Effective Workplace Communications

Effective Workplace Communications

Effective workplace communications can have a significant impact on your career. Your ability to speak with your superiors and your team are all aspects of workplace communications.

One key piece of workplace communications is understanding what your audience cares about.

When you have a firm understanding of what your audience cares about, you can speak to what they need and want to hear. When you do this, you will bolster your relationships within the workplace, and make your communications effective.

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VIP Communications Pass Video: Effective Workplace Communications

1. Know Your Audience

In the workplace, you will most likely have conversations with peers, juniors, superiors, customers, and clients. There are many different dynamics to be aware of when entering a workplace conversation. You will want to know your audience to ensure your message is effective. Then, you can tailor your message.

Consider the following:

• What Do They Care About - In order to know how to tailor your message to your audience, you will want to understand what they care about. For example, if you are speaking to your superior, you will want to lead with the most critical information first. However, talking with a coworker gives you more space to discuss project nuances. Your superior is most likely more interested in a project's high-level run-down. Your coworker, however, may want to discuss in detail a specific part of the project. When you know what your audience cares about, you will be more effective in communicating your message.
• What Is Your Relationship To Them - Your relationship with your audience will also determine how you tailor your message and ensure effective workplace communication. For example, what you share with your peers will be different than what you share with your managers. Your relationship with your peers is much more casual. You may talk about your weekends and other plans. In comparison, your relationship with your managers is more professional. Consider your relationship and how it will determine your message.
• What Is Their Expertise - Part of knowing your audience, is understanding their expertise. For example, talking in abbreviations can work well when speaking with your peers. If you are in the marketing department, you may ask, "What was the ROI on our latest LI Post? Did the Ad have high SEO?" These abbreviations are acceptable when speaking to others who share the same expertise. However, if you talk to someone outside of your department or a superior, you will want to avoid speaking with abbreviations. Always consider your audience's expertise.

Knowing your audience is key to effective workplace communication. The more you can tailor your message to your audience; the more effective your message will be. 

 

2. Build Trust

Part of effective workplace communications is building trust. When you build trust, others will see you as an authority. They will also be more apt to receive your message as intended. 

Consider the following

• Open About Struggles - Opening up about your struggles is one way to build trust. For example, when speaking with your coworker, you may express how the latest project you are working on is getting very complicated. When you do this, you open the door for your coworker to share their struggles. Sharing struggles builds trust. You may find you both are struggling with the same issue. This forms a bond of camaraderie. 

• Be Relatable - Being relatable will help you build trust. When you are relatable, people feel connected to you. For example, if you have a superior who only talks about traveling on their private jet, almost everyone in the company will probably feel very disconnected from the boss. However, if your boss talks about having to race to their connecting flight only to miss it - that is a relatable story everyone has probably experienced. Being relatable builds trust because people feel you are easy to understand and can identify with you. 
• Offer Troubleshooting Ideas - Another way to build trust is to offer troubleshooting ideas. For example, if your coworker is talking about the difficulty they are experiencing working on a project, offer what has helped you in the past. You can also do this with your superiors. When you provide troubleshooting ideas, you show you care. Showing you care will build trust amongst your peers and your managers.

When you build trust, you express yourself in a way others can relate to. This will help others receive your message the way you intended.

 

3.  Body Language And Tone Of Voice

Your body language and tone of voice are fundamental to effective workplace communication. If your body language and tone of voice don't match your message, you may come across as inauthentic. 

Consider the following:

• Eye Contact - When you speak to anyone at work, you want to ensure you are making good eye contact with them. For example, let's say you are at your desk and two coworkers stop by to discuss an upcoming project. Be sure to make eye contact with both of them. If you don't make eye contact with one of your coworkers, it will seem like you aren't including them in the conversation. They may feel like you don't value their input. Making eye contact with each person will make them feel seen by you.
• Tone Of Voice - Your tone of voice can significantly impact your workplace communications. For example, if your communication at work is very monotone, your message may get lost as your audience may not understand the importance of what you are saying. On the other hand, if your tone of voice is always close to yelling, people may get turned off by your message, even if it is something they need to hear. Practice using a variation in your tone of voice. Don't be too shrill or monotone. Matching your tone of voice with your message will help you be an effective communicator.
• Body Awareness - At work, there are many different dynamics at play. Because of this, you will want to have good body awareness for effective workplace communications. For example, as a manager, you will want to be mindful that you don't hover over your team when you speak. This may feel intimidating to them. On the other hand, if you are talking to your manager, you may find yourself shrinking in your chair. This makes your message less impactful because it seems you are not confident in your messaging. Body awareness will help you speak confidently and effectively communicate in the workplace.

Your body language and tone of voice are keys to effective workplace communications. When you practice good eye contact and vary your tone of voice, your message will be more apparent to your audience. 

Effective workplace communications is something you can get better at. Knowing your audience, building trust, and practicing good body language and tone of voice, will help you effectively communicate with anyone at work.

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