Managers all want exchanges within the company to be more constructive. Exchanges that will be productive and during which one does not seek to debate to kill the other person but to discuss to solve a problem. This implies learning to argue rationally, to accept angry questions, to listen and finally to have a more pronounced degree of frankness. What are the benefits of efficient internal communication on the company atmosphere? What are the challenges that managers have to face in order to optimize exchanges between employees?
What are the benefits of efficient communication in business?
Efficient internal communication considerably improves the working atmosphere and teamwork. It is a pillar of the company’s success. Good communication helps to develop trust between team members as well as a sense of loyalty. Its beneficial contributions are numerous, we can mention mainly but not limited to
- More transparency and trust
- A better work environment
- Easier adherence to the company’s values
- More collaboration between teams
- An inclusive and welcoming environment
Distinguish each type of information
To boost your internal communication in your company, you must remember that not all information circulating in your company is good to communicate. You must classify information according to certain criteria to avoid creating problematic situations. We can list as classification criteria, :
- The importance of information
- Its degree of urgency
- Its level of confidentiality
- Its target (all teams, a specific department or only the management)
- Its distribution (exclusively internal or also external)
Successful information typing will allow you to transmit the right information to the right audience. This limits the leakage of confidential data and each employee receives the information he or she needs to be effective on a daily basis.
Encourage effective communication
It is essential that managers encourage team members to share their ideas and communicate better with each other to work collaboratively. Indeed, it is necessary to encourage exchanges between collaborators to make the team more productive, develop its capacity to innovate and save the company precious time. In order to achieve these objectives, it will be necessary to combine several communication methods.
You will need to organize as many meetings as you need, making sure to keep them short and focused. These meetings will be more productive and will avoid wasting time. They should also be the ideal time for all employees to express themselves and be heard.
Creating a framework of trust
A work environment that is conducive to communication means creating the right environment. If you don’t have an open space, you can leave your office door open. This encourages employees to come to you at any time to discuss the progress of projects or ask for advice. When the environment is friendly, employees find it easier to express themselves and to dare to put forward the hidden skills they have. Ideally, each employee should feel part of the team, their views should be taken into account and a margin of error should be tolerated.
Use the right communication tools
Today, there is a wide range of applications and software that facilitate communication and promote interaction within your team. These new technologies boost the productivity of your employees. It is preferable to use these unique platforms that bring together all the discussion modes that your internal resources need.
Some companies still tend to rely solely on email. A study has shown that an employee receives an average of 58 e-mails per day. Worse, 60% of e-mails are not read. It is therefore necessary to switch to open communication. A synchronous or asynchronous exchange mode, depending on the nature and urgency of each discussion, will be useful to your teams.
The advantage of the new communication tools is that they save you a lot of unnecessary meetings because you have easy access to information and you can follow the progress of your projects at a glance. Moreover, if you have increasingly mobile teams, your internal communication tools must be compatible with smartphones and tablets to adapt to your company’s specificities.
Create team cohesion
There is no teamwork without a team spirit. Creating a team spirit is therefore essential to achieve the desired objectives. Why not give your employees the opportunity to get to know each other better? When team members get along well, they are more likely to communicate better automatically and will enjoy working together.
It is up to the manager to create opportunities to bring his team together in a friendly and informal atmosphere. A bit of relaxation and good humor from time to time to get back to work on the right foot is sometimes what employees need. Think about creating a team building especially after an intense work period. This will strengthen the cohesion of your work team. Team building activities are social and friendly meetings far from the work environment and restrictions that allow employees to relax together. Organize such activities to break the ice. They will be useful to create a strong sense of belonging that will benefit the whole company.
Also learn to celebrate your victories, because celebrating your team’s successes or the achievement of a particularly difficult goal is beneficial for team cohesion. It shows the whole team that you recognize their involvement and hard work, which will increase their commitment.