The Importance of Communication at Work

An often-overlooked but crucial part of any effective workplace is communication. It should be ever-present in any working environment, whether it be an office or a construction site. Communication aids productivity, health and safety and happy employees, all of which are important if a business is to thrive. But how do you ensure healthy communication within your workplace and how do these methods work? We’re here to help:

Defines goals and expectations

Making sure that each employee and department are clear as to what is expected of them is one of the first steps to increasing productivity. Communicating these things clearly can reduce confusion, and confusion can be very stressful in busy working environments. With defined goals, employees can get more work done, which helps to increase morale as well as business productivity.

Team building

Helping your staff become more acquainted with each other can certainly make communication easier in the workplace. If people feel at ease with one another, they won’t feel shy or apprehensive about talking to them, which can be extremely helpful when it comes to work-related tasks. Team building events and social gatherings are a great way to create friendships, which helps increase communication, which in turn helps increase productivity.

Employee morale and satisfaction

For a business to do well, it needs employees that are willing to work hard in their jobs. For employees to be willing to work hard, they need to feel valued in their roles and happy at work. Communication can be a huge part of employee happiness. Treating employees like people rather than staff, communicating in a positive way, from praise for good work to constructive criticism for work that could better, clear and direct interaction is a very effective way of maintaining a high level of morale.

Productivity and efficiency

There have been countless hours lost and probably a significant amount of money missed out on due to poor communication within a workplace. Whether its an employee talking to another employee, or a staff member talking to a customer, clear communication is vital to ensuring that products are made, bought and sold and business continues to grow. Train employees on the benefits and methods of good communication and you will soon see your business’ productivity increase.

Health and safety

Health and safety is important in any workplace, but in some environments it is a more prominent aspect than others. In a warehouse or construction site for example, there is greater potential for an accident than in any office. Ensuring that people communicate with each other, whether that’s when using equipment, driving vehicles or handling goods can greatly reduce the risk of accidents in the workplace. This goes for non-verbal communication, too, such as signage. For example, fire exits must be clearly signposted, as must warning signs about safety equipment and dangerous areas in a workplace.

Health and Safety Training are proud to be the leading provider of health and safety training courses for clients across the North East. If you would like to know more about what we do, please feel free to get in touch with us today and we will be more than happy to help you.