The cost of bad communication is enormous – $420,000 annually at small businesses of about 100 employees. And at bigger organizations, it can cost millions of dollars.
But many people think they are good communicators because of how complicated it can be to express yourself through words and written text.
Communication is nuanced and a huge challenge in the workplace is that hearing someone doesn’t necessarily mean you received the message or internalized it.
The best leaders are those who know their communication style and have taken time to hone those skills to better serve their team and organization. Here’s a look at the essential elements of effective communication organization-wide.
Elements of Effective Communication in the Workplace
Success starts with effective communication. No matter how smart you are, you’ll struggle to share ideas, highlight crucial accomplishments and demonstrate what you bring to your employer.
Communication isn’t just present in manager and employee relationships. You’ll need communication skills for customer interactions, board meetings, collaborations with other businesses, merger and acquisition discussions, and so much more. That’s what makes communication such a crucial element of any successful leader.
Here’s a look at the skills an effective communicator possesses.
1. Practice, Practice, Practice the Art of Active Listening
The first step to being a good communicator is the ability to listen. Listening ensures you don’t just hear what a person is saying, but that you understand their message. By closing out all distractions and focusing solely on the speaker, you’ll engage in active listening.
2. Avoid Interrupting – But Keep Your Questions Alive
You’ll also need to learn how to quickly write down your mental list of questions to avoid interrupting the speaker to further hone your listening skills. Let them know what you are doing and they will not only understand, but be impressed that you actually want to listen. This skill can keep your questions alive, while helping you truly focus on the conversation. Interruptions can change the course of a conversation and derail the speaker from their message. Plus, depending on what you say, you could drive the speaker to avoid sharing thoughts in the future. Instead, you want to be sure you’ve heard their thoughts and ideas entirely before adding your input.
3. Speak with Clarity
Jargon and advanced vocabulary don’t make you look smarter. What makes you appear skilled and wise is the ability to adjust your message to meet the needs of your audience. Your goal should always be clarity. If the listener looks confused, take time to clarify what you were saying to ensure everyone is on the same page. Ask for feedback to ensure that what they heard was what you meant to say.
4. Take Time to Craft Your Message
The clearer your message is in your head, the easier it will be for you to communicate it to others. Before speaking or drafting a message, pause and take a moment to think through what you want to say. This process can also help you avoid jargon and complicated speech because the message is organized and clear. Ask yourself questions like: What kind of person (high energy, contemplative, analytical, action oriented) am I speaking to and how best can I communicate with them?
5. Match the Communication Medium and Message
Some messages are best suited for in-person. Others can be handled over video conferencing where you can still see facial expressions. And even simpler messages can be handled over the phone. Quick clarifications or questions are ideal for email or instant messaging. Some communication can even be handled via social media. The important thing is that before you deliver the message, you consider the best medium for the message to give your receiver the best chance of understanding and internalizing that message.
6. Read the Room/Situation
Since so much communication is digital today, it’s challenging to read the room. But even in the written word, you can read the situation. Look for emojis, exclamation points and context. These will all give you better insights into the tone of the speaker or writer. And when you’re unsure of the tone, ask for clarity about what they’re saying. Don’t launch into an explanation that perhaps isn’t warranted simply because you didn’t understand the context,
7. Tell the Truth
Honest and truthful communication builds trust. But communication with even small lies can break down that trust quickly and lead to reputation deterioration. Even when you don’t know the answer to something, don’t just make up an answer. Instead, let the listener know you’ll find the answer and get back to them. Speculation can look like a mistruth if done repeatedly.
8. Stay Calm
Getting upset or allowing your communication to become negative when it doesn’t have to can make your message more challenging to hear and interpret. While emotions certainly play a role in communication, it’s best to take time to process those emotions before communicating for best success. Stepping out of a meeting to collect yourself or waiting until after lunch to respond to an email can exercise incredible wisdom and maturity.
9. Remember the Golden Rule
Leaders can get caught up in the complexities of the job along with the things they know. But you can’t shoulder the business on your own. You need your staff just like they need you. Speak to others within your company as you would like to be spoken to no matter their role. This practice will work wonders for making your communication clear and effective as well as building relationships.
10. Check Your Tone and Emotion
Leaders often have to deliver challenging messages. Whether it’s news of layoffs or changes in work place, you should approach the message with the right tone and emotion. This can be hard because you want to look firm in your decisions and resolute. But you can’t ignore the fact that your team will likely feel as you feel at that moment and showing at least a little of that emotion can go a long way. Be real without using emotion to manipulate your listener or reader.
Building Effective Communication Skills
As a leader, these elements of effective communication likely come as no surprise to you. But like anything, it’s all about how we implement these skills on a daily basis. Getting feedback, growing your management and leadership skills will help you go from good to great.
Your Management Coach Stephen Eric Wright is a skilled communicator and experienced leader who offers leadership coaching along with training to help managers master this essential skill. Schedule a call now to learn more about how you and your team can take their skills to the next level with practical real life training & coaching from someone who has walked in their shoes.
The amazing thing about learning communication skills is that they don’t just improve your work life. With the ability to listen and express yourself effectively, you’ll improve all interpersonal relationships, which makes your bonds with friends and family stronger.
