2. Imagine trying to run a business where no one of your
staff communicates with each other. Departments would
be out of sync, no one would be quite certain what was
going on, and it would be impossible to work together
on group projects. In other words, a lack of
communication would cause serious efficiency
problems, and at the end of the day that’s money out of
the company’s pockets. Taking the time to keep everyone
in the loop fixes all these issues, and for that reason it’s
absolutely essential for every company to stress
communication.
3. Unity
A company that works to develop strong communication
with each other is a united company. Each team member
shares the same goals in this case, and everyone knows
what their co-workers have on their plate. By simply
keeping in touch on a regular basis, everyone remains
united and working together. This instills a cooperative
atmosphere rather than encouraging the idea of having a
bunch of individual people only looking out for
themselves. All companies have a vision for their success,
and through communication, that vision spreads to
everyone. The result is a happier, healthier workplace
where things get done more efficiently and a bigger
likelihood of retaining the top talent.
4. Feedback
When communication is stressed, it creates an open environment where
everyone feels comfortable talking with each other. When that level of
comfort is present in a business, employees feel confident that they can
express their ideas about the work process to each other and even to
management. Feedback is a vital component of communication, and it
works both ways. Management give feedback to the employees in regards
to how well they’re faring at their duties, and employees feel safe giving
feedback on how well the company’s policies and procedures are working.
Communication is not communication if it only comes from one direction.
5. Improves Customer Relationships
No business would succeed without customers, and every
company exists to serve them. Communicating with customers is
every bit as important as communication within the workplace.
Thankfully, this is easier today that it’s ever been, as there are a
wide variety of ways to keep in touch with your customer base.
Furthermore, this type of communication also ensures your customers remain
happy with you, since they can share their needs with you and make suggestions
on what you can do to better serve them. When customers feel they are listened
to and that their suggestions are implemented accordingly, the reputation of
your business will grow and you will find yourself generating additional profit,
not to mention that you will have more and more customers to communicate
with.
6. Improves Employee Relationships
No friendship is ever formed without a good level of communication. The more a
company’s employees communicate with each other, the closer they will become
naturally over time. Bear in mind that much of communication takes place without the
need for words, so it’s important to master both verbal and non-verbal communication,
both in the written form as well as body language.
Regardless of the type of communication in
question, as long as the employees in a
business are understanding each other’s
motivations and on the same page regarding
the main goals, you will have a team that is
happy to work together. Enhanced levels of
cooperation will exhibit itself in increased
areas of productivity throughout a company,
and that will itself show up when looking at
your company’s bottom line.
7. Enforcing Rules
Every business must have a code of policies and procedures that must be followed
in order for everyone to succeed. Maybe there is a specific process for a task, for
example, or maybe there are certain consequences for underperforming. Either
way, you want to make all this very clear to your employees, and it isn’t possible to
do this without strong communication skills.
This kind of communication requires more than simply writing out a company
manual and issuing it to each of the new hires on their first day. Any company
knows that rules are always needing to be altered as things change and evolve
over time, and it’s important to revisit how all of these changes affect your
employees regularly. Even if the general company guidelines never shift,
continually communicating expectations and policies is a good practice that will
never fail. The outline for your business must be followed at all times, and
without communicating about that outline, a company can’t expect the
employees to stay within the lines on their own.
8. Enhanced Innovation
No matter how skilled and talented the people at the top of your company are, you can
never have too many ideas. By encouraging everyone at your business, whether big or
small, to openly share their thoughts without fear of being shut down, you will quickly
notice the employees that have the most to add. Your best employees have ideas on how
you can make your business run even better, and it’s wise to give them a chance to
speak. A business can become more innovative overnight just by working together to be
good communicators, and that’s bad news for your competition and good news for your
revenue.
Clearly, the benefits of communication in a business are plentiful, and in fact it’s hard
to imagine any kind of success at all without it. No matter what kind of business you
have, and whether it’s big or small, one of the single most important determinants of
success is communication. If you feel your business does not have the quality of
communication it should, don’t wait another day to address that issue. There is no need
for your company to suffer from something that can be so easily fixed with a little effort.