Workplace Communication-Tips to Stay Connected
Workplace Communication-Tips to Stay Connected Whether they’re held everyday or regular, conferences are a terrific means to discover out what’s going on around the workplace and also find out regarding what occasions or tasks are to come.
This additionally is a great time to speak regarding what objectives require to be established for the workplace.
One such innovationis the Immediate Response Information System, additionally called IRIS.
Established by TechRadium Inc., IRIS is a cutting-edge sharp system that sends out regular, concern as well as emergency situation messages to developing owners, developing supervisors and also, if needed, emergency situation -responders.
These voice as well as message informs are sent out via a range of regularly utilized digital gadgets: residence as well as mobile phone, e-mail accounts, pagers, PDAs as well as facsimile machine.
IRIS is a budget-friendly interactionSince it calls for no system, software program or equipment installment for arrangement, system.
* Use your paying attention abilities. Take note to make sure that you do not lose out on essential info that you might require to go over or understand with a colleague or customer in the future.
* Spread the word. Do not conceal behind emails due to the fact that the message can be misunderstood when you have essential or delicate issues to talk about. To see to it you obtain your factor throughout, meet each celebration that’s entailed or call them by phone.
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Whether they’re held day-to-day or once a week, conferences are an excellent method to locate out what’s going on around the workplace as well as find out concerning what occasions or jobs are to come.
This likewise is a great time to speak concerning what objectives require to be established for the workplace.
Created by TechRadium Inc., IRIS is a cutting-edge sharp system that sends out regular, concern and also emergency situation messages to developing owners, developing supervisors as well as, if needed, emergency situation -responders.
These voice as well as message informs are sent out via a selection of regularly utilized digital tools: house and also cell phones, e-mail accounts, pagers, PDAs and also fax devices.
When you have vital or delicate issues to talk about, do not conceal behind emails since the message can be misunderstood.
Communication in the Workplace – New Tips and Strategies
Communication in the workplace is very important but with so many people involved, all with different personalities and varying levels of understanding – communication can be difficult and misunderstandings can arise.
Workplaces can be hectic places where messages are flying left, right and centre: that’s prime territory for miscommunication. Try to avoid that by following a few simple guidelines.
How you need to communicate in the workplace varies a little according to your job responsibilities.
Those differ sometimes in whether you have responsibility for and authority over certain other staff members. It’s important to realize that you only have authority in so far as you can get people to follow you.
How successfully you get people to do that comes down to communication too!
Communication is vital in any workplace and here are some of the essential ingredients for good communication in the workplace:
1. Give clear instructions
You save time in the long run by taking time to give even simple instructions clearly and make sure they are understood. Leave a pause for people to ask questions
– or invite them to do so. It’s much better if a task is understood from the start rather than you having to go back and do work again because it was done wrongly the first time.
2. Be constructive, not critical
Supervisors and bosses can all too often become critical.
Often people who have tried to organize their work or solve workplace problems themselves have been severely criticized for the solution they have implemented.
Is it any wonder then why they don’t bother trying to sort anything out again? That’s not an efficient way to organize a workplace.
The main trouble with this approach arises because the natural response of someone who is being criticized is to switch off and not listen. Nobody learns anything or moves on in that way.
The other side of the coin is that when employees are empowered to make some decisions themselves, managers get more time to get on with their own job and really progress a
business. For this to work, people need to feel safe to explore alternatives, give suggestions and ask questions.
Managers also need to make sure they ask the right questions to inspire their employees and to help them to think through solutions.
3. Let people know the ‘bigger picture’
What are you all aiming for? People will work harder and smarter if they know how the work they’re doing contributes to an end product.
4. Communicate messages effectively
Workplaces often have many people working there. Messages need to be passed on efficiently through whichever medium – face-face, telephone, e-mail etc.
If you have a message to pass on, make sure you do it accurately, to the right person – and in a timely manner. If the message is long – type it rather than relying on your memory.
5. Give people the freedom to organize at least some their work
If people are clear about what needs to be done, they can understand and set a list of priorities for their own work. This keeps people motivated to work hard, but also, it makes
them work more efficiently as they know what has to be done and can switch between tasks accordingly. There’s no need for them to stop work having hit a snag when they can get on with another project.
6. Make expectations clear
End a conversation with something like,
“So – am I right in thinking that you think the project will be completed by the end of today?”
Then, if people anticipate a problem, they have the opportunity to tell you if there’s going to be a problem with that. That gives you the chance – and responsibility – to help them.
7. Treat people like individuals
Everyone has different needs and different personalities. Different people will all react well to slightly different approaches.
It’s good if you can find out what approaches work well for your colleagues and employees; that way, you will get the most out of each interaction and everyone will be happier.
It all comes down to communication skills – or lack of them. It’s completely your responsibility for making yourself understood
– no matter how many times you have to try
– and it’s the other person’s responsibility to let you know every time they don’t understand something: communication in the workplace relies upon it.
Great Communication Skills
Having good communication skills in the workplace is important. This article will provide tips to take into account a rapidly changing workplace.
Details of the message:
It is important that you first check the authencity of the message before you start to communicate with your office colleagues.
Has the message been transmitted from a reliable source or was it something that you just read in the newspapers?
Good communication skills will enable you to be more credible and reliable – but it is as good as the contents of your message.
Don’t change the message:
Some people are fond of providing their personal input about a message. Problems will arise if the receiver unknowingly accepts the message with the input as the “total package”. This may cause confusion and misunderstanding in the workplace.
Get to the point:
A similar point is to keep the message short. It good to provide bulleted headings and paragraphing if the message is long and detailed.
Information or Feedback?:
As many workplaces are fast-paced and activity driven, it is important that you communicate with the receiver if you are sending information or getting feedback.
This may not be very apparent if your message is phrased in an open-ended way. An example of this problem is when you say ” There will be a meeting on Saturday.” Is it compulsory for the receiver to attend?
Sensitive to the environment:
If you have an important message for the receiver who happens to be making a speech in front of VIPs, how will you communicate?
Will you interrupt him in mid-speech by shouting the message across the conference room? This method is definitely not recommended.
Instead, you should write out the message and hand it to him without distracting the audience. Most poor communicators are not sensitive to the working environment and place high importance in transmitting the message.
Sensitive to the receiver:
We all have our “off days”. Thus it is important to be sensitive to the message receiver, especially if he is your immediate superior and the message is negative.
Use your own intuition to time the message so that he will be in a better frame of mind to evaluate the problem. However, this takes a lot of practice and patience. But your superior will be appreciative of your efforts.
Effective use of email:
It is good practice to send an email if you are unable to contact the receiver. The advantages are obvious; you are able to send an email attachment with your message and there
is proof that you have done your part (unless his email account is over-quota!). You can also broadcast the message to a few people so that his colleagues are able to handle the problem is he is away.
Effective use of SMS:
As most people have mobile phones, you should consider using SMS to help in your communication. A suggestion is to send an SMS to inform him that you have just sent an email that requires attention.
However, please note that SMS communication may have a time lag, so use it with caution.
Techniques for effective communication
Anna is Gina’s senior producer for a lifestyle show; lately Anna seems to be distracted, the quality of her work has declined and Gina wants to know what the problem is.
In the workplace, people devote around 80% of their time in an interpersonal situation. Studies have shown that most of the problems that arise in the workplace are rooted in poor communications.
As Anna’s superior, Gina can make use of the following techniques for effective communication to discover what caused the decline in Anna’s performance:
Identify the issue and focus on obtaining information relevant to the issue.
“Anna, during the past two weeks I noticed that we’ve fallen behind schedule. What can we do to keep up with our deadlines?”
Phrase your questions to be open-ended; open-ended questions invite discussion while leading questions convey an expected answer.
“I was wondering because we have been working together for 10 years and this is the first time we experienced any delay. Why the change?”
Effective communication includes nonverbal language; to encourage dialogue, make eye contact and maintain an open expression.
Other nonverbal forms of communication that encourages dialogue include nodding your head as if in agreement or in acknowledgement of what the other is saying;
smiling, refrain from crossing your arms or legs, and lean a little toward the person you are talking to.
Paraphrase the information you have received to reassure the person that not only did you listen to her but you understand her and her position as well.
“So your position is that these out of town trips can be very unpredictable and you think that all of the producers should sit down and discuss the possibility of modifying the show’s format?”
Recognize that you don’t know all the answers to all questions. If you don’t know the answer just say that you don’t know. You don’t have to make other people feel and think that you know everything.
Listen to other people’s concerns. People need to be heard just like you do. More importantly, take the initiative to share in other people’s feelings.
Always remember that what others may not mean the way we think they mean it. Our values, beliefs and judgments may have altered the meaning of what someone has said.
Always allow for the possibility that our impression of what someone has said may not be true.
Focus on common interests rather than differences. This will help you direct your energy to promoting the common interest and making everyone happier, and will also help you avoid frustration.
Be aware when you impinge on someone’s space. Personal space is very important for most people. When you impinge on their space try to ask them respectfully.
Tell them the reason you have to impinge on their space.
Think positive.
Always see the glass as half full rather than half empty. Doing so will help you reduce stress. Also it can keep you motivated and pleasant when you deal with other people.
In effective communication, after the issues have been clarified and all the necessary information have been uncovered;
it is important to summarize the key points, agree on the next best course of action and express your appreciation for the other person’s effort and cooperation.
The 7 Rules of Upward Communication
Bit by bit, your workplace is changing.
As the old industries disappear, and along with them, control styles of management, so new structures and new systems are taking their place.
Where once the manager sat atop the pyramid, and issued commands to the team below, today there is every chance that it is the team that sits astride the pyramid and issues information to the manager below.
Today, it is teams that have the information and knowledge. It is the teams that know how the business’s customers feel. And teams that can manage by themselves.
All this means a re-think on the traditional nature of communication.
Where once the predominant flow of communication was from the top downwards, in a one-way flow, in today’s information age, communication is multi-directional and purposeful. It goes anywhere and goes where it is needed.
That can be up or down, horizontally across, and all ways diagonally.
And one of the key skills of this kind of communication is Upward Reporting.
This skill requires: knowing how to get and keep the ear of your boss; reporting in a timely fashion; knowing what he or she needs to hear; being short and accurate; balancing problems with solutions; and being willing to be questioned and cross-examined.
To illustrate Upward Reporting, here is a set of rules posted by a manager to a self-managing team on how she wants to be kept informed.
“When you report up the way, please remember…
Rule 1: Keep me regularly informed; I hate nasty surprises.
Rule 2: Don’t deadline me. I know it’s been done to you, but please give me some time to think.
Rule 3: Only bring matters that you really can’t resolve. Anything else will just go back to you.
Rule 4: Don’t leave out the bad points because you want to look good: tell me it all.
Rule 5: Give me at least three options for every problem. I prefer to choose and it’s quicker.
Rule 6: Do your homework before you come; I don’t want you to have to go away and look something up.
Rule 7: Remember that this is how you’ll want your staff to report to you when you’re in my position!”
Communication is, and always has been, the glue that binds an organization together.
Just because the predominant direction of that communication may have shifted from top-down to bottom-up, doesn’t mean it is any less important.
Learn how to properly report up and you’ll master the new regime.
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