Effective internal and external communication is essential for any business to succeed. In fact, it’s so crucial that you should create a thorough plan for your company’s communication strategies. Here, we’ll discuss a communication strategy in more detail and provide fifteen workplace communication strategies that work.

According to research by Grammarly and The Harris Poll, poor communication costs businesses in the U.S. an amount of US$1.2 trillion annually. 72% of business owners acknowledge that their staff members have trouble communicating effectively. At the same time, 93% of business owners agree that it is the foundation of their company.

What is a communication strategy? 

A company’s strategy for its communication efforts across several channels is known as its communication strategy. Communication strategies are comprehensive; they cover every possible channel and mode of communication a business may use.

They might have a limited or huge scope, a targeted or broad reach. They show the significance of planning ahead of time in business. To achieve challenging goals, you should create a detailed strategy with the assistance of your communications staff.

Your company and its management must take the time to develop an efficient plan for communication across multiple channels, as it is a complicated task. This post will discuss some considerations for developing a communication strategy.

Benefits of an effective communication strategy

Effective communication strategies have a variety of advantages. The main benefit is that it will enable you to accomplish your communication objectives.

One way to increase one-on-one communication is to train the managers in your organization in good interpersonal communication skills. Professional management training may be advantageous for all managers but is especially beneficial for supervising large and diverse teams.

The core of collaborative business practices is one-on-one meetings. Thus it is recommended to devote time and money to improve your manager’s capacity to lead them effectively.

A communications strategy can support your company’s marketing and outreach initiatives on a bigger scale. Your most valuable resource is your client. Therefore, creating a thoughtful plan for communicating with them is essential to your company’s success as a whole.

Overall, having a strong communication plan will increase production, foster a happier workplace, and encourage innovation.

We’ll discuss some examples of workplace communication strategies below.

15 Communication strategies for a more effective workplace

A word from the C-suite

Senior management must play a crucial role in the overall communication strategy. When staff workers perceive that the C-suite has committed to communicating business information and policies, it is taken seriously. Additionally, managers must emphasize the message to their teams. 

Use of Effective Tools

Only the resources you have available to carry out your communication plan will determine how successful it is.

MyDirecteur is an ERP solution that can help you manage your projects and contact your staff and customers no matter where they are. Your communication strategies are simple to implement with our platform. Lead management and live chat are two features that can improve productivity and client happiness in online interactions.

MyDirecteur is an ideal solution for small business communication strategies and achieving your business goals in reality.

Tell it straight

Employees give authenticity and transparency a high priority. They can tell when a leader is truly honest. Conversely, when someone is trying to mislead them. You earn trust by giving people the truth and not sugarcoating it. This is especially important during times of transition.

Give clear instructions 

Being specific about what you’re asking an employee to accomplish is the most important step to guaranteeing tasks are completed quickly and effectively.

Giving your staff precise instructions—both orally and in writing—will put them on the path to success. 

Perpetuate purpose

Reinforce the goal and strategies that distinguish your company. Every conversation is an opportunity to emphasize the mission of your business. Informing workers about their work is a meaningful way for them to support the mission.

Make it relevant

Only send mass emails to some employees. Send relevant information to the employees that require it. It is challenging to communicate with everyone at once. Frequent texting causes employees to start missing important updates.

Use an HR-managed platform connected to workforce data to ensure that the appropriate message reaches the right person at the right time.

Meet with employees in person 

Although many of us have been compelled to conduct more and more business remotely over the last year, we can all agree that our interactions with coworkers have suffered.

A lot of crucial non-verbal communication occurs while speaking to someone face-to-face. You should not ignore these non-verbal indicators since they influence conversation flow more than you may realize. Additionally, when you’re physically present, people are more inclined to focus entirely on their tasks.

As a result, even if it may only be feasible for some organizations, we advise conducting significant in-person conferences and meetings.

Across the board

Utilize all available channels of communication to keep your staff informed. It is recommended to host biweekly “all-hands” Zoom updates with the whole team to offer updates on possible clients and project statuses. You can capture the meeting on tape for those with conflicts.

Smaller scrums can be held weekly or as needed for specific projects. Regular one-on-one phone/Zoom meetings with direct reporting are also recommended. You can keep documents for the project on a shared platform like MyDirecteur.

Make it regular

Consistent communication demonstrates to staff that they can rely on you.

One of the country’s biggest distributors of dental supplies and equipment, Benco Dental, was forced to lay off a third of its 1,500 employees during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Chuck Cohen, the managing director, claims that his consistent email updates—at least once or twice a week—kept staff members loyal.

Use visuals 

Did you know that almost half of the people learn better through visual means? Therefore, it should be no surprise that nearly all successful communication strategies heavily rely on graphics in their products.

When making a presentation to a big audience, visual aids can be beneficial in simplifying complicated concepts. Infographics and diagrams can communicate crucial facts about your company’s objectives. Blocks of text are objectively less engaging for viewers than images.

Create an open environment 

People tend to be more creative when expressing ideas without worrying about being rejected or ridiculed. Because of this, one must make an effort to foster an open environment at work.

If your budget permits, one method to do this is by organizing team-building getaways for your workforce. Retreats can be either inexpensive or costly. But they always provide an opportunity for coworkers to connect outside of the workplace over shared interests.

By allowing for anonymous input in meetings, you may foster an open atmosphere in the workplace. However, maintaining anonymity may appear to go against the spirit of transparency. Allowing this type of feedback might give workers the impression that they can say whatever they want without worrying about punishment. 

But on the good side, with this degree of independence and openness, not only will your team feel more at ease, but it will also promote innovation.

Make it two-way

Communication is a two-way street. Conduct “ask me anything” meetings and create a culture where employees feel encouraged to bring up controversial topics and are rewarded for doing so. Don’t speak first; wait for others to speak out or pose thoughtful questions to encourage discussion among your team. Respond to any concerns and follow up with messages outlining the steps to overcome obstacles.

Celebrate achievements 

Everyone values being praised for a job well done, regardless of their position within a firm. In addition to sometimes offering their staff members appreciation, managers must create an environment that encourages constructive criticism and good feedback.

Connect across departments 

Every effective communications strategy relies on cross-departmental coordination. All communication strategies utilize a variety of communication channels, necessitating the assistance of the personnel in charge of those channels.

For instance, a marketing team’s communication plan that relies on phone calls would undoubtedly need the assistance of sales representatives.

Similarly, your product relationship team and finance division will need to organize and maintain a communication plan based on collaboration with social media influencers. The list continues, but it is quite clear that teamwork is essential for effective communication.

Be open to feedback

No matter how much effort you spend creating your communication strategy, errors or omissions will inevitably occur. That is the outcome of teamwork rather than a critique of anyone’s abilities. 

Collaboration is a powerful tool for creating innovative communications strategies. The drawback is that management teams are frequently prone to groupthink, which might lead them to persuade themselves that a flawed proposal is genuine.

Because of this, it’s crucial for company leaders who created the overall communication plan to be open to receiving feedback from all workers, regardless of their level of employment.

Using anonymous surveys or questionnaires is a great approach to encourage this input. We advise distributing such surveys around a month after starting a new communications strategy. It will be early enough to make any required improvements while still giving people enough time to analyze the strategy for themselves.

Find out what’s working

Are you successfully communicating with your staff? It’s unlikely that it is. According to a survey, 74% of communicators believe they create clear and effective messages, but 60% of their staff disagree. Only 31% of workers agreed with 66% of communicators who said they knew what to say to them. Spend time analyzing your communications, and ask your staff whether they feel it fits their requirements and expectations.

Conclusion

Maintaining staff engagement and motivation requires good communication. A knowledgeable worker is more likely to remain devoted, obedient, and effective. Regular, honest communication that always reflects the company’s mission is required. Additionally, it must be diverse and offer employees a chance to participate. Finally, it’s critical to perform surveys to see whether your communication is yielding the desired outcomes.