How to improve internal team communication

The quality and consistency of your team's internal communications have the power to change your business for better or worse. With smoother and clearer forms of interaction, your team members will collaborate more effectively and improve overall productivity. With errors in timing, wording and clarity, your entire operation could fall apart.

What steps can you take to improve internal team communications?

Diagnose potential problems

The first thing to do is take a moment to diagnose potential problems.

Have you noticed anything wrong with your organization that can be attributed to ineffective communication? Is there a measurable metric that dropped due to a specific type of communication issue? If so, this is your chance to apply specific fixes to whatever issue is plaguing you.

For example, if you have noticed an increase in customer churn, this may indicate that your customer service agents are unaware of their responsibilities or are not handling customer support communications adequately .< /p>

Reviewing your scripts, SOPs, team meeting protocols, and other internal customer service communications can help resolve the issue.

Building Strong Leaders

Whether conscious, unconscious, or a mixture of the two, people tend to emulate the style and approach of their leaders.

As a result, it pays to establish strong leadership within your organization to set a standard for effective communication. If your leaders communicate regularly and communicate clearly and concisely, they will set a powerful example for all your other employees to follow.

Two approaches can help you here.

First, you can prioritize effective communicators when considering promotions and when hiring new leadership candidates. If someone consistently delivers clear, focused messages, they should have a better chance of advancing to a leadership position than a less effective counterpart. Second, you can provide more training and education to your current leaders. Communication courses and seminars, along with deliberate practice, can turn almost anyone into an effective communicator. Create multiple communication channels (and use them appropriately)

Use many different communication channels. Different communication channels offer different strengths and weaknesses, and can be used in different contexts to communicate better.

If all of these tools are available to your employees, and they know how to use each of them to their full potential, your internal communications will be much stronger.

Digital display

With the help of digital signage software, you can display almost any type of visual or text you want and you can scroll through different messages on your digital signs. Across the office, your screens can provide consistent reminders, advice on current conditions, instructions, updates, and more. It's a simple way to get everyone on the same page in the workplace.

E-mail

Email is one of the most common forms of communication in the workplace because it is permanent, instantaneous and written. However, it's not the best platform for ongoing dialogue, nor ideal for expressing complex ideas.

Discuss

Chat platforms make it easy to ask quick questions and enjoy reciprocal dialogue, but they can also be awkward. No one wants to be dragged into chats all day, but it's an effective communication tool when you use it to the fullest.

Calls/video conferences

Calls and video conferences are useful for coordinating many different people and holding complex dialogues. However, they tend to be time consuming and can go off the rails quickly if you have too many participants. They should be used sparingly and intentionally.

social media

Even social networks have their place in your internal communication strategy. When used correctly, it can make it easier to strengthen bonds between your employees and provide an easy and informal way to reach someone.

Create consistent workflows for managing projects and tasks

How are people supposed to communicate about high-level projects and low-level tasks?

For example, is there a template you can use to describe a project? Who is responsible for communicating the details of a project? When an employee completes a task, what information should they provide about the completion of the task?

If you haven't...