11 Important Tips for Increasing Communication with Your Team
By: Efrat Vulfsons
Who wouldn’t want to grow their company while increasing team productivity?
You may be skilled at providing a great product or service, but you still need a team to sustain the market and make your goal a reality. Before setting up your company strategies, you must ensure that your team has faith in the company, which means having flawless end-to-end communication and strengthening your team.
Here are eleven useful tips for increasing communication that have been implemented and evaluated in employee-friendly companies.
Employ Competent Tools
A team’s ability to maintain work standards and regular communication is crucial. Subpar tools will deteriorate working conditions, such as using a social chat app for team cooperation or incompetent team chat apps, which could belittle professionalism. Therefore, competent tools like Troop Messenger, which are considered to be among the best team communication apps, should be a consideration. Their on-premise chat feature can enhance your team spirit and make your job easier with it simple user interface (UI). A team communication app could be a handy tool both in the workplace and in remote work cultures. Don’t restrict yourself by using ineffective tools, because modern work environments require continually improved equipment.
Work Allotment
Even if you are not part of the same department as the assigned work, you should at least be familiar with the project to ensure an accurate anticipated delivery time. If not, you risk giving your team too much or too little time, which could lead them to underestimate you.
To assign the job appropriately, a manager or team leader must be aware of the strengths and limitations of their team. That being stated, you should give them the necessary training so that you can win their loyalty and be able to allocate your team members effectively. They will cooperate and produce more work if you can improve team communication.
Because no two people are the same and no two people have the same qualities, you should delegate the additional or crucial tasks following each person’s area of expertise. They will feel more motivated and appreciate that their abilities have been acknowledged, increasing their sense of accountability.
Constructive Feedback
Giving your team members constructive feedback will benefit their professional development and help you build a stronger team. The feedback should not only focus on their professional abilities. You may also provide feedback on how they interact with other team members, which is unquestionably one of the best tips for increasing communication since it will encourage them to make changes.
There is no such thing as a perfect team; you must make one. Provide team members who aren’t performing as well as their peers with constructive feedback, thereby motivating them to improve their skills. Make the most of your knowledge to advise them on handling such situations; this will motivate them and show your team that you care about them.
Expectations
Communicate to your team the value of adhering to the company’s rules and standards. In some circumstances, it may be necessary to establish ground rules for tasks. In these cases, ensure that you develop flexible practices and goals while considering your team members’ opinions. You should also get each team member’s approval so that everyone will cooperate to complete the task at hand, without deviating from the standards. It is advisable not to hold such meetings on office chat apps. Conduct such critical communications with team members directly, or, if you are working remotely, host it on a video conference or video call.
Team Collaboration
Sometimes, the workload may become too much for the team to handle. Therefore, even though you’ve given them duties to complete, encourage teamwork even if it means having them run errands while still holding them accountable for their work.
An ideal team communication standard empowers a work environment in which everyone is involved in using their skills and ideas. This can support them to become more knowledgeable about tasks, which they cannot do by restricting themselves to their assigned responsibilities. Effective communication enables the entire team to work together on a task.
Train your Team
Take one-on-one meetings with your team, try to comprehend their mindset, assess their strengths and shortcomings, and ask them if they require assistance from you or the organization. This will enable you to manage your team more effectively.
You can’t anticipate every team member to have the exact level of expertise, just as not every human being is the same. Therefore, train them whenever necessary, especially to avoid unavoidable mistakes. Ensure you are knowledgeable about the topic to avoid appearing to be the only person who can assist your team members when they have questions. Never compromise on training because it’s one of the primary aspects that can increase team productivity.
Explain to your team how you faced professional gaps when working in a team, much like they are. This will help them relate to you and feel more comfortable approaching you for assistance when needed.
Welcome Ideas
Encourage your team to share their perspectives while conducting meetings or one-on-one sessions with them. Sometimes, their suggestions might work wonderfully when managing a team or a product. If you’re rejecting their proposal, do it politely and explain why you feel it is inappropriate.
Empowering your team members to contribute new ideas and perspectives to a project can help them arrive at solutions more rapidly, improving team productivity at work and their technological proficiency.
Praise in Public; Criticize in Private
No matter how old your team members are, their impression of you and the company will always be fragile and prone to deteriorate over minor issues. Without intending to reward the subpar team members, you must uphold this impression at all costs while also providing them with the necessary training to succeed wherever needed. Keep in mind that they are your internal clients.
One of the best tips for increasing communication with your team is to look for opportunities to acknowledge them. It would be best if you also made it a habit to attend daily meetings, recognize at least one team member for their contribution, and encourage the rest of the team to do the same for the other team members. Every team member will feel motivated to give their 100 % effort, and as a result, you will discover increasing communication in the workplace, boosting work productivity.
Always keep criticism between yourself and the person being chastised; never share it with the rest of the team.
Team Building Events
Today, every successful business has motivated its staff. Given how essential it is to maintain your team’s motivation, several highly successful companies view team-building exercises as equally crucial to marketing plans. For whatever reason, most businesses ignore this practice, but they should do so if they want to succeed in the modern business world. Startups and growing companies often look up to successful organizations for inspiration or envy. They purposefully ignore motivating programs in favor of choosing the successful organizations’ techniques that are suitable to them or for their benefit.
Do some entertaining exercises that will enhance teamwork and inter-team communication. Such gatherings are tried-and-true tips for increasing communication that benefits one team in the organization and get the other teams familiar with each other.
Such occasions can be utilized to assist your team in finding unique solutions to issues. When a project is successful, celebrate it as the team’s overall success and recognize the contributions of every team member.
You might assume that team-building exercises are impossible for remote workers, but tools like Troop Messenger will assist you in every stage. Using this tool, some companies celebrate occasions like employee of the month announcements and fun interactive programs and reinstate the communication collaboration. Such dependable online collaboration tools can also boost team productivity while working remotely.
No Favoritism
You may find yourself having favorite team members, but you can’t afford to show it as a manager. While you might have a valid reason to prefer some team members over others based on their contributions, punctuality, or manner, refraining from doing so in front of your team members can foster excellent teamwork. No one wants to work for a manager who is always attending to their favorites and fails to acknowledge the achievements of others.
Your favorites may take advantage of your willingness to help them and count on you to support their decisions, such as assuming an unofficial position of authority above others when you are away. Although it could seem like a duty to you, your coworkers will surely see it as pretentious behavior, disturbing everybody’s peace of mind.
Regardless of someone’s skill level, position, or experience, treat them all equally. Because you must be a moral leader to do your job, all team members will feel at ease talking to you about any subject.
Friendly Manager
As a manager, your job doesn’t end with giving instructions, project planning, tracking the work status, etc. If you manage your team, seeing it as a responsibility rather than power, you will become an ideal manager for your team. You must maintain your moral integrity since effective team management is complicated. Talk to your team and solicit their input once a month.
Advising people to use their leaves to relax is among the best approaches for increasing communication. You can also offer some suitable locations or inquire why they are not using their leaves.
It is acceptable to assist them to benefit their private lives up until and unless it is legitimate.
Never keep track of their breaks; when they work hard, allow them to take a few more minutes. It would be best if you also refrain from micromanaging them because this will seriously undermine the team’s spirit.
Assure your team that you are accessible for any discussion. Don’t let your team’s hesitation to communicate with you damage your professional relationship, so take the initiative and break the ice. Be an example for them, and they should learn from you and strive to be as good as you.
Conclusion
The unpleasant truth is that you are the only one genuinely committed to seeing your company succeed as a business owner. Your employees will work for you every month in exchange for a salary, but they are free to leave at any time and work for one of your competitors. As a result, you need a reliable team that contributes to their expertise and supports your goals. It can be established by building a great working relationship with the team. You may effectively manage your teams using the aforementioned tips for increasing communication.
Author: Asloob Alam is a Senior B2B Sales & Digital Marketing Specialist at Troop Messenger, establishing, developing, and maintaining relationships with prospective clients. He also enjoys researching and writing about how a company can optimize its work processes through technology, to ensure the best possible customer satisfaction, while saving time and money.
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