Consider conducting a survey in your organization asking employees about their most common queries or problems that often become the hurdle in day-to-day activities. What will make you surprise is that communication will be on top or near the top of the list of complaints. Now this communication problem can be one with the management or department or between employees.
In this article, we have illustrated different strategies to improve internal communication. But first, let us see why proper communication is essential.
Importance of Appropriate Communication
Compared to the survey instance mentioned above, the repercussions of miscommunication are even graver in real terms. A survey of around 400 enterprises with 100,000 employees stated that poor communication in the workplace costs nearly $62.4 M yearly. This suggests that this communication gap is present from the grass-root level.
Despite these figures, many entrepreneurs still think that communication improvement is a major expense rather than an investment. Companies generally tend to do this when they have employees who resist change or improve themselves interpersonally, for example, Gen X. Due to this, they face other strategic problems such as unproductively, reduced retention, disengagement, etc.
To help you figure out a way to enhance internal communication, take a look at these 10 methods and bring them into use.
10 Methods to Improve Internal Communication
The good thing is there are numerous methods you can use to improve internal employee communication. Some of these may be budget-friendly, while others may be expensive.
Schedule regular one-to-ones with your employees
Regularly setting up a specific time for each employee is essential to build better bonding with them. This may include face-to-face or online meetings to talk about ongoing or upcoming tasks, projects, personal conflicts, or other company-related queries. The main motive behind this meet-up is to motivate them to share their problems or suggestions frankly. You can perceive what they think about the company’s culture and operations.
Scheduling a specific time means making sure each employee is rightfully heard. This way, employees are also at comfort knowing they aren’t burdening you at peak work hours. However, only planning meetings aren’t enough. You need to value their decisions and check how they are helpful to the organization.
Schedule weekly informal team meetings
While managers and superiors of some organizations think that informal team collaboration or communication can be a waste of time, it is equally essential for employees to grow their soft skills. Allow your employees to have healthy discussions every now and then whenever they feel right.
Additionally, such informal meetings or debates allow team members to develop constructive relationships with each other at the workplace. It also helps you manage virtual teams better and improve collaboration among them. Not only this, but it also helps generate better ideas and suggestions that can make positive changes to the organization.
Understand your employees
No two people have similar qualities, skills, likes, or dislikes. They might also have a different definition of meaningful conversations. Ask them how they want to communicate at the workplace. Do they prefer face-to-face meetings, chatting on mobile devices, surveys, or any other methods? Based on the most preferred option, you can set up an internal communication best practice that works best for your organization.
The plus point is that your team will feel more valued when you ask them about preferences. It also reinforces their trust by showing that you will act on developing these communication approaches. In addition to this, you will also understand what communication method is best for sharing information.
Build a feedback approach
One of the most common things is to collect feedback from employees about what’s working in the organization and what is not. It also could be about you, your organization’s environment, work processes, etc. This can be done by meeting in person or conducting a survey, whatever is feasible for you.
Based on the results, you can come up with a solution to develop better communication channels and review and improve the ones that increase employee turnover and do not facilitate engagement. On the whole, this helps you find unfamiliar methods to improve communication.
Encourage openness in culture
Fostering communication with your employees will make them feel more comfortable talking about their issues at the right time. It shows employees that you are more approachable and helps them be open. You can develop a policy for the same, indicating that you or the management is always available to resolve conflicts or any other queries.
Sometimes even though your door is open, employees may feel uneasy or self-conscious about coming for you. In such a situation, you must invite them individually and talk friendly so they don’t feel shy. You can also make your own rounds around and ask employees randomly from where they are sitting. This way, you can promote an open culture too.
Reward your employees on time
Make public employee appreciation and rewards common in your organization. When people make efforts towards organizational goals, they also wish to be recognized for the same. The reason to do this is to acknowledge good behavior, excellent performance, and the right talent. Doing this in public also sets an example in front of your organization.
You need to think about the pros and cons of different communication channels. Some may be efficient in improving communication, while some may not. You can evaluate each tool or channel and analyze what works for you. Based on that, you can make proactive decisions to improve communication.
Use the right digital tools
Being an owner of a large organization that has multiple locations, it could be challenging to maintain engagement through proper communication. Due to this, the most common concerns of your workforce also are left unheard. As a solution to this, you can implement communication tools, using which you and your workforce can communicate effortlessly.
Today’s generation performs most of their tasks through their mobile phones, and thus this method is best for reshaping communication. This also ensures that your remote-working employees stay connected to the whole organization.
6 Professional Business Communication Tools for Collaboration
Share internal knowledge
Communication is not always person-to-person. It also includes essential company information. Every business kind has its own unique information; thus, it should be managed and shared with employees properly. This helps employees easily find required files, folders, images, etc. As information is also a part of internal communication, your employees should be able to find it.
Review the current plan
Lastly, it is important to review how your methods are practically working. Is your business communication channel maximizing excellence and promoting better productivity? Is your business communication getting better?
Every communication channel has its own pros and cons, which you need to understand. Some may be efficient in improving communication, while some may not. You can evaluate each tool or channel and analyze what works for you. Based on that, you can make proactive decisions to improve communication.
Wrapping It Up
Communicating with friends and family is easy, but at the workplace, it can be quite awkward if employees are not confident. When communication is effective in the workplace, people can easily share their thoughts, ask questions, and provide better ideas to take the organization to a significant level. For this, superiors can set an example of being confident in communicating with their team members. The methods mentioned above may or may not work for you. But you have to apply each one of them to find out the one that’s fine for your organization.
Get in Touch
Send us a note using the form below and we will get in touch with you shortly.