What are the 14 Ways to Improve Office Communication Skills?
Good communication skills are of foremost importance in the current scenario. It doesn’t matter whether you are at the workplace or beyond the office zone; excellent communication skills will help you develop relationships easily, convince people with your words, and leave an impact. In this write-up, we are going to shed light on different ways to improve office communication.
You can’t ignore this write-up if you want to improve your communication skills at the workplace. Here, you will find 14 different ways to improve office communication. To make it simple for you, we are breaking the article into four significant parts-
- Why it’s important to improve communication skills in the workplace?
- What are the ways to improve office communication?
- How to improve verbal office communication?
- How to enhance written office communication?
Before proceeding to the soul of the topic, i.e., ways to improve office communication, let’s start with the importance of improving communication skills at the workplace.
Why it’s Important to Improve Communication Skills in the Working Space?
In order to build a new relationship or strengthen an existing relationship, communication skills play a significant role. Communication skills revolve around effective as well as efficient transfer of information. At both personal and professional levels, it’s important to improve communication skills.
Improving communication skills at the workplace will ensure growth and assist you with-
- Networking and establishing a connection with new people
- Career opportunities and growth prospects
- Creating new ideas and making a contribution
- Coordination and conveying the message in an organized way with managers, colleagues, and team
- Transforming your professional image and adding value at the workplace
- Convincing others with the selection of the right words and proper body language[1]
What are the Ways to Improve Office Communication?
Improving communication skills in the office is the urgent need of the hour as by doing this, one can reach new heights in the career. Given below are some of the significant ways to improve office communication-
- Ascertaining the Right Tone
Finding the right tone is one of the significant ways to improve office communication. The tone varies depending on the person with whom you are interacting. For instance, while talking to your close friends and a peer at the workplace, a casual and informal communication approach is accepted. On the other hand, you have to change your tone and communication style while communicating with people who belong to the league of higher management. Thus, master the art of ascertaining the right tone. - Be Polite, Keep Aggression at Bay
Aggression is not at all preferable while communicating in the workspace. Soft, polite words grab attention and are helpful in winning hearts, whether you are in the office or outside the office zone. Keeping your points in front of others in a calm manner will improve the articulation part, and people will pay more attention to your words. Sometimes, while discussing in an aggressive way, people lose control and become rude. This quality may push the listener to ignore you and show disinterest in communicating with you. It’s one of the significant ways to improve office communication skills. - Keep it Simple and Listener-friendly
It’s a known fact that the average attention span of a person is not more than 10 seconds. This duration is consistently decreasing with each passing day. The average attention span is concerned with the time duration after which an individual starts losing focus. It’s important to keep things simple and exercise brevity. The message should be clear and simple and please the listeners to hold him for further communication. It is one of the remarkable ways to improve office communication. - Speak with a Positive Attitude and Keep up the Confidence
While communicating at the workplace, maintaining a positive attitude and confidence level is of utmost value. Always remember that folks perceive us on the basis of our body language and attitude. Thus, it’s one of the vital ways to improve office communication. Showing a lack of confidence while interacting with someone may create a negative impression about you. At the time of speaking, make sure that you know what you are talking about, and your confidence must reflect in the discussion.
Given below are the points that will make you appear confident and positive-- Speak slowly and let the listener react and reply as well
- Keep your rate of speech under control
- Take pause wherever required
- Let your thoughts circulate in your mind, accumulate them and then speak
- Try to avoid mumbling while speaking
- Keep yourself calm and composed
- Showcase that you know what you are talking about
- Use Notes on your Phone or Use a Diary
While communicating, we cover several points. Thus, there is a chance that one can miss out on meaningful information. It’s better to maintain a diary or write down vital points in the notes on the Smartphone. Developing the habit of writing and storing things is beneficial. Prepare a list that must include the subject matter of the meeting, note down the brief of the meeting, and other essential details. In order to stay organized and increase the life of the notes, keep things on the phone. - Be Respectful
You need to understand the importance and value of others’ time. Initiate by saying thanks to them for their precious time. Deliver your message or information within a limited time. It’s good to be respectful.
How to Improve Verbal Office Communication?
In order to establish rapport and strengthen relationships at the workplace, verbal communication is the best option. Be it a meeting, normal discussion, or casual get-together, the style of communication and attitude plays a significant role. It helps in building a relationship with the listener and pulling attention. Have a look at the significant ways to improve office communication skills in terms of verbal.
- Phone Calls are Effective Medium
In the revolutionary era of social media and digital transformation, people prefer texting over phone calls. However, phone calls are an effective medium to convey messages backed by clarity and prompt response. It doesn’t matter how well text messages are written; chances of confusion and misleading information are always high. Asking a wide range of questions via texting seems to be odd. Discussing different subjects and asking multiple questions over phone calls is a better alternative. Thus, it’s essential for you to get comfortable over phone calls.
Even though there is no fixed set of rules for discussing over phone calls, given below are some noteworthy points that must be kept in mind-- Maintain the calm tone
- Keep your voice loud and clear
- Keep yourself optimistic while answering the phone calls
- If you are unable to give instant answers, please let the concerned person know the time when you will be able to give answers to the questions
- Before calling for the second time, keep your answer ready
- Don’t exaggerate while communicating; keep points simple and easy to understand
- Body Language
Body language is a key element of effective verbal communication one can’t miss. Poor body language consists of lack of eye contact, overuse of hands, sweating, shaking legs, poor posture, looking around the room, talking at a swift pace without giving attention to listeners and staring. Never underestimate the power of body language in establishing relationships.
Given below are some of the key points that will help you showcase your positive body language-- Maintain a smile on your face while interacting with someone
- Make eye contact
- Maintaining an upright posture will level up the body language game
- Minimum use of facial expressions
- Avoid eye blinking at a rapid rate
- Use open palms
- Avoid touching your face
- Give a tight handshake
- Easy breathing
- Relaxed approach
- Reduced use of Conversation Fillers
Conversation fillers make you appear as a person without confidence and lack of preparation. These fillers include ah, you know, well, um, and other words. Minimize the use of conversation fillers as they break the flow and also make an individual appear without confidence. In order to establish a to-the-point conversation, avoiding or reducing the use of these filler words is important. - Active Listening
Active listening is one of the essential ways to improve office communication skills. Speaking and conveying the message is not enough. You must pay attention to feedback and what the other person says. Good communication skill is not just confined to good speaking skills but also encompasses excellent active listening skills. If you want to swim into the sea of conversation, you must make others feel they are part of it. Speak and listen as well. Listen to them carefully if you don’t want to get distracted easily.
What are the Ways to Improve Office Communication- Written Communication Skills
- Personalized Messaging Approach
We are living in a digital era of mass forwarding. Messages are generally forwarded in bulk that lack personalized touch. If you want to construct a strong rapport and long-lasting relationship, focus on sending personalized messages. Keep transforming your messages from time to time on the basis of your recipients. You must ensure that they notice your efforts pertaining to personalization. It’s an approach through which the communication gap between the sender & receiver of the message can be bridged. - Triple-checking Mechanism
What’s the best way to proofread a formal email or a message? Proofread it at least three times and keep enhancing it. Various aspects that you can consider while proofreading is spelling mistakes, punctuation errors, improper use of conjunction, grammatical issues, keeping a check on typos, etc.
In the second round of checking, you can proceed with the usage of Ginger online, Grammarly, or any other significant tool. Rectification can be made, and the content will be ready for this round of proofreading.
In the third round, make sure that the intent of your content is clear and entails the objective of the communication. The content must be easy to understand and free from complex words. - Avoid Never-ending Paragraphs & Lengthy Sentences
Never-ending paragraphs and lengthy sentences make the content boring for readers and may lead to confusion as well. They are not acceptable in the world of emails, Skype, Whatsapp, Zoom, and Team messages.
If you want to make your message clear and want it to get accepted and acknowledged by others, keep things short and prefer creating pointers and bullet points.
Ways to improve office communication (written form) are mentioned below-- Create bullet points for key information
- Divide lengthy paragraphs into short ones
- Keep limited ones in a single sentence to enhance readability
- Your goal should be clear in the initial few lines of the message or email
- Stick to Active Voice
Active voice makes the statement easy to understand in comparison with passive voice. Thus, use it as much as you can. It is used to keep the readers hooked and understand the message without putting in additional effort.
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Types of Communication
Talk about any form of communication; it will belong to any of the four types. The four significant types of communication are showcased below-
- Verbal Communication
It’s a verbal mode of sharing information in the workplace. It can be informal, like chatting with co-workers, and formal, such as meeting with the marketing head of the organization. Verbal communication is incomplete without active listening. - Written Communication
Writing and conveying some relevant information is one of the traditional ways to improve office communication. Sometimes, we write messages and emails, and sometimes prepare white papers and project reports. Both belong to the league of written communication. - Visual Communication
Visual communication is one of the popular types of communication that revolves around using charts, tables, graphs, images, and other non-written forms to share information. - Non-verbal Communication
Non-verbal communication is a type or sort of communication in which non-verbal messages are circulated via eye contact, body language, facial expression, and eye contact.
In a Nutshell
Developing effective office communication skills will help you grow as an individual and add value wherever you work. From convincing people with your words to establishing long-term relationships, you can be an unmatchable asset after implementing the above-mentioned ways to improve office communication skills. Communicate well and grab the attention of folks. Amid the existing competition, good communicators are show stealers.
Read our Article:Throwing Light on Active Listening and Its Importance in the Workplace
