A key element in any company’s success is effective team communication, both internally and externally. It is essential for any organisation to promote good communication amongst its team members in order to achieve higher levels of individual performance and better collective results.
This can be achieved by following a few simple methods which, essentially, revolve around organisational transparency and the interactions of the whole team. Lack of proper communication and interaction within a team is one of the most common reasons for failure within a business. However, it can be avoided by creating trust, a team identity and clear shared goals, all of which are reinforced through effective team communication.
Effective team communication is, therefore, essential for a number of reasons, including:
- Mitigating conflict in order to avoid misunderstandings and resolve any tensions between team member
- Achieving better client relationships by enabling customer-facing staff to understand customer needs and provide solutions through clear communication
- Creating achievable goals to ensure that all team members are working towards the same objectives
- Making the right decisions by meeting regularly and discussing any issues
By adopting the following strategies, effective team communication can be greatly enhanced and misunderstandings and confusion can be avoided amongst team members:
Knowledge sharing
Sharing knowledge across the entire team is an essential factor in driving the overall success of the team. Regular team meetings to share new information and note-taking software can assist greatly, making project details visible to all involved.
Prompt communication
Questions or concerns that are answered quickly help to avoid confusion or conflict amongst team members. Conversation threads can be created electronically or regular one-to-one and group conversations can help to ensure that issues are dealt with promptly and effectively.
Promote inclusion
Encourage all team members to express their ideas and address any concerns that they may have to ensure that all ideas are heard and discussed. Including all team members can help to bridge any potential communication gaps, enabling a shared vision to be created. Prioritised face-to-face communications can help team members to feel more connected and part of the project.
Welcome feedback from team members
Ensure that all feedback is constructive and clear goals can be extracted from it to move the project forward. Make feedback available to everyone on the team to enable others to learn from it too. Constructive feedback is an essential element of all business communication. It can be pivotal to achieving overall success and encouraging continuous hard work from employees.
Ensure clarity
All communication within a team should be:
- Relevant and accessible to all team members to promote transparency
- Prompt and accurate to avoid miscommunications
- Complete and contain all important information relevant to the subject at hand
By following the simple strategies outlined above, companies can ensure that their team members are well-informed and feel able to voice opinions and raise any concerns. A firm that promotes good communication generally has motivated staff who are willing to put in additional effort. As a result, deliverables and outputs are generally of a higher standard, leading to overall greater business success.
