Improved communication in the workplace has benefits that you can enjoy across your business. It is vital for building trust and engagement in the workplace, and for boosting morale and productivity with team members. Without effective communication, management becomes disorganized, teams are underutilized, and the overall business performance will be poor.

To avoid this, there are ways that team leaders and managers can encourage an honest and efficient work environment. From planning regular one-to-one meetings to considering a cloud platform for increasing transparency – here are eight ways in which you can maximise your teams’ potential through improved communication.

1. Encourage a communication-friendly culture

As a manager, establishing an open working environment where people are free to express themselves is a great start. Managers should be setting the precedent for an enjoyable culture where clear communication is at the heart of how the business operates to encourage the rest of the employees to act in the same way too. This can be done by implementing an open-door policy, asking employees for feedback, or simply regularly wishing each other ‘good morning’ at the start of the day. By showing employees that you promote this kind of positive behaviour, they will feel more comfortable at work and be more willing to contribute.

2. Talk with your employees

Your employees see the way your business works from multiple angles and in a way that a manager isn’t able to on their own. Taking on the opinions of multiple colleagues makes the working environment undoubtedly richer, as when you listen, you can learn so much. If you constantly talk at your employees, rather than encouraging responses and input on their part, you will never improve as a manager, and employees will never get their time to shine. You don’t want to encourage an environment where employees feel as if their opinions aren’t valuable, and so, make sure you know when to stop talking and let another team member take their turn.

3. Embrace remote collaborative working options

As the world adopts a hybrid style of working both in person and remotely, the tools that we use in business need to be able to facilitate a communication-first style of working more than ever. Therefore the demand for collaboration platforms is growing as well as the need for them to be of the highest quality too. Collaboration focused Clinked’s cloud portal helps facilitate strong employee communications wherever your colleagues are based in the world. From our easy to use group chat functions, @mention messaging to keep colleagues up to date with developments on files, and mobile app access with push notifications for staying up to date on the go, collaboration and communication are at the heart of our design.

4. Make time for face-to-face communication

Despite the increase of remote working and though the advances in technology makes it easy to communicate through email, instant messengers and collaboration tools, there is still great value in face-to-face interactions with colleagues. In person communication can allow you to build lasting relationships on a professional and personal level, which can often lead to better working outcomes as a result.

5. Plan regular one-to-ones

Taking the time to dedicate to your employees on an individual level can reap many benefits.  By regularly doing this, you get the chance to show employees that you value the effort they are putting into the company and that you want to offer advice on how they can maximise their potential. This can also lead to a more relaxed working environment, where employees feel empowered to suggest changes that can greatly benefit the business.

6. Be open to receiving feedback

Providing clear channels of communication should encourage your teammates to take advantage of this positive atmosphere and make suggestions to you. You should facilitate giving your employees the chance to say what they believe is working well in the company and what they think could be made better. One way of achieving this could be with regular check-ins, which can be incorporated into your one-to-one meetings. If employees do have any issues, remind them that you are open to taking time to discuss them in confidence and will try to provide resolutions discreetly.

7. Utilize a cloud platform for transparent communication

If you provide employees with a platform in which internal information can be made easily available, you’ll be encouraging openness within the workplace – which will lead to increased productivity. In fact, many cloud platforms are developed solely for improving communication, with features such as activity streams, discussions forums and live chats – just make sure you do your research to find the right solution. Clinked communication focused portal can help to improve your communication issues in the workplace by providing a reliable system to assist you in your work.

8. Avoid over-communicating

You, your employees and your business can benefit from clear boundaries around communication and knowing when to switch off. Constant phone calls, out-of-hours emails and over-run meetings are just some of the ways in which communication can actually be counterproductive, no matter how good the intention. By understanding the boundaries of workplace communication, you can promote and ensure a healthy work-life balance for your employees, making everyone happier as a result.

We hope these eight clear tips have shown you the ways to achieve improved communication in the workplace. Getting the best possible output from your team and having happier employees overall is the goal for many companies, so don’t let communication issues in the workplace hold you back from a great working environment.

Clinked can help to improve your communication with internal employees and external clients by offering secure and customized file sharing and collaboration solutions. Get started today with a free 10-day trial.