In-office vs remote communication: 2 ways to deal with the differences There are a lot of great benefits to working as part of an in-office team.
Strchlis Team Communication Free Subscribe ShopTry for Free Subscribe Shop Try for Free Subscribe Shop How to improve team communication: 10 tips and techniques MindManager Blog February 16, 2021 Reading Time: 6 minutes By: Leanne Armstrong In todays competitive, often distance-based business environment, effective team communication is more important than ever.Strchlis Team Communication How To Improve TeamAs such, knowing how to improve team communication is a critical skills for managers and executives at all levels.
Fortunately, boning up on communication strategies and following techniques aimed at achieving the best possible results can raise the level of your team interactions from so-so to exceptional Given the fact that two heads (or more) are typically better than one, teamwork inherently leads to better brainstorming and problem-solving outcomes. According to Deloitte: Employees who collaborate work 15 faster 60 are more innovative 73 do better work Clearly, there are a lot of great reasons why businesses of all sizes should be working to improve cooperation among their team members. Working well together, however, is only possible when interdependent teams communicate in ways that ensure everyone is heard and understood. In this article, well help answer the question of how to improve team communication by exploring a handful of best practices for in-office and remote work environments. Why bother learning how to improve team communication Ask yourself this: How many employees wouldnt want to be part of an invested workplace that promotes effective team building and remote collaboration Furthermore, how many businesses are indifferent to achieving a better bottom line If your answer was probably none, youll be happy to know that improving team communication and positively impacting your organizations performance is largely a matter of: Making more effort to share leadership responsibilities Finding ways to enable and include every member of your team Creating more empowered group networks Before you and your team can get better at pulling together, however, youll need to figure out what your communication goals look like. It probably goes without saying, for example, that youll want to work toward building and improving mutual trust by keeping words courteous, messaging coherent, and responses efficient. But on a broader scope, you may also be looking to: Avoid time wastage and team burnout by setting expectations around messaging dos and donts Take advantage of impactful face-to-face time and visual thinking tools as much as possible Channel communications in a way that suits people with different schedules, personalities, and work styles With that in mind, lets take a look at some of the ways you can streamline interactions among in-office, mixed-space, and fully virtual team members. Establishing and following a set of communication guidelines is an essential first step in learning how to improve team communication. First, youll need to clarify when and how coworkers should be communicating. Then, youll need to emphasize the importance of respecting one anothers time. Will your team predominantly use email or a messaging platform like Slack for daily communications How often should in-person or virtual meetings be scheduled What event or situation warrants a phone call or in-office visit The method and timing of your communications can ultimately influence work performance so laying down solid rules is important. Its worth noting, for example, that even though the Harvard Business Review suggests face-to-face requests are 34 times more successful than those made by email, defaulting regularly to physical or virtual face time can prove disruptive. Take a close look at what your team needs to accomplish individually and together in terms of daily, weekly, or monthly objectives. Then have everyone pitch in on designing and documenting a set of guidelines that best meets those needs. Here are a few team communication best practices you may want to include in your plan. Youll actually achieve better cohesion as a team if you communicate based on an organized, visual, step-by-step system that determines: What specific actions need to be taken to meet daily or project objectives Who is responsible for accomplishing each task When each action needs to be completed To avoid distracting coworkers, hindering momentum, and missing deadlines, stop and think twice before reaching out about work topics that are irrelevant to the demands of the day. Do you have team members spread across different regions If so, youll need to give extra consideration to the timing of interactions. Start by making sure everyone is aware of: Which employees are in which time zones What their scheduled work hours are When work shift overlaps occur You may also have to agree to fewer meetings, more messaged communications, and a greater respect for individual DND (do not disturb) hours outside of emergencies. No matter your communication goals, youll almost certainly need to keep shared files, documents, and projects organized and up to date. Strchlis Team Communication Software That CanThe easiest way to accomplish that is with software that can serve as a centralized dashboard, like SharePoint or MindManager for example. Well talk more about team communication tools in a future article. But in the meantime, you should be prepared to choose and use tools in a way that improves rather than simply increases workflow interactions.
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