Effective Team Communication: Using the Monday Work OS.
Let’s face it: in today’s world, communication is difficult.
Things are misunderstood easily; people read between the lines and sometimes, our sense of judgment is clouded by emotions.
If we were in an ideal world, team communication would probably be smooth, effective, and respectful.
But when humans are involved, it doesn’t always work that way — and with more people working remotely than ever before, communicating effectively can be challenging.
However, in this article, we will clearly define effective team communication and why it is important for your business or organization or even for you as an individual or team leader, as well as offer suggestions for overcoming common team communication challenges in the workplace.
What exactly is effective team communication, and why is it important?
Communication is the process of transferring an idea or concept from your head to information that others can easily understand.
We need communication to work effectively together because we aren’t telepathic.
There are two components to effective communication: content (what you say) and process (how you say it).
In a professional setting, it is expected that the content should be relevant, complete, and clear. while the process should be equitable, fluent, and timely.
What are the 5 types of team communication?
1. Verbal communication: A process whereby 2 or more people communicate physically, on a phone call, or in a digital level via a video conference.
2. Nonverbal communication: Also known as interpersonal communication, this has to do with everything we don’t say with our words.
3. Listening: This has to do with giving your attention to what another individual says.
4. Written communication: This is the lifeblood of modern enterprises and its varied forms which include:
• Emails and social messaging
• Reports
• Company policy documents
• Press releases
• Social media posts
• Contracts
• Memos
• Advertisements and sales pages
• Customer interactions
• Marketing campaigns
5. Visual communication: The world in we live is visual. And we’ve become accustomed to communicating through pictures, photos, memes, infographics, and videos as a result of social media.
The Monday team management software has dashboard views to assist you in visualizing data in a way that makes much better sense, and because we are aware of the fact that information is simpler to understand when presented in a visual format.
How does communication affect team performance?
People like to add value, therefore they are more likely to be engaged if a team functions well.
And you may ask what fosters effective teamwork? It is simply empowered team members effectively communicating and working together to get the jobs done hassle-free.
According to a Gallup report, higher levels of employee engagement result in fewer unfavorable outcomes and more favorable outcomes, which boosts your organization’s success.
The advantages of these employee engagements, according to Gallup, include:
81% decrease in absenteeism
Decreased employee turnover
18% increase in sales
23% increase in profit
66% increase in employee well-being
8 common team communication challenges (and how to fix them)
What then stands in the way of your team’s ability to communicate effectively, and how can you assist them in overcoming those obstacles?
Let’s look at some of the most typical team communication problems and potential fixes.
#1. lack of effective leadership
Being a team leader, it might be challenging to accept the possibility that you are contributing to the issue.
However, it is a basic fact that managers set the tone for communication among their entire staff.
If your team members are reluctant to speak up, there isn’t a culture of trust, and it is your duty as a leader to foster one.
Solutions:
Examine your own communication style honestly, then seek out strategies for fostering a climate of free dialogue among your team members.
Think about implementing an open-door policy that invites coworkers to come to you with their issues.
You might even want to ask your team to participate in an anonymous survey that will offer insightful feedback for enhancing your communication and leadership abilities.
#2. Roles and responsibilities that are unclear
Be ready for a lot of crossed wires, perplexing email chains, duplicate work, and lost time if your team members don’t know where their role stops and their colleague’s own begins.
Solutions:
The tasks and responsibilities of each team member must be clear to the manager.
By describing duties in detail and making the material available to your colleagues, you may eliminate any confusion that may exist.
Hold regular progress meetings to update your team on the status of their work and address any concerns they may have.
#3. Remote work
As the image below demonstrates, the COVID-19 epidemic compelled most companies to adopt remote work sooner than they had anticipated.
Since there is no face-to-face interaction and it is difficult to discern nonverbal clues, virtual communication has its own set of difficulties.
People either don’t communicate enough or too much when working remotely, which makes communication unproductive.
Solutions:
If you’re a leader in your company, put a high priority on organizing in-person activities that will allow your employees to get to know one another and promote more frank and open communication.
You might also want to think about investing money on a software that makes teamwork and communication seamless.
#4. Different communication methods
Communication styles vary according to personalities.
Extroverts frequently speak their thoughts aloud and like participating in group activities like brainstorming sessions.
Conversely, introverts may favor working alone and take longer to comprehend and dwell on information.
Unfortunately, introverts frequently get passed over in favor of their chattier colleagues because it’s typically a case of the squeaky wheel getting the oil.
Any firm that suffers from this is losing out because introverts frequently provide unique perspectives and beneficial ideas.
Solution:
Consider having your team participate in communication training and creating internal communication guidelines that are available to all current and new employees.
#6. Providing and receiving criticism.
Receiving and giving feedback can be awkward.
The individual receiving critique could become defensive, while the person offering it might find it difficult to make their point without coming off as hostile.
As a result, the feedback process will not be able to achieve its goals of successful assimilation.
Solutions:
Create a 360-degree feedback system that enables team members to give and receive anonymous feedback to you as their manager and to one another.
Give them instructions on how to write criticism that is respectful and constructive.
How to choose a team communication software.
Of course, choosing the best, and most effective communication software is one of the finest methods to promote improved communication among team members.
The following four features are the most important to consider when selecting a team communication and collaboration tool;
1. Instant messaging, comments and chat:
The Monday Work OS facilitates team communication via instant messaging and comments that allow you to tag your team members effortlessly. It also enables you to integrate your favorite communication tools, such as an email or slack, helping to centralize your communications in ONE SPACE.
2. File Sharing:
With a file-sharing software like the Monday Work OS, every member of your team has access to all the documents they need to perform their job and collaborate with each other in real time.
3. Workflow management: Managing team workflows makes a huge difference in seamlessly communication. With the Monday Work OS, roles, tasks and deadlines are clearly defined and managed including communication. An example of a team workflow on the Monday Work OS;
4. Customizable tools:
The Monday Work OS helps with creating team collaborating tools and apps fit for any business or organizational need and with its fully customizable building blocks that include dashboards, widgets and integrations.
Team communication doesn’t have to be difficult with a better software solution.
With the right approach and software, such as the Monday Work OS, your team communication architecture is guaranteed of running smoothly, effectively and leading to a boost in team productivity.
Jump right in today and see how easy team communication can be.
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