Set the tone for your workplace and follow these tips to help improve workplace communication.
Effective communication is vital to establishing strong relationships within the workplace. Communication doesn’t only feel good- it shows results. Taking the necessary steps towards helping improve workplace communication will improve your employee’s commitment and the success of your business.
Whether you’re building new relationships, managing existing conflicts, or explaining clear objectives, improving communication in the workplace strengthens employee satisfaction and employee retention during a labor shortage.
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Practice Authentic Communication
Internal communication can feel stiff and rehearsed, which is why it’s important to encourage your team to stay authentic. Practicing authentic communication will help to improve productivity, engagement, and let your team know that they can speak up when they need to.
Your employees are multidimensional people. Recognizing that you’re communicating with real people, not just employees initiates empathy. Start speaking about topics beyond the scope of work to foster stronger team dynamics.
Many workplaces, especially if you’re a startup, have busy schedules. If you can’t foster genuine conversations during working hours, consider sharing your lunch break with your employees. Taking the time to learn about each other’s interests and preferences can promote higher employee satisfaction rates and help to open the lines of communication to everyone on your team.
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Establish Trust
According to the American Psychological Association, nearly twenty-five percent of employees don’t trust their employer, which is why it’s so important to prove yourself trustworthy to your employees. The more your team trusts you, the more likely they are to come forward and communicate when there is a problem occurring. Workplace relationships that are built on trust will help to improve workplace communication time and time again.
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Commit to Regular Check-Ins
While it’s easy to drop regular check-ins when work gets busy, it’s one of the best ways to improve workplace communication. Opening up your lines of communication should have a consistent spot on your checklists. Without regular check-ins, your employees might have the impression that you’re too busy and unavailable for their challenges, concerns, or even triumphs. By setting up recurring meeting times to touch base, you’ll learn more about the inner workings of your business and gain insight on how to iron out any kinks.
It’s important that your regular check-ins work for all of your employees. Maybe some of your team members are always on Slack, while others respond to emails instantly. How do your employees communicate best? Determine if they prefer email, in-person chats, or video calls, by asking directly or through observation.
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Be Intentional About Compliments and Feedback
It’s no secret that aggressive and insensitive feedback will permanently wipe out trust, communication, and employee satisfaction. When giving feedback, make sure that your language focuses on the behavior you’re discussing, not the employee’s character. Give the other person an opportunity to share their thoughts and experiences when it comes to building a positive workflow moving forward.
On the flipside, if you’re simply telling your employees that they did a great job, the compliment might not be as helpful as you think. What was great about it? How can they replicate their results? Always remain genuine and as specific as possible when giving positive feedback.
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Seek Out Feedback From Your Employees
If you’re looking to improve communication in the workplace, giving feedback should be a two-way street. And while actively seeking out constructive feedback is one of the best ways to strengthen employee satisfaction rates, it’s also a big challenge as workforces become more dispersed and diverse.
Remaining open to feedback from your employees allows you to understand their needs and motivations better. Consistent feedback will also help to mitigate conflicts, as many of them originate from feelings of being misunderstood. If employees feel like their needs are being ignored, it will lead to tension within the workplace.
And besides boosting employee engagement, employee feedback promotes a more productive and talented workforce in other ways. When your company culture is focused on strengthening connections, managers can understand the talents of their team better. By creating a safe workplace for people to think outside of the box and experiment with their ideas, employees will feel encouraged to take ownership of projects with more creative problem-solving.
Gather the Best Tools to Help Improve Workplace Communication
Fenix Verify offers a variety of services to help improve communication in the workplace and employee retention rates.
If improving workplace communication feels like climbing a mountain, try climbing a hill instead. Our red card/green card reports are Digital one-question surveys completed by employees only if something went extremely well or poorly on their shift.
For more in-depth conversations, try Culture Curator, our daily employee pulse survey, to help promote open and honest communication by gathering information on your team’s emotional, physical, and mental energies. Creating a company culture that cares will dramatically improve employee satisfaction rates.
Speaking of employee satisfaction rates, our employee satisfaction survey is an accessible way to seek out feedback from your employees. Our survey allows you to easily measure employee feedback through digital surveys delivered through your company’s app or via QR codes.
Tools that have been proven to help improve workplace communication and employee satisfaction are within reach. Prioritize your company’s culture and book your free demo today.
