3 Ways to Transform Communication in Your Office

Photo by rawpixel.com from Pexels

In business, communication is everything. If you want the best ideas, the most motivated workforce, and plans that come together, you need quality communication. But sometimes this can be a challenge, particularly in large offices with multiple teams. 

So how can you improve communication in your office and transform the way your teams work? 

Have the right kinds of meetings 

Sometimes meetings actually hinder quality communication. Too many meetings, or ones that don’t include everyone’s voices, can create tension in the team or overburden people. If you want to increase productivity and streamline communication, rethink meetings. Go for quality over quantity and try to keep sessions short and sweet. A great way to do this is by adopting standing meetings if possible. The casual nature means people are more likely to contribute creative ideas. Plus, standing up means it’s in nobody’s interests to drag the meeting out. 

Another great way to keep meetings purposeful is to circulate meeting minutes before. This ensures that meetings have an agenda and keeps the conversation on track. It’s also an ideal way to make sure only those directly involved in the conference have to attend. For everyone else, attendance can be optional. This helps to ensure workloads aren’t getting too affected by meetings and should help to keep the conversation on track. 

Adopt an open door policy 

Communication isn’t all about carefully planned meetings and agendas. In a busy office, it’s so important to have casual opportunities for a meaningful conversation. Having lunchtimes that sync up across the team can really help your workforce to develop open channels of communication. As a manager, establishing an open door policy will help the team know they can speak to you about everything and anything. This can help staff feel comfortable enough to open up. Whether there’s an issue with their workload, or they need to take leave to care for a sick loved one, having a chance to freely talk to the manager can improve office dynamics overall. Just make sure it’s a real open door policy in action, not only in words. 

If you currently have annual one to one meetings with staff, could you do it more frequently? It’s a great way of getting to know team members and can help to solve problems before they erupt into something more substantial. Plus, it’s an excellent opportunity to praise your staff and keep morale up. Remember, meetings don’t always have to be serious. 

Invest in the right tools

Having the right technology can make communication a breeze. But, you need to find the tools that are right for your workplace. You can use unified communication platforms like Microsoft Teams to facilitate video calls and text-based chats across your team. Just remember, tech should only ever be used to make communication easier. Don’t overcomplicate things by spreading information over multiple platforms. This will lead to your team wasting a lot of time and feeling overburdened. Try using a project management tool to help track what has been done so far, which can eliminate the need for constant verbal updates. But sometimes a quick confirmation is precisely what’s needed. It’s worth investing in good business phone systems that make chats within the team simple and straightforward.