7 Effective Strategies to Improve Workplace Communication

Are communication barriers impacting your workplace efficiency? Effective communication is crucial for any team's success. This article provides seven practical tips to help you overcome these barriers and create a more cohesive work environment.

Miscommunication and barriers to understanding in the workplace are a serious problem. Different personalities, backgrounds, communication styles, ambitions, and agendas get in the way of teammates operating in sync.

According to a survey from Forbes, ineffective communication impacted productivity for 49% of respondents. Poor communication also impacts trust, with 45% of employees pointing to miscommunication impacting their trust in their leadership and team. No one wants to work where people don't trust each other, which means these companies have higher turnover.

Conversely, good things happen when organizations prioritize effective communication and take measures to achieve it. Productivity increases by 30% after employees have better communication tools and training. And more informed employees are more likely to stay. Companies with effective team communication and collaboration have employee retention rates 4.5 times higher than others.

If you manage people, you must have all the tools you need to overcome the physical, emotional, and linguistic communication barriers between the organization and employees, yourself and your team, and between your employees themselves.

Here are seven ways to prevent or resolve communication issues in your workplace:

Tip #1: Insist on open, direct communication

It should come as no surprise that workplace cultures that promote effective communication reach this goal more readily than those that don’t. Make open, honest, and direct communication a part of your culture; train workers to listen actively and communicate their needs to teammates. Set an example and an expectation by having an open-door policy yourself. In other words, think of the communication barriers that currently exist in your workplace and tear them down.

Tip #2: Promote active listening

Active listening involves quietly receiving what the speaker is saying, comprehending, and acknowledging the information being shared. In a one-to-one scenario, it typically involves rephrasing the point(s) so that both parties agree the information has been effectively shared. This is one of the most important tips because miscommunication occurs often when the receiver thinks he or she understands the message but doesn’t, whether it’s the speaker's or receiver's fault.

Tip #3: Use effective communication channels

We’ve never had so many communication channels at our disposal, including face-to-face, video meetings, email, DM, and more. Consider whether your intended recipients will have access to the communication, whether the channel is likely to result in full attention, how long a message will take to disseminate, and what kind of response or feedback you are hoping to achieve. Consider that employees often feel overwhelmed by loaded email inboxes and that individuals prefer receiving certain types of messages via particular channels.

Tip #4: Create a team atmosphere

The idea of a meritocracy is wonderful, but it is taken too far in some organizations. Rigid hierarchies can cause communication breakdowns. When some employees have greater access to information, managers, and teammates than others, inequities in communication arise. An all-for-one and one-for-all mentality is ideal for promoting communication and teamwork.

Tip #5: Remove physical barriers

Is your workplace set up to optimize communication between teammates, or is it designed to provide quiet places to focus? While both goals are important, the key is to calibrate between them. Set up your workspaces in ways that don’t compromise effective communication when it is needed. You may not need an open-concept floor plan, but you may need to reduce some of the physical barriers that limit access, such as high cubicle walls.

For remote or hybrid employees, ensure they're included in meetings and chatter. Setting up a dedicated instant message channel for silly things can help ensure important work notifications aren't buried in cat pictures.

Tip #6: Limit communication to what is necessary

We’re living in an age of information overload. Often, employees feel overwhelmed by the deluge of information they’re getting through a variety of channels. Focus on what is necessary to communicate. Be clear and concise, especially in digital communications.

Tip #7: Avoid idiomatic phrases when there is a language barrier

If you have employees who speak English as a second language, instruct your team to avoid speaking in dialectical language or with colloquial expressions that don’t translate literally. Demonstrate how ineffective idiomatic phrases can be by using online translators to show how they muddle the message. If you find yourself using one of these phrases, make sure you explain what you mean.

Though communication breakdowns in the workplace are a serious problem, the solutions are often easy to implement. Try some of these suggestions yourself and share your stories with us on Facebook as the communication barriers in your workplace start to come down.

Effective communication is essential for a productive workplace. Implement these tips to overcome communication barriers and see a noticeable improvement in team collaboration and efficiency. Share your success stories with us as your workplace communication improves.