Nothing will improve your team’s productivity faster than better communication. Having a deliberate process and cadence of communication will save hours of lost time, productivity and drama.If you don’t have a formal plan, or haven’t spoken with your team recently about how communication is going, it’s worth taking the time to communicate about communication. Gather your team together for a focused hour and talk about the questions below, and then build your plan. It’s helpful to revisit the strategy once a month to see how it’s working and determine if anything needs to be revised.
7 Questions to Improve Your Team's Communication
“The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place."-George Bernard Shaw
1. What's Working/Not Working?
Start with the basics.
What is working well about the way we are currently communicating? Where is communication breaking down? What do we need to be talking about more? Less? 2. Who Are Our Stakeholders and What Do They Care About?
Giving your stakeholders the right amount of information how and when they want it reduces their anxiety and gets them off your back. And let’s face it, when you stay in front of the need-to-know curve, you look smart.If you don’t know what your boss (or her boss) really wants to know–ask. Also if you produce and distribute reports and updates, it’s often wise to ask who’s looking at them. I knew one manager who just stopped sending all the mandatory reports his team was producing for three months, and no one noticed! I’m not suggesting this approach, but a quick check-in may save you some valuable time.
3. What More Information Do You Need From Me?
Start with you to ensure you’re giving the team everything they need. Then it’s good to go around the room and have everyone ask this question. Be sure you’re clear on what you need from each team member and what they need from one another.
4. How Will We Use Email?
If you haven’t talked about this explicitly, I’m sure there are
strategies you could use to be more impactful.
5. When Will We Meet (In Person or by Phone) and Why?
Every meeting should have a purpose (tied to improving results or relationships). If the purpose of some of your meetings is simply to update, brainstorm alternative communication strategies.
6. How Will We Ensure Our Meetings are Effective?
Talk about the best way to monitor meeting effectiveness
( see meeting NPS ). Do you start each meeting with clear objectives and desired outcomes? Do you stick to the agenda? Are action items clearly documented with responsible parties and follow-up dates?
7. How Will We Resolve Conflict?
Talking about how you’ll address conflict and disagreements before you have one can go a long way in improving team dynamics. Agreeing in advance that you’re open to feedback and the best way to deliver it will also help promote healthy dialogue. Introduce tools such as the
expectations matrix to help structure discussion.So many teams settle for good communication when it could be great. Or worse, assume miscommunication is just part of working in a team. Checking in on the process every now and then will reap huge dividends in future productivity.
