Good communication with your team members can make or break your business.
Investing time and energy to get a team that is transparent, collaborative and up to the task of working together is ultimately the success of the business.
Stimulating awareness and knowledge of each other’s communication patterns, will develop communication skills; consequently, members that communicate effectively will not only produce a more positive work environment, it will also increase productivity, employee engagement, and profitability. Now who doesn’t want that!
So how do we get started?
Let’s look at these 3 simple steps that will get you on your way.
Step 1: Self-awareness
We must start with ourselves. It is key to become self-aware of personal communication patterns. Likewise, each team member must first develop self-awareness about how they communicate with others.
This includes understanding how you think you communicate versus how others perceive how you communicate. Also understand how personal communication patterns change under pressure.
Step 2: Team awareness
Understanding each team members’ communication patterns is vital.
Effective communication requires adjusting depending on who we are dealing with; therefore, you can develop specific techniques for the team members.
Example: an analytical team member might need more time before being able to answer how they will handle a project; versus a creative and expressive team member that likes to be heard and paid attention to for their fast-paced ideas about a project.
This gives you insights for how to communicate most effectively, get more results, and reduce conflict.
Step 3: Communication dynamic agreements
Finally, the team must develop an agreed upon a communication system. This dynamic should take into consideration the speaker and listener’s primary communication patterns. It should also include both the speaker and listener making temporary communication modifications based on their personal communication pattern and the pattern of the person with whom they’re speaking.
An effective communication system must be clearly defined, predictable, easy-to-implement, and emotionally intelligent. Maintain the system by: regular reminders to the team on the agreements; including them into your weekly or monthly meetings; troubleshooting by discussing observations about communication patterns, and most importantly, take the time to praise those who have been effectively implementing the system.
“Effective Team Communication is the Foundation of Business Success.”
Implement these steps and watch the following happen right before your eyes: better client relationships, minimize conflict, increase productivity, higher employee engagement, reduce turnover; and over and above creating a better work culture, so it’s a win-win for all.
