Communication in the workplace is very im­portant but with so many people involved, all with different personalities and varying levels of understanding, communication can be dif­ficult and misunderstandings can arise.

Workplaces can be hectic places where mes­sages are flying left, right and center: that is prime territory for miscommunication. Try to avoid that by following a few simple guidelines.

How you need to communicate in the work­place varies a little bit according to your job responsibilities. Those differ sometimes in whether you have responsibility for and au­thority over certain other staff members. It is important to realize that you only have author­ity in so far as you can get people to follow you. How successfully you get people to do that comes down to communication too!

Communication is vital in any workplace and here are some of the essential ingredients for good communication in the workplace:

1. Give clear instructions

You save time in the long run by taking time to give even simple instructions clearly and make sure they are understood. Leave a pause for people to ask questions or invite them to do so. It is much better if a task is un­derstood from the start rather than you having to go back and do work again because it was done wrongly the first time.

2. Be constructive, not critical

Supervisors and bosses can all too often be­come critical. Often people who have tried to organize their work or solve workplace prob­lems themselves have been severely criticized for the solution they have implemented. Is it any wonder then why they do not bother try­ing to sort anything out again? That is not an efficient way to organize a workplace.

The main trouble with this approach arises because the natural response of someone who is being criticized is to switch off and not listen. Nobody learns anything or moves on in that way.

The other side of the coin is that when em­ployees are empowered to make some deci­sions themselves, managers get more time to get on with their own job and really prog­ress in a business. For this to work, people need to feel safe to explore alternatives, give suggestions and ask questions.

Managers also need to make sure they ask the right questions to inspire their employ­ees and to help them to think through solutions.

3. Let people know the bigger picture

What are you all aiming for? People will work harder and smarter if they know how the work they are doing contributes to an end product.

4. Communicate messages effectively

Workplaces often have many people work­ing there. Messages need to be passed on efficiently through whichever medium: face-­face, telephone, e-mail etc.

If you have a message to pass on, make sure you do it accurately, and give it to the person, in a timely manner. If the message is long, type it or email it, rather than relying on your memory.

5. Give people freedom to organize some of their work

If people are clear about what needs to be done, they can understand and set a list of priorities for their own work. This keeps people motivated to work hard, but also, it makes them work more efficiently as they know what has to be done and can switch between tasks accordingly. There is no need for them to stop work having hit a snag when they can get on with another project.

6. Make expectations clear

End a conversation with something like:

“Am I right in thinking that you think the proj­ect will be completed by the end of today?”

Then if people anticipate a problem, they have the opportunity to tell you if there is go­ing to be a problem with that. That gives you the chance and responsibility to help them.

7. Treat people like individuals

Everyone has different needs and different personalities. Different people may not all react well to slightly different approaches. It is good if you can find out what approaches work well for your colleagues and employees; that way, you will get the most out of each interaction and everyone will be happier.

It all comes down to communication skills or lack of them. It is completely your responsibility for making yourself understood no matter how many times you have to try;and it is the responsibility of the other person to let you know every time they do not understand: communication in the workplace relies upon it.

© Peter Murphy. All Rights Reserved.