4 Tips on How to Communicate Effectively at Work

workforce February 06, 2021

Mary Kate Morrow

Writer

4 Ways for Effective Workplace Communication

Effective communication is essential for both the productivity and success of a business. Through both one way and two way conversations, team members get to know themselves, their co workers, and their customers better.

When team members communicate effectively a business and its individual employees experiences many benefits. Some noteworthy benefits of effective communication in the workplace include-

Improved problem solving skills
Higher employee engagement levels
Strengthened company culture
More positive work environment

Additional benefits of good communication range from an improved work life balance for individual team members to increased team building opportunities for the entire staff. Although workplace communication is obviously important, it does come with its own set of challenges.

For example, if someone lacks communication skills they may not understand how to correctly maintain eye contact when having a conversation. Something as simple as unintentionally inappropriate eye contact can have long term consequences on employee relationships.

Many people want to become an effective communicator in their workplace. Unfortunately, many people are also unsure how to begin working on their communication skills or how specific communication tools are best utilized.

Thankfully, there are many best practice tips and advice available for people to better understand communication tools and sharpen their own communication skills. 4 ways to communicate effectively in the workplace include-

1. Written Communication

Written communication skills are necessary for a variety of communication channels ranging from social media to email correspondences. Additional written communication examples include press releases, employee handbooks, and memos.

In order to be an effective communicator using written communications words must be used intentionally. Both concise and precise language is essential to clearly convey the written message to a reader.

Short paragraphs and sentences are preferable to long, rambling text. Not only do shorter, organized text blocks keep the reader focused but they also avoid a message becoming unnecessarily convoluted.

For written material that has subheadings and titles, an author may choose to highlight, bold, and underline text appropriately. Upon the conclusion of a written piece, a brief summary should be included that reiterates the most important topics.

When emailing, a writer should maintain a professional tone and indicate the main topic within the subject line. For a more traditional written communication form, letters can be used.

Many people will take notice of a mailed advertisement as opposed to an emailed one. As a letter requires more energy and effort, a potential client may be flattered that a business was willing to take time to write and mail it.

Social media is also a great tool to communicate effectively with existing and potential clients. Additionally, co workers can easily instant message or interact with one another's posts on social media platforms.

2. Verbal Communication

Verbal communication is highly valuable for helping employees to effectively work with one another. While written communication methods certainly have their purpose, verbal communication offers its own unique benefits.

For example, a one on one meeting is an excellent forum for good communication between co workers to occur. With the ability to maintain eye contact and ask questions in real time two way in person verbal communication is incredibly valuable.

Group conversations are another form of verbal communications that are commonly utilized for long term team building purposes. Group meetings are a great space for brainstorming, feedback, and problem solving efforts.

Another benefit of group meetings is that they allow many people to receive information at the same time.

3. Nonverbal Communication

Nonverbal communication commonly occurs between co workers without them even realizing it. For example, nonverbal cues ranging from eye contact to the tone of voice used by a speaker can send the other party direct messages.

Team members are more likely to better understand each other with the presence of facial expressions and body language visual cues. In fact, many people take more from the nonverbal cues of a conversation than the actual words expressed.

As such, it is important for team members to be as aware of nonverbal communication cues as possible and utilize them for their benefit. Positive body language includes maintaining appropriate eye contact and keeping a straight posture.

Facial expressions are nonverbal cues that can be used to convey a wide range of emotions. Positive facial expressions include smiling to recognize good news shared within a conversation.

4. Visual Communication

Visual communication is an excellent tool for helping team members better understand verbal communication. While many people are verbal learners, others digest information better visually.

Visual communication methods include pie charts, histograms, powerpoints, and presentations. Utilizing the right images, videos, and visual tools can improve communication and make sure a conversation is as impactful as possible.

When using visuals as communication tools it is important that they are easy to understand. All visuals should be clear and only used when they add value to the conversation.

Conclusion

Communicating effectively in the workplace is crucial for both bottom line profitability and long term business success.
The 4 communication types are verbal, nonverbal, visual, and written communications.