Building a Culture of Communication: Three Easy Habits for Greater Success
How well do you prioritize and practice good communication in your workplace culture? While many organizations believe effective communication is one of their strong suits, research shows that workers today feel that poor communication is an ongoing, daily challenge. This issue most notably affects productivity and leads to poor job satisfaction.
It’s a problem, too, because when communication breaks down, it creates a culture of distrust, in which it’s nearly impossible to keep morale and motivation up. Interestingly, while we might think that all the improvements in digital communication enhance our ability to communicate better, today’s workers also say that these technologies create their fair share of stress. For instance, a lot of energy and time go into crafting messages and emails with the right tone of voice. And yet, we all need and rely on these forms of communication—they’re part of life and work, not going away anytime soon.
Recognizing that, it’s important to realize the value of some key communication habits that often go overlooked in some cultures. No question about it, what such practices have in common is that they create connection, transparency, goal alignment and greater accountability, leading to improved productivity. Here they are:
- Manage by walking around. If you really want to know what’s going on with your team and wish to build better communication, make it a habit to get out of your office, stroll around the workplace, and get the information you need. Ask questions like, “How are you doing with your goals?” “What’s getting in the way?” “How can we support you?” Proactively seeking out your people’s feedback on what’s happening, what improvements need to be made, and how those can be done supports effective communication. Got remote workers? No problem. You can still “get out of the office” and do a pulse check by picking up the phone or popping in via Zoom for quick chats and check-ins.
- Hold daily huddles. At the start or end of each day, consider holding a short team meeting with your frontline staff to discuss results from the previous day’s goals and discuss goals for the current day. The daily connection nurtures communication, builds connection among team members, and creates a razor-sharp focus on collective and individual performance. Bringing everyone together in this way builds understanding around what’s vital and fosters motivation to perform in greater alignment with goals.
- Implement flash reporting. We all know information is powerful, especially when it comes to developing effective ways to monitor and report your team’s performance. One solid way to do this is with daily flash reporting—a method for communicating the results of key performance indicators relative to your goals. Many of MAP’s clients develop such accountability processes and systems, sharing what’s vital through a daily “dashboard” instead of waiting for month-end or quarterly reports. Why the regular frequency? Flash reporting effectively communicates what’s going on, reinforces what’s working, and allows for timely corrective action. This simple tool sharpens everyone’s focus, supports performance relative to goals, and contributes to that vital culture of communication.
Ready to build focus around a stronger workplace culture of communication? Contact MAP today!
