Encourage One-to-One Communication

One-to-one communication is important to develop a bond and understand your

teammates in a better way. When you talk to others on a personal level, you get to
know more about them. You can read their body language, know about the
communication methods that they are most comfortable with, know about the
visual cues that they use more, etc.

Promote Feedback During Communication

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Communication is a two-way process and information cannot be exchanged
effectively if the flow of information is unidirectional. From unidirectional what I
mean here is that the information is only flowing in a single direction. For instance,
you shared some information with your team and no one asked or discussed the
information with you.
Feedback plays a vital role in improving the overall effectiveness of
communication by enabling the flow of information in the backward direction also.
The most common example of feedback is the questions that you ask at the end
of a presentation. Feedback can be in the form of doubts, suggestions, or
thoughts that you will get after you communicate your message.

Be Ready to Involve Yourself in Difficult

Conversations
Sometimes, you may find yourself in a conversation with someone whose
thoughts, opinions, and feelings are completely different than yours. The two most
obvious choices that you have in such a circumstance is to either avoid the
conversation or get yourself involved in an argument.
What you need to do for tackling a difficult conversation is to stay relaxed and try
to understand what the other person wants to say before responding. Also, you
can practice how you respond when you get into tricky conversations that can
happen with your manager or your team members.

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 Jot Down All the Key Points of a Discussion
While communicating with your team, especially during a discussion or a
meeting, you witness the flow of a significant amount of information and ideas.
However, it’s difficult to retain all the useful information that is shared verbally with
one another. As a result, it is likely to lose most part of the conversation that may
come handy.
To ensure that discussion brings productive results and information does not get
lost, you need to note down every piece of information that seems valuable. This
way, you can secure many ideas that otherwise would have been lost.

Make use of Communication Tools

Today, several tools have emerged that make it easy for the team to communicate
and share their thoughts and ideas conveniently. You can use online team
collaboration tools for instant messaging, video conferencing, brainstorming,
note-taking, etc.

12 communication strategies to use at work

The following 12 communication strategies can help you overcome and prevent
communication challenges at work:

1. Be aware of your body language

Body language, facial expressions and other nonverbal cues can play a large role
in effective communication. Take note of your body language when
communicating and adjust if your body language is not supporting what you are
trying to communicate. Posture can be a form of body language so be sure you’re
sitting up straight to indicate respect and attentiveness during a conversation or a
meeting.

2. Maintain eye contact

Maintaining eye contact shows that you are paying attention to the other person
and are an active part of the conversation.

3. Request and provide feedback

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 Offering and asking for feedback shows that you care about what the other
person is saying as well as their opinions on the topic being discussed.

4. Use encouraging small verbal comments

When taking part in a conversation, use small verbal comments such as "uh-huh."
This can encourage the speaker to continue and lets them know that you are
listening.

5. Don't interrupt
Refrain from interrupting when another person is speaking to show respect and
that you are listening to what they are saying.

6. Focus on what the other person is saying

Paying attention is the key to effective communication. When another person is
speaking, give them all of your attention and acknowledge that you are hearing
their message.

7. Limit distractions
Communication is much more effective when there are little to no distractions.
When communicating, put away your mobile device, shut off your computer and
limit any other distractions that may prohibit you from being present during a
conversation.

Related: 4 Types of Communication (With Examples)

8. Participate in a public speaking class

Taking a speech class can help build confidence when speaking to others and
equip you with effective communication strategies.

9. Acknowledge what others are expressing

When having a conversation with someone, acknowledge what they are saying by
nodding, using facial expressions and participating in the conversation when
appropriate.

10. Consider your tone of voice

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 Your tone of voice can have a significant impact on how others interpret what
you’re saying. For example, if you are discussing a serious topic, your tone should
be confident and firm rather than playful or unsure.

11. Use appropriate grammar and spelling

Avoid using abbreviations, slang, jargon and other forms of language that may not
be understood by others. Spell out words and ensure proper spelling and
grammar.

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