you need faster. So, why not give them a chance?
Besides being able to reach your colleagues faster, communication apps tend to increase engagement, trust, and in-team bonding. They are a fantastic means of sharing important data and information you need to access straight away, yet they are faster than emails. So, if you want to learn more about the benefits of such tools, find out more here.
6. Provide communication training
Last, but not least, including some type of informal education in the process of communication improvement is extremely beneficial. Some employees won’t take you or the HR department seriously, therefore providing training may be the best solution to improve internal communication.
When choosing suitable training for your team, ensure it will teach them communication types, assertive communication, and types of different communicators. Explain that it’s training that benefits the employees and increases productivity and workplace effectiveness. Additionally, training can also be an incredible way of bringing people together and creating a stronger bond.
Final thoughts
Effective and honest communication is the right path towards success. Instead of focusing only on the end result, pay more attention to the people. It all begins with open and truthful communication and ends with a healthy and happy team. Keep in mind that the change won’t happen overnight. It’s a rocky road with a lot of ups and downs, but in the end, it will all be worth it!
Salman Zafar is an acclaimed blogger, editor, publisher and digital marketer. He is the founder of Blogging Hub, a digital publishing portal with wide following across the world.
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