Communication In Leadership: How To Communicate With/To Your Employees

Communicating effectively with team members requires thoughtfulness, repetition and effort, but it is something which is absolutely essential for leaders who want their business to be successful.

It’s all too easy to underestimate how important communication in leadership can be to any organisation. Yet effective and strong communication with employees is vital, not only so that workers can understand the goals they are working towards but also so they can feel that their opinions are important and are taken on board. When leaders communicate effectively with their employees, productivity and profitability both increase. With this in mind, how can you work towards improving your own communication with your staff?

The Importance Of Openness

When leaders have a culture of open communication within the workplace, workers naturally feel more trusting of their managers. They also feel more valued. When managers delegate tasks without getting input from their team, it stands to reason that employees will never work to their best potential. Something as simple as telling workers why a task must be done rather than simply ordering them to do it fosters a sense of respect for management.

Approachability Is Key

We communicate non-verbally a surprising amount of the time, and so simply telling workers they can approach you at any time is pointless if you display body language which says something completely different. The best managers are aware of their attitude and what they project to their employees. Approachability is key – if you are always rushing or short with workers, it stands to reason that they won’t be comfortable to communicate with you. By maintaining a positive and friendly demeanour, managers can instill a sense of trust amongst their team.

Stay Concise And Clear

The best communicators will get straight to the point with their messages and ensure complete clarity at all times. Technical jargon and “Management Speak” must be banished from the workplace, whether speaking in person to a team member or sending them an email. Without clear language, the chances of miscommunication are high and so is the risk of alienating employees.

Ask For Feedback And Take It On Board

Team feedback is extremely helpful for any business. However, for employee feedback to show its full potential, it’s important for them to know they’re able to communicate openly and critique ideas freely. Fostering a culture where feedback is not only accepted but welcomed is essential, but equally vital is having an environment where workers know that their opinions are valued and taken on board. If necessary, an employee engagement survey could be the way to ensure team members are comfortable enough to give feedback.

Regular Employee Updates

It’s surprisingly common for business leaders to forget to keep their workers informed about company business. Yet, this leaves employees with a feeling that they don’t matter and are solely there to do their manager’s bidding. The result is a barrier being created between team members and their leaders.

Successful managers help their employees to feel connected with their organisation by keeping them up to date with goings on. Inform them about how projects are going, remember to thank them for the successes they have achieved and offer congratulations when it’s due. Even more importantly, be honest about failures rather than trying to place a positive spin on them.

Communicating effectively with employees needn’t be a challenge as long as managers are prepared to put essential changes in place. WIN Human Resource Solutions offer organisational behaviour seminars which help leaders to learn more effective communication skills which they can then put into practice in their workplace. As a result, productivity and profitability can increase substantially.