One of the biggest things I hear about in businesses is that communication needs to improve or I’ve been called into help a team when communication has broken down so significantly that the environment has become toxic and a culture of very low engagement and morale has taken hold. One of my key learnings based on seeing this situation unfold on several occasions focuses on open communication. Quite often things need to be said and they so often get swept under the carpet.

I thought I would share a bit about how I think teams can be more openly communicative and have better dialogue. While sometimes it can be a difficult path to follow it invariably improves the situation. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it – well a lot: There is a way to say things that get the message across but still lands as it was intended. This doesn’t mean it won’t annoy someone, pee them off or hurt their feelings, but if it is the truth and needs to be said, then there is a way to say it that can minimise the fallout.

I believe there are three main keys to creating a work environment where open dialogue and communication is constructive.

Trust

I’ve talked about trust before. It’s truly a make or break characteristic of all work environments. If employees do not trust their leaders or if leaders do not trust each other, nearly every aspect of the working relationship is affected. It is impossible to have open, honest, meaningful conversations if one person in the conversation does not trust the other. If conversations are going be to impactful individuals have to be willing to drop down the walls they surround themselves with. If trust does not exist, those walls will grow ever stronger. Trust me I have seen this happen in both global businesses and SME environments.

Make sure your actions and words match

I have come across lots of leaders and business owners who say they are open to honest feedback. In fact, many say they welcome it. Yet, after talking to them for even a brief moment I realise that they aren’t really as open as they say. I bet you know some of these individuals as well. Open communication cannot happen unless all parties are open to hearing what may be said. Even the negative stuff. Even the stuff that touches a nerve. Even the stuff that highlights the fact that they may not be as great as they think they are. All of it. Co-workers pick up on someone who isn’t open to feedback pretty quickly and will have an honest conversation with someone who they feel isn’t open to it. In fact, get this part wrong and you have a subculture developing.

Grow your self-awareness.


Everybody thinks they are a great communicator, but very few people actually are. People that are good at it have make a deliberate effort to get better at it. I have been lucky enough to work with a few highly effective communicators in my career and lessons learned while working with them have helped me shape my communication style. I had one amazing leader, he was one of the best and I often draw upon his teachings. Now whenever I encounter a great communicator, I hang on every word studying more the style and choice of words than I sometimes do their message. There are books written, classes developed and videos in abundance that can help anyone make effective communication. Those wanting to have open communication must improve their own style and help others do the same.

There are a few more key elements that go into having conversationally open workplaces, but the three ideas above lay a great foundation. The benefits that come from encouraging more honest communication will improve your workplace performance and relationships but far outweigh the uncomfortable feelings from having a difficult conversation or leaving a situation to be swept under the carpet.

If you’d like to learn more about this aspect of human resource management get in touch with us today to find out how we can help.