The disruption of Covid-19 has accelerated the trend of face-to-face communication taking a back seat to emails, phone calls, online meetings and other ‘virtual’ forms of communication.
So, it has never been more important to make sure that all forms of communication taking place in your organisation are happening effectively. Developing communication skills could be the key to cutting through the uncertainty and chaos of the current workplace and workflow disruptions.
Effective communication comes naturally to some, but can be more difficult for others. Hence, organisations need to invest in training workplace learning time to impart the required skills and boost effective communication at an organisational level. The positive results of this approach can be many, varied and impactful, as outlined below:
Efficiency & Productivity
Ever felt like you spoke to a colleague, but didn’t get your point across? Maybe you were “packaging” your message in the wrong way, or maybe the recipient wasn’t listening properly – either way, it almost certainly wasted someone’s time and led to repeated effort somewhere along the line, even if that was just a re-run of the same conversation the next day.
More messages getting “unpacked” correctly at the first time of asking, in more areas of your organisation, means greater efficiency and less time wasted.
Problem Resolving
No workplace in the world is devoid of conflict – opinions will always differ and characters will always clash.
Opening up more effective lines of communication won’t settle debates with a winner and loser, or decide who’s right and who’s wrong, but it does allow for open, honest discussions that take everybody’s viewpoints into account.
Collaboration & Innovation
Communication is a two-way street: as much about being heard at the other end as it is about communicating at your end. Effective communication means that employees know that their thoughts and voices have an audience, so will offer them more readily. This increased sharing of ideas will, in turn, boost innovative and creative thinking on an organisational level.
Similarly, when communication is two-way and effective, people will collaborate on a more comprehensive level. Rather than asking closed questions of each other, requiring a yes or no answer, discussions will take on more nuance and detail, creating a much better environment for collaborative working that pulls in the best skills and talents of all involved.
Virtual learning support in the form of workshops like “Communicating with Impact” and “Effective Communication when Working from Home” will help staff at all levels of your organisation improve their communication, reaching them wherever they work and without abstracting them for too long.
Eliesha also offers a category of award-winning micro-learning videos – pearls of wisdom® – devoted to Effective Communication. In organisations just like yours, all over the world, our pearls of wisdom® act as an invaluable, just-in-time resource for managers and leaders to get short, sharp bursts of knowledge exactly when they need them.
Pearls like ‘Asking Good Questions’, ‘Difficult Conversations’ and ‘Levels of Listening’ provide intuitive, practical guidance on improved communication.
To contact Eliesha about communication skills workshops, communication-focused e-learning, or any other development requirements, visit our Talk to Us page to fill out an enquiry form or send us an email.
