By 
The main cause of workplace conflict is poor communication. Whether it’s with superiors or peers, people often struggle with the unique challenges of communicating at work. That’s because the rules of workplace communication are different than how you communicate with friends or family.
Instead, you must take a professional approach to effective workplace communication. To ensure that all your conversations are clear and respectful at work, here are five simple tips to help you communicate better at work.
- Active Listening
Active listening is a communication technique that involves being fully engaged in what someone is saying. It’s more than intaking information; you consider, digest, and analyze what someone else is saying in real-time. You can start practicing active listening by repeating your conversation partner’s words back to them.
In doing so, you will confirm their statement by recreating it in their own words. They will be glad you understand and feel heard—all of which will make them feel more comfortable communicating with you.
- Focus on Two-Way Communication
When you’re communicating at work, it’s easy to get caught up in what you have to say. Open communication sometimes means you need to pause and allow other inputs.
For example, a lot of offices dwell on one-way communication, like mass e-mail bulletins. This makes workers feel unable to provide their inputs and diminishes effective communication efforts. Instead, try to give updates in person and hold a forum for feedback or have an open door policy.
- Monitor Your Body Language
Body language is an often forgotten, yet vital element of effective communication. Sometimes when we talk, our words say one thing while our bodies say another.
For example, when you’re giving an employee constructive feedback while erratically waving your arms, they might read it as harsh criticism. But, if you avoid eye contact and stand still when speaking to someone, they might take your body language as a signal of disinterest.
That’s why it’s important to monitor your body language as you speak. Avoid overusing large gestures and try nodding, smiling, and maintaining eye contact when speaking to others.
- Be Honest
Honesty is one of the most important techniques for communicating at work that you can use to build a strong inter-office bond. Without it, team members will stop trusting each other and start criticizing their peers in private.
You can keep honesty alive in your office by using direct communication. Don’t leave things up for interpretation, don’t stretch the truth, and don’t lie by omission. Your employees will follow your lead and start communicating in similar ways.
- Be Proactive
Good communication is timely and productive. Don’t approach a peer, employee, or supervisor with a list of problems. Approach difficult workplace issues with solutions instead.
For example, if you notice your office using too much paper, research and suggest digital alternatives to your superiors. They will be impressed with your creative problem-solving and appreciate your quality communication.
Communicating at Work With Tools
Most of these tips work best when you can conduct workplace communication in person. But, what happens when you can’t hold a meeting or you’re in a remote workplace?
These situations make it easy to get distracted by other tasks and miss details. To maximize efficiency, consider using some or all these tools:
- Web conferencing (Zoom, Skype)
- Video conferencing
- Group texting apps (Slack)
- Two-way radios
These tools let you communicate with your coworkers while also allowing you to focus on what you’re doing. If you want to learn more about two-way radios, view these Motorola mobile radios!
Get More Business Tips Today!
Communicating at work is one of many ways to increase productivity around the office. If you want to learn more about business productivity, check out the Fathom News blog.
Our business blog focuses on all the tips you need to succeed as a budding entrepreneur. Check out our other posts today to see what we can do for you!
Comments