Whether it is at work or in our personal lives, we’ve all experienced with the frustration of dealing with someone who’s communication is poor, confusing, or even hostile. It can be a huge drain on our morale and ultimately makes time around that person unpleasant.
So, naturally it follows on that communication is paramount to managing a successful team and creating a positive attitude in the workplace. Good communication increases motivation, means you’re more likely to achieve goals, and is a large factor in staff happiness! On the flip side, poor communication is almost always at the root of staff frustration and can cause negative feeling in your team if it isn’t handled.
Thankfully, even if communication isn’t your strong point, there’s some simple ways you can work towards improving communication in your team. I am going to share with you two easy-to-implement ideas to help you step towards this goal!
Team Discussions
For just a few minutes at the beginning of a shift, gather your staff together and share your goals for the day (e.g. speed of service, financial targets, upselling targets). Communicate who’s taking on which responsibilities during the shift, and who the point of contact is if people need assistance. Be sure to also open the floor to your staff, and ask if anyone has questions, or other thoughts to add!
It is also worthwhile to have a further discussion to share whether the goals set in the team discussion were achieved – this could be as simple as a follow up message at the end of the shift! Make sure you compliment your staff for their hard work, share individual achievements and be constructive in areas which need improvement.
Encourage Feedback
Do you have a way for employees to comfortably share suggestions? Is it anonymous? I can say with absolute certainty that your employees will have opinions about how the business is run – and some of these will be negative. If your employees don’t feel able to share these with you then you may be missing out on some very valid ideas to improve your workplace! Open up a channel of communication that allows employees to feel heard, this can be as simple as a suggestion box in the staff room. Even if you can’t act on every suggestion, showing you care about the hassles your employees experience is a great step to take.
Even though they’re simple ideas, these two points are fantastic stepping stones to take towards better communication in your team. Communication is important for every relationship in our lives – work is no exception.
Good luck!
