All offices are different – FACT

Many offices nowadays try and cultivate a specific environment. Sometimes this may lead to people dressing in a similar style or communicating in a particular way. Effective discussions are also about the actual mode of communication.

Let’s face it; everyone has their own preference on their form of communication – email, telephone or face to face communication. Many people struggle with finding the right type of communication to have with their colleagues. If a person prefers telephone communication are you going to email them? I would hope not! It comes down to understanding how your colleagues work and respecting their decision.

Not sure how your colleague prefers to communicate – ASK?

“Miscommunication – a failure to communicate accurately”

Do people communicate enough? Some do and others don’t! Finding the balance isn’t easy but hey, let’s talk about it within our teams and try to improve on this.

Here are two pointers which I feel are extremely important with communication;

1. Watch your body language; and
2. Be direct

Watch your body language;

Body language is key in communication – A major problem you can run into at work is miscommunication through body language. How are you going to improve your body language? The best way to improve on anything is to pay attention to it.

STOP with the negative body language such as sighing, rolling eyes and crossed limbs.

START with positive body language such as genuine smiles, uncrossed limbs and maintain eye contact.

To be fair it’s a tough one to improve on but being aware of your body language will certainly improve office communication. Once you understand what you are conveying it will be easier to convey the right message. Body language is only part of the picture, but it’s a bigger part than you might think.

Be direct

As mentioned earlier one of the biggest problems with communication is miscommunication. This usually occurs when people are unsure about what to do. Workplace communication should be quick and simple. BE DIRECT. When you are direct about your communication everyone is on the same page. Communication is becomes more effective.

I hope you will take away something from this. Something worth doing right isn’t always going to be easy. It’s about paying attention to the little cues.