Introduction
Team communication is an important factor for the success of companies. It helps employees to coordinate their work effectively and ensure that everyone is pulling in the same direction. Good team communication can help to avoid misunderstandings and mistakes and increase employee satisfaction and motivation.
Would you like to improve team communication in your company? Then you have a few options. The introduction of digital tools enables employees to communicate with each other and share information at any time. Regular meetings enable an exchange about projects and tasks. But the biggest impact on team communication is still made by the employees themselves.
It is important to note that improving team communication does not mean that employees are communicating "badly" or that the wrong tools are being used. Rather, it is about describing people's perceptions and accepting the fact that everyone has their own view of things. Team coaching can help to create a safe framework in which experienced grievances or perceptions can be addressed and a change in communication structures can take place.
An example from practice
In a team, individual employees are repeatedly offended by colleagues. The feedback that colleagues give on work processes is often direct and very judgmental. When these behaviors are pointed out, it often happens that the colleagues in question react with the statement: "I'm just like that". The killer argument par excellence.
In this context, the manager of the team would like to improve communication through team coaching. The coaching takes place at regular intervals and is intended to create a safe framework in which the issue can be addressed. Over time, the team builds up so much confidence that it can address the grievances it has experienced. This opens up a space that the coach can use to bring about change in future situations.
However, such a change should not lead to someone being pilloried, but rather help the person concerned to experience and understand their effect on others.
It is important to think about the following questions as a team:
- How do we want to interact with each other?
- Which behaviors are important to us?
- What expectations do we have of the team members?
This leads to mutual acceptance and respect, which form the basis for successful team communication.
We have now reached a crossroads. The team can be supported in developing new rules for dealing with each other. In my view, this is a classic workshop topic that we've all had somewhere before. But I believe that this falls short. After all, it is internal processes that make people communicate the way they do. Learning to deal with this requires courage from the teams as well as time and resources that the company must provide. However, the output is a sustainable solution for teams that not only communicate better, but also know why! Open team communication is therefore far more than just a workshop topic, it is a form of culture.
This brings us to another important factor for the success of companies: corporate culture. It has a major influence on how employees feel in the company, how motivated they are and, above all, how they ultimately treat each other. Companies that cultivate a positive and appreciative corporate culture, where employees support and respect each other, generally have better results than those that have a negative or competitive culture. And one of the most important indicators of how the company culture is doing is reflected in team communication! Yet another reason to take a closer look.
Do you recognize potential for improvement in team communication in your company? We will be happy to support you! Together we will get the best out of your team.