How to Effectively Communicate at Work

Whether you are already in a management position, or would like to be, communication skills are critical to your effectiveness at work and therefore the success of your career. And just being able to get an idea across to your team doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing it in the most effective manner. There are several factors you need to take into consideration to ensure you don’t just get your idea across at work, but that you are informative and engaging in your professional communication. If you are currently a manager, these communication tools can help you be more effective at your job. And if you are hoping to advance to a management position, do what you can now to practice these ideas with your co-workers.

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Body language. You may think you are communicating clearly and directly to your employees, but if your body language doesn’t match what you say, you could be sending mixed signals. Telling someone they did a great job on a project while reading a report or writing an email may make you come across as insincere. Your employee may even feel you are belittling them. Make sure you use proper eye contact, aren’t distracted and that your posture denotes openness when speaking with employees or teammates. Your employees understand you are busy, but when they see you really take the time to speak with them, genuinely commend them or help them when they don’t understand something, it will deepen their respect for you.

Different communication styles. It’s important to recognize everyone communicates differently. Some expressions may mean different things to various employees depending on their age, gender and personality type. To know how to most effectively communicate with your employees on a personal level takes time, but it’s worth it. One employee may be great at accepting instructions over the phone or email, while another may need to speak to you face to face. Being aware of these differences will go a long way in helping your employees be more effective at their job.

Try to gauge how your employees communicate with each other. Different teams tend to communicate in different ways. Tailoring your instructions in this way will help ensure that you understand each other and will avoid communication mishaps. We worked with a client recently who is a marketing executive. His style of brainstorming advertising ideas (writing them down and thinking about them, then presenting them in a presentation) differs greatly from his boss (who likes to brainstorm off the cuff on a whiteboard) and it causes constant friction, even impacting his performance reviews. He has made a commitment to change this dynamic by talking to his boss, explaining his style and finding out how they can meet in the middle in how they identify new ideas together.

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Be a good listener. Being an effective communicator includes listening to others. You want to be approachable, so make sure that when your employees approach you that you are actually listening. And if they catch you at a bad time, say something like, “I would really like to talk with you about this, but I have to take care of another matter right now. Could you drop by my office in an hour?” This lets them know that what they have to say is important to you, while not distracting you from your current task. Just remember that if you tell them they can come by your office, you should be available at the time you agree on.

Know when to communicate. Determine when the best time is to communicate with your employees. Sometimes things are time-sensitive and need to be addressed immediately, but if that isn’t the case, decide when your employees would be most likely to accept what you have to say. For example, if you need to assign a team a new task, would it be best to let them know during their lunch break or after they settle back into their office? Would a team meeting be best at 2 p.m. before the afternoon tiredness hits, or would a mid-morning meeting be a better fit?

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Know what method to use. Some messages are appropriate for a text, others an email and other issues need to be spoken face to face. This seems obvious, but sometimes for a busy manager it could seem easier to just send a text while heading into a meeting. And sometimes that can be an effective way to alert a team to a certain issue. But that isn’t always the case. Keep in mind that when things are sent as a written message the meaning of what you write can be distorted. So if what you need to say is longer than a few sentences, don’t send a text. Next, determine if it can be easily understood via an email. And finally, if it’s a more personal issue, such as having to let someone go, delivering sensitive news or giving someone a promotion, it should always be face to face.