So how do you go about improving communication skills in your organisation?
In our previous post on the importance of communication, we talked about why we believe developing communication skills in your organisation is not only important, but crucial.
Here are our top 10 tips for implementing a communication skill development program in your organisation:
- Make organisational communication some one’s responsibility! If someone has a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) linked to improving communication then it will receive the attention it demands.
- Find the people in your organisation who are passionate about communication and give them a role to play.
- The majority of communication occurs out of habit and changing habits requires sustained pressure over time before it will deliver a return on investment. Avoid quick fix solutions that become ‘fad’ training and implement solutions that will permanently change the communication DNA of your organisation (often referred to as ‘the way we do things here’.)
- The words we say and write start first with our thoughts and internal dialogue (self talk) – communication skills development needs to include this level of internal communication as a starting point. This also includes developing emotional intelligence and providing employees with techniques for managing attitude.
- The importance of communication needs to be recognised and supported at an executive level.
- Developing communication skills is a specialised area – if you don’t have the internal skills then bring in external help from experts who do.
- Create a communication plan that addresses and aligns communication in all areas of the business – consistency of communication from all business areas is essential for building trust internally and with customers.
- Look for ways to measure communication in your organisation such as internal surveys, processes for reporting and improving communication that is failing, external benchmarking for customer communication.
- Walk the talk – leaders must lead in action before others will follow. Include executives and senior managers in communication skills development.
- Don’t stop – communication skills development is all about continuous improvement and constantly adapting to the ever changing working environment.
- Bonus Tip – What you don’t communicate can often speak louder than any words. Ensure your communication strategy looks at what is not being communicated as much as what is being communicated.
