“The art of communication is the language of leadership.” – James Humes (Author and former presidential speechwriter)
Working environments require effective team communication. It directly affects the efficiency of each employee, the cohesiveness of the team, and the general performance of the business. Work gets repeated, errors happen, employee onboarding drags on, and team productivity declines when information is not shared and team members are not on the same page. Improving team communication is a goal that is taking on more significance as more teams move to remote work.
Effective teamwork occurs when individuals spend as little time as feasible actively communicating and as much time as possible working on important tasks.
Signs Of Ineffective Team Communication
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Repetitive queries
When information is passed down orally without being adequately documented, the same questions are asked repeatedly. Every repetitive query causes a production halt, and they quickly accumulate.
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Regular team meetings
The vast majority of meetings are a waste of time, even though they may be justified in some circumstances. Such gatherings are only necessary because knowledge barriers prohibit information from naturally being exchanged.
Photo source: Edmond Dantès
Tips For Boosting Team Communication
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Establish a knowledge foundation
One of the first stages to attaining effective team communication is developing a culture of knowledge sharing and a knowledge management strategy. This does not include holding additional meetings so that your staff can exchange information. It entails ensuring that all knowledge is recorded in a single, central, well-organized, and searchable location—a company intranet or internal knowledge base. It is the simplest way to assist your staff in structured knowledge sharing while avoiding repetitive queries and interruptions.
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Remotely communicate
Sending a message without anticipating a prompt response is known as remote communication. Email and several other tools for document collaboration are typical instances of remote communication methods. Comparing it to meetings and instant messaging, it could appear like a slower method of communication, but since the quality is usually higher, it ends up taking less time overall.
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As a final resort, hold meetings
Meetings are not always a waste of time, and they could even be the most expedient way to resolve a resolution in some circumstances. Nevertheless, if you do hold a meeting, do not skip the preparation and be considerate of your team’s time. Make sure to have an agenda for the meeting and do not forget to take minutes.
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Maintain a small team
Although a larger team may accomplish more, in actuality, the more members you add, the more difficult it is to keep everyone on the same page and maintain team cohesion. Working in a big group makes it impossible to maintain efficient team communication.