If you ask any company what their biggest opportunity for improvement is, they will say in one way or another that it’s communication. Some companies might not communicate enough, some might not give enough context or the ‘why’, some might communicate too much, but very few have what companies would define as great communication. To complicate the issue, individual employees need a different amount of communication or in a different medium or with different context. Most books on leadership have a section dedicated to communication, even going back 50 years. Unfortunately, we haven’t improved much in that time.
Whether we’re communicating with employees, vendors, or customers, NuWaves strives for Excellence to help us Engineer a Lasting Partnership.
If we wanted to give a succinct definition of “great communication” we might say something along the lines of:
- Every employee at all levels of the company has the information they need to make sound decisions and execute on their job responsibilities in alignment with the company’s goals.
But it doesn’t end there. Employees also need to receive this information from the right source, through the right medium, at the right time, and with the appropriate context. Even if you happen to get all of these things right, you may still miss the mark; some employees need information in a variety of ways or from a variety of sources before it can really change behavior. As mentioned above, this can vary across employees.
The solution is probably obvious: communicate with your employees. For some employees, you can ask them what types of communication are most effective, while others may have no idea. An important part of communication is listening and becoming aware of what others need. Active listening and paying attention to non-verbal cues can be just as effective as the direct approach.
There’s no one-size-fits-all communication scheme that will solve all your problems, but here are a few tips to start:
- Listen and acknowledge your team’s inputs and concerns.
- Be flexible with communication styles, media, and timing.
- Provide context to decisions, changes, and information early and often.
- Never stop trying to improve communication.
To learn more about NuWaves and how our continuous improvements in communication allow us to Maximize RF capability and readiness, click here.
