Why Encouraging Team Communication in the Workplace is Important
The quality of collaboration at the workplace is important for the smooth and efficient operation of a business. A coherent team that is connected on its common purpose, works towards achieving team goals successfully and thereby meeting the business goals as well.
Clarity on Goals
Encouraging team communication is a crucial component of making goals reachable at the workplace. State clear goals and objectives for macro and micro-projects for the entire team. This allows everyone to be aware of the scope of the project and what is expected of them. While a leader directs the team towards the chosen direction, it is the responsibility of all team members to completely understand and be informed of the contribution required from them to achieve the business goal as a team. Discussions in meetings encourage team members to propose ideas and brainstorm, remove possible bottlenecks anticipated in the workflow and ensure that the whole team is working towards the same objectives.
Transparent communications make workflow seamless
When communication within a team is open and transparent, there are lesser opportunities for conflicts. This can be largely achieved by having project management tools and trackers that are shared by all within the team. Having access to everyone’s work progress informs the team of the project status collectively, thereby saving follow-up time and micromanagement. This not only encourages self-ownership for team members but also enables team members to reach out to each other when assistance is needed thereby respecting each other’s individual productive time.
Team’s trust is the team’s foundation
Encouraging team communication is essential in a business to achieve its goals and build a strong workforce that paves the way for progress and excellence in the industry. Empowering team members to innovate, reinvent and brainstorm ideas builds trust within the team and validates their contributions. Conducting anonymous surveys and asking for feedback after presentations or training sessions help team members voice their concerns or add suggestions at any time. This is an important part of building trust within the team and equips the team members to learn and grow from each other.
Healthy cooperation to tackle challenges
Business days seldom remain the same. While some days go with less or no hassles, some days demand a heavy workload coupled with pressing deadlines. During such instances, a well-connected team tackles delegation of resources efficiently to accomplish the target objectives. This however is a strength built consistently with time. Regular team-building activities and healthy work communication nurture professionalism within the team. Even when there are unanticipated hassles or rush requests, a synergistic team is prepared to keep its eye on the target with emotional barriers out of the way. The healthy interpersonal interactions at work thus nurture an environment where the team is conditioned to engage comfortably and cooperate harmoniously even during challenging business days.
Growth and progress through collaboration
The way to achieve progressive growth within a diverse workforce is by encouraging team communication. Teams in businesses often contain members who differ in age, qualifications, and background. Leveraging the team member’s unique skills and talents boosts the value of the team’s processes and tasks as they work collaboratively. Growing together within a team complements team strength and thereby helps achieve the business goals quicker. To enable this, team members must be respectful and listen to each other’s ideas and offer positive feedback while performing tasks. Keeping doors open for constructive criticism reinforces positive work relationships, putting the team collectively ahead in productivity and also enabling team members to learn and exchange skills.
Scope for business growth
When team communication is respectful and inclusive, all team members feel valued and confident to voice their ideas. This adds to the overall team productivity and enables creative solutions to business problems. Fostering team collaboration also inspires the team members to contribute beyond their comfort levels, learn new skills and even help other team members grow. A business that operates with a workforce that can seamlessly communicate makes faster decisions and increases its profitability.
Diversity and inclusion
Today’s businesses hire talent across nationalities and races, as they expand in different parts of the world. This brings in many challenges at the workplace making communication difficult at times owing to accent, cultural differences, acceptance, etc., Encouraging team communication with team-building activities plays a pivotal role in teams with a diverse workforce. Engaging in activities for fun makes all team members inclusive and connected. It breaks the ice for new joiners and remotely working team members to associate better with their colleagues.
Quality collaboration boosts team morale
“When you hand good people possibility, they do great things.” ― Biz Stone
Efficient collaboration fosters a culture of teamwork and interdependence while maintaining individual authenticity at the workplace. Teams that know they have a cooperative workplace where their ideas and voices are heard with respect, feel more validated and inspired to go above and beyond for achieving the goals of the business. When faced with challenging deadlines, the driving force of such team members is to prioritize the team’s success in accomplishing the task and delivering results.
Identifying resources for delegating right
A business that comprises a diverse workforce needs effective team communication to facilitate employees of varied nationalities, experiences, and backgrounds to come together as a team despite their differences. It is equally important that each person’s unique strengths and qualifications are identified to put them to the right use. For instance, when a well-connected team is faced with a rush request from the customer, the team can efficiently deliver without a hiccup. Such a team identifies the right talent to divide the tasks according to the abilities of the team, thereby achieving the goal each time.
Bridge process gaps
On an average workday, teams go through multiple communication channels to exchange and align information to complete a task. According to a study published in Business Outlook, some experts have estimated that the average business executive spends approximately 75% to 80% of the day engaged in oral or written communication. During the process, team members tend to connect via chats, group meetings, emails, and presentations exchanging a huge volume of data about a topic. This gives rise to chances of losing minute important details and cause clutter. This is where integrated tools like Clariti help in encouraging team communication by helping teams find connected information in one place. This bridges process gaps and maintains attention to detail.
Adapting to business evolution
In 2020 an unprecedented global challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic forced businesses to adapt fast to online communication strategies to stay connected with their teams whilst striving to keep production going. This has led to a structural shift of business communication requiring advanced tools of web conferencing. In addition to this, businesses today are making use of digital advancements and expanding their hiring domain to facilitate the freelance workforce as well. According to a McKinsey study, the online marketplace could add $ 2.7 trillion to global GDP by 2025. The businesses of the future will accommodate both in-house employees and remote workers. This calls for excellent business communication tools to bring about effective management and collaboration within teams.
Motivates productivity
A study published in Business outlook states that workers send and receive an average of 1798 messages each day via telephone, email, faxes, papers, and face-to-face communication. Encouraging team communication helps individuals in a team to not only feel included but also makes them comfortable to reach out for assistance when needed to remove any blockers along the way. Being a part of a group working towards common goals uplifts the motivational drive and spurs productivity.
Businesses while encouraging team communication, facilitate interconnection of individual strengths build a sturdy team that propels business productivity.
