In a previous article, we looked at why communication is key in the workplace. Communication really is the foundation of most successful outcomes, working relationships and good leadership within organizations. In the previous article, we looked at how you could run a health check on your communication and see what’s going well and what areas might need a little investment. Below are some ways you can improve your communication and make adaptations to get more out of it. No one size fits all so play with any ideas that appeal to you, find out what works and what doesn’t and adapt them to suit your own development needs.
Use the most helpful communication format - Not every communication needs to be over email, nor does it need to be face to face. Utilize the vast array of communication mediums available and pick the most helpful. Ask yourself what best fits the job. There are also lots of ways you can enhance how you write emails, how you hold meetings, how you talk via instant chat, how you present etc but that’s another article in itself!
Provide a constant flow of the correct information - Think about what you’re communicating before you do. Do you need to provide lots of detail or is a sweeping summary good enough right now? Do you need to be more assertive and hold more of a formal or structured conversation or is a flexible and open dialogue going to better facilitate the aims of what you’re trying to communicate? Again think about what’s most helpful and if you do not sure go ahead and ask your employees or workmates if it’s appropriate to do so. You’ll likely save a lot of time in the long run by doing this and possibly facilitate greater engagement too
Use nonverbal communication - Apologies if this is an obvious one but it really is important. Your body language, tone of voice, eye contact, how you sit, etc all communicate something. Unfortunately, we’re always communicating even when we think we’re not. Don’t get too hung up on this but do pay some attention to it and figure out when it’s helpful for you to match what you’re thinking with your body language and when it’s helpful to mismatch it. For example, sometimes it’s helpful and supportive to see engaged in a colleague's presentation even when we’re bored so we would mismatch what we’re communicating then. When we’re enthusiastic and excited about a project we might want to match our body language to this excitement by sitting forward, maintaining eye contact and talking more expressively with our hands.
Get good at spotting your ego and silence it when appropriate - A lot of the time our egos can make us want to talk more. It can drive a want to be heard, for people to notice and recognize our skills/intelligence/achievement etc. It can also lead to us domineering communication and taking up more space than we would when our ego wasn’t in the driving seat. This isn’t always a bad thing but at times you may need to put your whole self back in control. Know why you’re communicating something and what you’re trying to get out of it, also know when you’re listening and when you’re not. Getting to know our ego can take time and we may not always like that part of ourselves. Nevertheless, our ego is a part of us and a very helpful part to know as it can drive so much of our behavior without us realizing.
Ask open questions when appropriate - Again, this is probably an obvious one but open questions are key to facilitating dialogue. Open questions allow for the talker to respond in a longer form way. Questions starting with how, what, can you tell me about and when are usually open.
Show that you’re listening - Use summarizing and paraphrasing to communicate to the talker that you’ve heard them. You can also check in with the talker to ensure that you’ve heard and understood them correctly. This communicates that you are listening and engaged. It can also help you process information and check for anything you’ve missed. People being heard is a powerful thing and when you communicate that you are likely to strengthen relationships and build trust and understanding. All essential things in business.
Play with pace - Communication can be slow, fast, high energy, low energy among many other things. You can always use pace to facilitate communication. If you’re in a high energy meeting match the pace to join in the flow and build up the energy even more. Or you can slow things right down if you really want to be heard by mismatching the pace. Use pauses when you speak and slow your talking speed to hold people’s attention. Again, thinking about pace and playing with it can be a really effective tool in enhancing communication.
