Communication plays a fundamental role in people’s daily lives, since thanks to it we are able to exchange information with those around us, thus becoming the cornerstone of our relationships.
When working as a team, it is not only enough that there is communication between the different people but also that it is efficient, thus facilitating that ideas flow and that there is a correct understanding by everyone of the context and needs of the team.
In this post I am going to share with you some aspects that I consider important based on my experience to achieve efficient communication.
Are you interested? I encourage you to continue reading!
Use human language
We all know the importance of language in communications. It is possible that some of you have ever been in the uncomfortable situation of being in front of someone with whom you did not share a common language to be able to speak fluently. Perhaps we can come to think that this only happens if we go backpacking to remote parts of the world, but something similar can also happen working as a team.
For example, in the world of software development, teams are not always formed solely by IT specialists, but we usually also find specialized profiles in other areas, such as product design, business development, marketing, etc.
What would happen if, when the team met, each of these people spoke with the terminology of their own area? Sometimes we do not realize it, but it is easy to fall into using a communication skewed by vocabulary that only those people with knowledge in our area can understand.
Using a common language, human and transversal to all the areas involved, away from unnecessary technicalities and allowing it to be understood by everyone, will greatly facilitate communication in the team.
Face to face
In Our experience working on remote, Hyun explains the importance of communicating face to face when a matter exceeds a simple question that can be easily answered by writing.
Communicating face to face will not only save time, for example the time it takes to write messages and their responses, but it will also help to empathize more easily with others, since it opens the door to being able to detect aspects of non-verbal communication more related with emotions and feelings.
In addition, in this way it facilitates that there are fewer misunderstandings in the communication, since it allows to express more precisely and detect more easily when someone may not be understanding the message that is being transmitted.
Less is more
I am convinced that some of you, and especially those of you who like to talk, as I do, have come across times when you have felt that you have talked too much to communicate something.
While this can be done with the best of intentions and in order to ensure that others will fully understand the message, it can unfortunately backfire.
Synthesizing in communication allows focusing on transmitting only those aspects that are really necessary and omitting dispensable details in order to ensure a correct understanding of the information.
In Make your meetings more productive, Javi explains how introducing the role of the “decision accelerator” can prevent someone from going around the bush in meetings and also making a final synthesis that summarizes the main decisions made.
Introducing dynamics like the previous one in teams has enormous benefits for achieving more efficient communication, in addition to making the importance of synthesizing more aware and gradually improving this skill.
To end…
In this post I have shared with you three aspects that, based on my experience, I consider important to achieve more effective communication in our day to day.
First, we have talked about the importance of using human and understandable language. Then the benefits of talking face-to-face whenever possible. And finally, the importance of synthesizing and not beating around the bush.
I am sure that there are more aspects to consider to improve the way we communicate, so I will be happy if you share your experiences and opinions in the comments section!
