When a boss or colleague says something you’re unsure about, repeat it back to them in your own words to make sure you’re on the same page or root out any misunderstandings on the spot. To navigate uncertainty, it’s best to bounce the message back. Sometimes it’s because one party is unclear and sometimes it’s because one person is apprehensive about asking for clarity. Misunderstandings at work are usually the byproduct of communication breakdowns. Identify the most important thing they need to know first and start there. To improve your communication at work, use your awareness of your audience to simplify and tailor your message. One of the biggest communication blunders is not understanding your audience.įor instance, if you’re an engineer talking to other engineers, you obviously won’t need to explain basic concepts, but if you’re chatting with a customer service rep about a bug, you also don’t need to get knee-deep in jargon and specifics. Use short video clips and screenshots to explain complex tasks and problems-and the occasional meme to make everyone laugh. Visuals like images and video not only enhance and speed comprehension, they can also add levity and humor to workplace communication. You can (and probably should) still share the instructions as a reference, but demonstrating it carries the added bonus of ensuring people with different learning styles benefit from a visual presentation.
COMMUNICATE WHAT YOU MEAN FREE DOWNLOAD HOW TO
The next time you’re considering sending out a list of detailed instructions, consider showing your team how to complete the task by doing it in front of them first. If a picture’s worth a thousand words, a demo may be worth a million. Most importantly, embrace upward feedback. To encourage participation from everyone, ask open-ended questions often, and make things like taking polls during team meetings a regular practice. And it makes employees feel valued in the process. If you can make a habit of actively seeking the opinions of others, the law of reciprocity suggests they’ll be more likely to do the same.įor leaders especially, opening the floor to your team-instead of dominating the discussion-can transform the nature of communication within the workplace. Invite other perspectivesĮffective communication is ego-free. Are you fully present during every interaction-or do you allow other priorities to get in the way of connecting with people in real-time?Īpproaching every conversation with openness and your undivided attention enhances the quality of workplace communication. To communicate more effectively at work, your first action item is checking your attitude. The same goes for paying more attention to your laptop or phone than the conversation at hand.
If your body language is poor, or you avoid eye contact, your coworkers may assume you’re not very interested in speaking to them. Words are only a piece of the communication puzzle. Here are 7 ways to communicate more effectively at work: Start with your attitude We may know communication is important, but employees at all levels make ongoing mistakes that make their work lives harder. Workplace communication skills can either help your career, or they can stop it dead in its tracks.įor leaders, effective communication can motivate teams, while poor communication can push good employees out the door.įor independent contributors, communication skills can earn opportunities that get them closer to their goals-or they can impede promotions and limit career growth.
0 kommentar(er)
