How to Be Better at Work Communication?
A good work communication is one of the most important aspects of our office life that needs to be constant. Absence or lack of it can cause missed connections, personal disputes, and the collapse of a project. That is why project managers do their best to communicate with their team members as well as encouraging them to do the same.
Usually, the project requires some members to be assigned to different locations. And some organizations extend their reach to collaborate with their headquarters abroad, so you get to coordinate with different team members in another continent. Having an effective work communication should be secured and maintained.
There are many communication channels to choose from and every organization in the globe is taking advantage of them to make sure members have a good work communication. But you have to be very careful when using them. There are times that you might end up using it on something else with negative results to boot. Below are the most common communication channels, its advantages, and when not to use it.
- Emails and IM’s (instant messengers):
They are fast and very idea in a working environment where everyone is running around constantly fulfilling their tasks. Work communication is still possible, even you don’t see face to face, but issues with an internet connection can be a pain; not to mention that emails accumulate a lot of data, so you have to delete some files to give space to the others. As for instant messengers, there is a matter of compatibility; the other person might have the latest version of the application, but yours is still an older version. Sending files can be a pain as well because of this compatibility issue.
Disadvantages: Emailing when you are angry or not in the mood. Some people just cannot contain their temper and end up sending messages that are riddled in hate—thus, a disruption of work communication. Also, refrain from sending personal messages using your work email. Don’t be that employee who mistakenly sent a juicy gossip about that gym instructor to his or her boss.
- Phones:
It’s as fast as emails and IMs, but they also have their own issues—no signal, low reception, delayed text messages. On the other hand, you can still maintain a good work communication using a phone. It has a voicemail feature so you can leave messages to your boss or team members to be tackled later. Plus, tasks happen in real time and if you need to clarify something to a member, you can just simply give him or her a ring.
Disadvantages: Using your phone as a venue for counseling sessions with an employee who is having a hard time coping with his or her job. Look, we know that one of the keys to effective work communication is to hear the sides of your employees—but there is the right time for such thing. Phone calls in the office are meant for updates and work-related things.
- Tete a Tete:
One of the most common work communication channel: an open forum for discussing matters face to face. Issues and other concerns are easier to determine and solve as well as there are opportunities for more project discussions. Meetings face to face mean that can immediately settle disputes and agreements and can even continue more discussions if it’s needed. This will give members or managers a chance to persuade, connect, and convince sponsors and stakeholders about the project matter at hand.
Disadvantages: It can time-consuming since the person you want to see and talk to is in another area so they have to travel from their location all the way to your meeting place. There’s also the issue of tardiness that some people involved in the meeting come late. Work communication is destroyed because of these disadvantages, which in turn lead to disagreements.
Understand that these tools, however sharing different disadvantages, are still used to establish a better work communication. Don’t let these advantages scare you—they are after all showcased in this article so you can avoid them altogether. Utilizing these communication channels will help you achieve more than their functions mentioned above—you will get to acquire their other potential that can be a huge boost for work communication.
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