9 Tips for Effective Communication in the Workplace

Does the below scenario sound familiar?

 

Your team is mere days out from releasing the project you’ve all been agonizing over for weeks. There have been emails and messages, presentations, a legal review, and an afternoon of confusing discussions.

 

Above all, there have been meetings—so many meetings. There was the quick daily kind where people said what they were working on. Then there was a punishingly long session involving dozens of slides about user metrics; by the end of that one you were quietly daydreaming about taking up kickboxing lessons.

 

Still, all those rambling discussions and endless email threads somehow failed to avert a looming fiasco. Now no one seems to be on the same page, and your deadline is ticking relentlessly closer. What you have here is a humiliating lesson about communication in the workplace—or lack thereof.

 

How effectively you and your colleagues communicate says a lot about how well work is going more generally. It’s hard to get things done efficiently when no one has a clear plan. And this can be especially difficult when English isn’t your first language and where culture norms may differ to those from your home country. Luckily, that’s why we’re here with a few tips to improve your communication skills in the workplace.

 

Select the right tool for the job

 

There are many ways to connect—and misconnect. Choose wisely.

 

Emails may be the standard form of communication, but they’re also easily buried. Video conferences add a humanizing touch if someone’s working remotely, but they can be unproductive. Basic phone calls are sometimes underrated, but you’ll often want to schedule in advance, or at least start by asking whoever you’re calling if it’s an okay time to talk.

 

The advantage of real-time conversation is how much it can clarify in a short amount of time while saving both parties a huge amount of typing back and forth. Be reasonable when lining up meetings with multiple parties; this can easily become a chore, so you have to expect a worthwhile return to justify the effort.

 

Face to face meetings - communication in the workplace
Real-time conversations can eliminate email confusion, make it a quick chat 

 

Make your meetings count

 

As with work, which Parkinson’s Law states will expand to fill as much time as is allotted for it, so too with meetings. Set a time limit and an agenda. Budget how long you’ll spend on each item before moving on. The idea here is to respect your participants’ time, so communicate transparently about this; doing so will help you avoid seeming blunt as you move things along.

 

For one-on-ones, take it offline

 

Potential problems arise in any discussion—and some might be worth following up on, at least among certain participants. For instance, if your designer realizes a new template that’s getting the go-ahead will soon require updated text, then she and her trusty copywriter can discuss those details after the meeting—not while the web development team looks on and tries not to yawn. A handy turn of phrase for situations like this: “Let’s take it offline.”

 

However it is important to keep yourself up-to-date with some industry jargon so you’re not completely confused when you’re meeting with different teams.

 

It’s okay to repeat yourself sometimes

 

If something matters, it’s usually worth repeating.

 

Sometimes when dealing with complex subjects or ongoing processes, it’s helpful to remind people of the basics. You don’t have to dwell on it. Consider this quick example:

 

“All right, this conference call is to update key players on prototyping. We’re trying to manufacture a better dog bed by fall, ahead of holiday sales, so we have a lot of work to do in terms of optimizing drool resistance. On the call last week, Susan informed us the supplier anticipates an eight-week turnaround. That means we need to settle on dimensions this month. Let’s talk about next steps. Who’s first?”

 

This quick recap falls well short of a lecture while still accomplishing a lot:

  • Establishes the focus of the call, so speakers know to keep things on track and take other subjects offline as they pop up
  • Also gives a sense of what to expect to anyone who hasn’t tuned in before
  • Reprises Susan’s important takeaway from the last call in case anyone missed it
  • Lays out a key priority and upcoming deadline

 

That last part will bear repeating later, but in the meantime, if your preamble has saved someone an awkward question or confused email, it’s done its job. And if you’re worried about spending too much time retracing your footsteps, just ask if you should skip ahead; your colleagues might surprise you by saying no.

 

Urgently needed - communication in the workplace
It's worth repeating things that are important or recapping to give a meeting or project context

 


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Try stating key points a few different ways

 

It can also help to devise new ways to spell out key ideas—using different words or possibly different channels of communication, like a follow-up email that mentions the main takeaways from a meeting and who’s in charge of key action items going forward.

 

Alex Blumberg, the radio journalist-turned-entrepreneur who founded Gimlet Media, told Tape that despite his many years as a professional communicator, it took awhile to recognize the significance of helping coworkers understand:

 

“When people say the same thing, it has different resonance, comes from a different place or means different things to different people… A big part of my job now is saying the same thing a bunch of different ways just so people heard it the way you said it.”

 

In other words, if something is important enough to bear repeating, it’s likely also worth rephrasing.

 

Run it back

 

Especially with technical matters, restating key ideas can also help you make sure you properly understand something new. If there’s time, try asking the person explaining it if you can restate their point in your own words, and ask if you’re getting it right. If there’s an important detail you missed, this is a good opportunity to get help grasping it.

 

Mind your body language

 

Intentionally or not, your body language communicates a lot. For instance, do you appear closed off with your arms folded, or actively engaged, say by talking with your hands? It’s worth considering, in case you send the wrong message with your posture or facial expression.

 

Maybe as a colleague concludes a presentation and looks around the room, you seem to glower—not because the presentation was bad, but because you’re lost in thought. In moments like this, it’s sometimes worthwhile to explain yourself: “That wasn’t bad at all, I just need a moment to process. Let’s circle back in a moment.”

 

body language - communication in the workplace
Be mindful what your body language says to those around you 

 

Summarize the highlights

 

It’s not unheard of for people to meet for an hour, raise a series of worthwhile questions, ponder potential answers, resolve nothing, and then realize it’s time to leave for another meeting. This is where follow-up notes can help ensure whatever headway you might’ve been making doesn’t just vanish out the door.

 

If you can avoid sending lengthy emails to long strings of recipients, it’s probably for the better. But if you must, you might also include a tl;dr (“too long; didn’t read”) that briefly encapsulates the highlights. Put it at the top so that guy in logistics who only seems to skim will at least lay eyes on the essentials.

 

Be kind

 

A quick word of thanks or a well-timed smile can go a long way toward helping your officemates feel appreciated and understood.

 

If that makes people want to talk with you more, well, isn’t that what better workplace communication is all about?

 

This week's post was brought to you by our friends at Grammarly. Grammarly's AI- powered products help people communicate more effectively, aiding millions of users who rely on their services to make their messages, documents and social media posts mistake-free and effective.

 

 

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