It is no secret that We!™ considers communication to be the key to a positive and efficient work environment. Officevibe shared an article that outlined three specific ways to create friendly, yet effective, communication in the workplace.
1.) Do what you want to see happening
This idea focuses on the old saying, “lead by example.” If you are constantly communicating, people will either consciously or subconsciously recognize that, and communicate as well.
The communication does not have to always be about work, in fact, the focus should first be on the employee. Simply saying good morning, or asking how their day is going can be enough to build trust and dedication to the company. We call this “connection before content.”
Do not be afraid to ask questions, take an interest in what someone else is saying before you communicate what is on your mind.
2.) Encourage and engineer social interactions
It is important that communication occurs everywhere in the workplace, not just between boss and employee. Encourage employees to work together. Officevibe suggested encouraging employees to eat lunch with each other so that they have a chance to communicate with each other. From a visit to Facebook HQ, we learned they have a more formal “buddy program” to invite newbies to eat with employees that know their way around a bit more. You don’t want to over-engineer the process, but a little facilitation can go a long way. Feel free to reach out to us if you want some fresh ideas.
Certain activities can also promote trust and communication between employees. We!™ has created several tools to help with just that.
3.) Keep your door open
Officevibe considers another relevant component to a communication-friendly work environment to be an open-door policy. While it is important to encourage this as often as possible by literally keeping your door open, it is also efficient to keep your door closed and remind your employees that they can talk to you whenever. “Show” is better than “tell” here. Lots of leaders say they have an open door policy. Few do it.
Create conversations that matter, and build an environment of trust.