Effective workplace communication can be the elixir for your ability and capacity to having a successful career. Being a good communicator involves a mix of time management skills, being a good listener, understanding your audience as well as being able to give and receive feedback.
What you communicate and how you go about it are very important to the feedback or results you will get. This is why teams must strive to be big on effective communication skills and strategy if they are to be successful.
Let us take a look at 3 effective communication hacks that would make what you say, how you say it and to whom it is said very efficient.
Read Body Language
A big part of effective workplace communication is your ability to read body languages. Emotional intelligence is your ability to be aware of your emotions and how to handle interpersonal relations.
If you wanted to communicate certain flaws to a colleague who is not in the best emotional state to receive your constructive criticisms, your ability to read their body language can inform you to choose another means or time to pass your message across without having it lost to ‘noise”.
Study and Know Your Crowd
Who is receiving the message you are passing? What medium is the most effective to them? Studying and knowing your crowd would make you a better workplace communicator.
For instance, a social media and content marketing specialist, Princewill Akuma had this to share on the importance of understanding the recipient of your message. “When collaborating on a project or task, my colleague, Lucky Ekanem (a graphics designer) usually responds to chat tools faster than his emails. I learnt this over a period of time and it has improved how we effectively collaborate and deliver projects on agreed timelines.”
Would email, stand up meetings or calls be more efficient to your recipient? Dedicate some time to understand what works and then, you can enjoy a more effective workplace communication.
Always K.I.S.S
Always ‘Keep It Simple and Short’ regardless of whether it is via mail or on a face-to-face approach. Communication is simple, except you decide to make things complicated. It can be fun and games watching Patrick Obahiagbon (a Nigerian politician and legal practitioner) go at it but no colleague of yours would want to be checking the dictionary now and then while listening to you or reading an email you have sent to them.
Improve your productivity and that of your co-workers by improving your communication skills. Cut to the chase and once again, remember to keep it simple and sweet to decipher.
Final Thoughts on Effective Workplace Communication
Reviewing what you intend to say or send out regardless of the medium is important to becoming effective at workplace communication.
You must remember that what you said may not always be what is understood and this is fine. It, however, gives you room to explain and level up.
Don’t get defensive. It might not be you the sender or the receiver but certain uncontrollable elements in the moments can make it impossible to receive the message as was sent.
Keep practising mindfulness, being aware and effective when it comes to communicating in the workplace as everything we communicate contributes to who we are and how we are perceived.
