5 Ways To Improve Communication With Team Members

Good communication with team members make the dream work. When you improve your communication skill, you will feel more engaged in the team. According to data from Queens University of Charlotte, %75 of employers rate teamwork is very important for them. However, %39 of employers agree that they are not good at team communication with team members. It is a common thought that although employees think that communication is very critical at work, they do not trust their skills at communicating in teams. Communication in teams is essential for successful work. Let’s see why it is important to improve communication with team members.

Benefits Of Communicating Effectively In a Team

Communicating effectively builds a strong relationship between team members. It is very essential in teams to trust one another, feel to be open, and engage without a doubt. There are many advantages of feeling engaged in a team and always sharing your opinions. Let’s see what kind of benefit it brings to the team.

1. Good Communication Builds Healthy Relationships

Good communication skill in a team builds healthy work relationships among colleagues. They feel that their thoughts are understood clearly and they become open to sharing. It builds strong trust among them and consecutively at what they are doing.

2. Improves Employee Engagement

It is one of the basics in workplaces to have employees engaged. However, it is not possible without clear, concise, and strong communication in teams. Having effective team communication, you will have morale, boost your confidence and trust yourself. You will trust what you say and what you do. And, it brings engagement in communication with team members. Engagement creates a sense of belonging among team members.

3. Affects Employee Wellbeing

When you improve your communication with team members it deeply affects your well-being. It goes without saying that it is very crucial for workplaces. Unless you feel physically and mentally healthy, it is not very possible to consider yourself effective at work. When you become better at communication in teams you start to feel more relaxed, and you begin to share more which is very beneficial for boosting self-confidence at work which is very critical to guarantee success.

4. Impacts on Employee Skills

Without communicating effectively in large teams, you can not improve your skills at work. When you share, you get the point of the others. With collaboration, you gain knowledge from your colleagues and share their experiences. It gives you the opportunity to evaluate your skill and see where you need to improve yourself. It gives great objectivity to observe, recognize and improve.

Improve Your Communication With Team Members In Simple Steps

Communication with team members is the key to feeling belonging and being productive at work. When you take the following steps, you will feel more comfortable communicating with your team members efficiently.

1. Make The Purpose Clear

Every interaction with team members should have a purpose. To avoid time wasting and conflicting communication, make your purpose clearly beforehand. After having the purpose you can ask these questions to yourself; “Who are the team members? What is the aim of the team to gather? What is the desired result? How can I contribute to the team?” give clear answers to yourself. It is a very productive strategy to get rid of empty or hurtful conversations.

2. Do Not Take it Personally

The aim of a team coming together is to handle business problems. Do not put yourself a priority, or your colleagues. Do not take arguments personally, and never talk about personal problems during the meetings. Remember that you are there to contribute to work and meetings are not suitable occasions for talking about personal life problems.

3. Adapt To Online Channels

Many teams continue their communication from channels. You can be working on-site or remotely, but online channels are inseparable parts of our lives now. Especially, online collaboration tools are very useful to get help and communicate effectively at any moment, anywhere. Use these collaboration tools to keep your conversation going even after work, give feedback and take feedback, ask for help any time and collaborate with your team members. With Peerbie, you can find yourself in different team groups in which you can discuss a subject, share your ideas or ask for help.

4. Be An Active Listener

Listening is twice more important as talking. Do not only be physically in team meetings. Be aware, and remind yourself that you have a lot to contribute to the team but, first you must listen carefully before starting to share your opinion. The basics of being an active listener are;

• Make eye contact with the team member who is sharing her/his ideas
• Respond only when you are sure you contribute to the conversation
• Do not interrupt team members
• Control your body language. Open your hands toward the team even when you are not talking, be straight, and do not play with pencils, notebooks, etc. on the table.

5. Trust Your Skills

In teams, you may feel not confident to share your ideas. It is quite normal. However, if it happens often it is signaling low self-confidence and affects badly your communication with team members. When you start to change your mindset from “I am going to make a mistake” to “I trust myself and what I am going to say” you will make a big change in your professional and personal life. Remind yourself before having a meeting with a team that you have a lot to contribute to the meeting and that your words are worth to have listened.