“Team communication is the bridge to success”
Communication is a crucial thing between all members of the team and the foundation of team collaboration. It is the bridge for you and your team to understand each other, especially for anything work-related. The majority of workplaces would not run smoothly when there are misunderstandings and forced arguments that will hinder the working process itself. Team communication must play a role. We’ll give you some information on how to refine your team communication.
The Meaning of Team Communication and Its Importance
Before you get to know the meaning of team communication, let’s understand the definition of a “team”. A team is not only a group of people, but there’s something more to it. According to Baden Eunson in the book Communicating in the 21st Century, “A team is a collection of people who must work interdependently to achieve a common goal or output.” That’s why you find this term more in companies because they usually have a unified goal. By the definition from Baden Eunson, a clue has been given to you. To work interdependently means you and the people in your team are dependent on each other.
In order to have a healthy work environment and for the working process to run smoothly, you need communication with each other. Communication itself is broadly defined as an exchange of information and transmission of meaning. So, any kind of information exchange and interaction is what you can call a team communication. Therefore, you can’t take away team communication from a team. Otherwise, no work will be done smoothly as you wish. Most importantly, it is a necessity for you and other people in your team to be able to achieve the company’s goals.
Create Effective Communication
You already know that communication is important, but you need to add the word “effective” to that principle. By all mean, don’t communicate for just the sake of communication, but you need to embrace effective communication. Don't communicate to be understood; rather communicate so as not to be misunderstood. In supporting the notion, you and your team need to have effective communication. A Salesforce study shows that 86% of respondents cited lack of collaboration or ineffective communication is the factor of failures in the workplace. So it shows how important effective communication to be applied within your team.
Effective communication needs a lot of work, but it is worth the effort. First, you and the people in your team must develop trust for each other. It has to be done so everyone can communicate more open than they normally would do in everyday life. You and your team need to have clarity with each other. Don’t hold back information and feelings to each other. Withholding any of those can only cause frustration to each other. It will not only affect you and the person you have trouble with, but also the work environment. Then when the communication already begins, you and your team should embrace feedback from each other. Don’t get defensive because everyone in the same team needs other and works together to achieve the company’s goals.
Common Barriers to Effective Communication
Effective communication is a constant effort that you and your team should work on. These common barriers to effective communication are including:
- The use of jargon
- Emotional barrier / taboos
- The difference in perception or viewpoint
- Physical disabilities such as hearing problems/speech difficulties
- Language different
In order to deal with these barriers, most of all you need to have a high level of patience and understanding. This is for the sake of the company too. Then you need to acknowledge if any of these barriers become a problem. Don’t try to hide or dismiss it. Make it a point to be open with each other about the barrier and finding ways together to overcome it. Be open to any possibility for communication type other than verbal.
5'C of Effective Communication
The Five C’s of Effective Communications stands for clarity, consistency, creativity, content, and connections.
- Clarity: You need to be able to identify your needs and open it to the person you communicate with. In the delivery of what you want from the person, you should explain it as clear and as objective as possible.
- Consistency: You have to be consistent with what you want and make a direct and to the point request.
- Creativity: It should not only about making a request, but it’s better if you can provide a solution to help them fulfil what you want.
- Content: You need to listen and understand carefully to the other person’s need. So try to understand the content of the message in the communication.
- Connections: It demands you to really connect with the other person with compassion and empathy. Effective communication is also about appreciated what they say to you and they need to do the same.
Conclusion
As living beings, we need to express and understand the expressions of others. Especially in team members, where we work together to achieve the goals. Without proper or effective communication it will be the main obstacle to achieve anything. Good communication will have a powerful impact on the engagement in your team which leads to a better work outcome. Start working on this precious bridge to success.
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References
https://www.livestrong.com/article/105939-team-communication-important-teams/
https://medium.com/pathlight/7-simple-ways-managers-can-improve-team-communication-cf37b34ad785