It is common knowledge that effective corporate communication is the lifeline of any business. Communicating with your employees, subordinates and colleagues in a way they can relate to is the best way to increase their productivity. Good attendance, morale, performance, etc can all be traced back to simple effective communication. More often than not, the existing communication strategies are far from adequate. Here are some simple tips to start you off to effective corporate communication:
1. Create the culture of communication between the employer and the employees. Meet with your employees from time to time. Be it one on one or be it in a group. Develop an environment where they are comfortable sharing with you. Lunches are a good place to start. People are very complimented that a boss two levels up wants to talk with them.
2. Listen to your employees and subordinates. Communication is a two way street. Listen to their issues and ideas.
3. Evaluate your own abilities. By merely being aware, you can play to your strengths and mitigate weaknesses. Management, people normally remember only three to five points from any communication. So keep it short and sharp. This is especially true if your message is being delivered by e-mail or memo.
4. Learn to read into unspoken signals. Learn to read your subordinates’ body language to see their comfort level in their working environment.
5. Obtaining feedback is important. Establish a mechanism for input, such as a suggestion box or a hotline. Ensure anonymity if necessary. Make sure to use the feedback effectively and apply changes. Also, set up a mechanism to reward feedback.
6. When in doubt, directly talk to the person instead of phone or email.