7 Ways You Can Enhance the Levels of Communication within Your Business

Communication is vital in every aspect of life, and the workplace is no exception. Effective communication is known to ramp up productivity, lower employee turnaround, increase customer satisfaction and boost morale among other benefits. From a number of angles, it could be considered the primary key to success in any business.

Ways to Heighten Workplace Communication

Despite its high level of significance, or maybe even because of it, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who’s truly mastered the art of information exchange. According to a recent writeup from Entrepreneur Magazine, 45 percent of employees aren’t sure of what they’re supposed to do even after company meetings. Having said that, certain measures can help open the doors for communication in the workplace while improving their efficiency and effectiveness.

• Build Trust: Very few people are willing to open up to anyone they don’t trust, and this valuable asset is difficult to come by. Whether you’re in management or answering to the powers that be, backing your words with actions helps lay the foundation for trust and, in turn, open and honest communication.
• Be Social: Creating trust and communication at work spans well beyond the workplace environment. Social interaction goes a long way toward helping coworkers understand each other’s strengths, weaknesses, motivations, and idiosyncrasies. Set up group lunches and encourage employees to learn a little more about their coworkers’ home lives. One recent study from Harvard notes social connections help relieve stress and cultivate success.
• Remain Consistent: No matter how frequently meetings may be necessary, it’s important to stay on track. All too often, work picks up, other matters end up taking precedence and meetings get postponed. Eventually, they may even come to a halt altogether. This inevitably leads to a breakdown in communication. For the lines to remain open and effective, those vital meetings must take place consistently.
• It’s a Two-Way Street: Anyone who expects to be heard must also be willing to listen. Ask questions and reach out for answers. Don’t just pretend to listen to ideas and opinions; actually, hear them and take them to heart. Encourage open, honest feedback and don’t hesitate to provide it as well. If communication doesn’t run both ways, it’ll quickly hit a dead end.
• Be Open-Minded: Each employee in business brings to the table a unique blend of knowledge and experience. Not using all those strengths to their fullest benefit could easily be the downfall of a company. Always be open to input whether it’s positive or negative, and don’t simply dismiss it without due consideration.
• Exercise Conciseness: Though it’s important to be thorough, it’s also possible to generate an information overload. Take time to weed out unnecessary details before speaking. In some cases, less is more, so be sure to find a nice balance.
• Make the Most of Technology: From vehicles offering built-in Bluetooth options to remote video conferencing capabilities and everything in between, technology has allowed communications to branch out considerably over the last several years. Push to Talk and other tools and services geared specifically toward business needs are designed to take all these aspects to an entirely new level.

Establishing the lines of communication may not be simple. Once they’ve been opened, though, they have the power to help businesses advance on numerous fronts. Team members getting to know each other a bit beyond the professional aspect tends to make them more comfortable in a working environment. Being willing to listen to and consider everyone’s input has a way of empowering employees and encouraging them to be more productive. Though effective communication must be built on a foundation of trust and consistency, improvement sometimes takes little more than a technological upgrade.