Communication is perhaps one of the most essential elements in the workplace as it defines the ability of persons within the organization to coordinate the exchange of information. The exchange of such information from office to office within a company should be as easy and streamlined as possible. To facilitate successful intra-office communication, companies should work within a framework of certain measures which makes sharing of information from one office to another easy. Here are seven surprising tips that can be explored to make intra-office communication easy.
Have a Suitable Office Design
According to this site, the design of an office space is paramount to the success of your business. Your staff needs to be able to communicate effectively, move around the office easily, sit at their desks comfortably in an office that is visually pleasing, clean and crisp.
The design of offices within the business premises can define whether communication would be easy to achieve or not. Whether formal or informal communication, the design of the office has a direct influence on the manner in which workers exchange their information. One of the ways in which the offices can be designed to facilitate communication is to have an open-plan office where there are no partitions which confine an office from another.
The absence of the barriers makes teamwork and collaboration easy to achieve. It also eliminates the need for wired communication such as station to station phones which consequently enables the organization to save on costs. Also, having spaces such as a central entertainment room where workers can have some break time together facilitates members of the same team communicating with each other.
Develop Processes that Facilitate Team-Based Communication
The organizational operation structure can enhance communication, particularly when the structure encourages teamwork and collaboration among members of one team. In this regard, having an office structure where members of the workforce who do similar tasks are grouped to sit in the same office ensures that they can communicate often. Also, the team-based clustered offices promote the need for such members to enforce consultations among each other when fulfilling their work duties.
Eliminate Communication Barriers
When seeking to enforce measures that would encourage communication between offices in the workplace, the most immediate measure to take is to eliminate barriers that impede communication. To this effect, some barriers such as organizational imagined hierarchies impede communication between parties in the office. The social environment in an office can be so strict that it instills fear and too much respect among workers. Such an environment kills morale and incentives to communicate, especially between the top leaders and their subordinates. The best way to resolve this is to encourage social and informal yet official communication methods that break such hierarchical barriers.
Install a VoIP system
Communication channels between offices can also encourage communication. One of the best ways to achieve such phone-based office to office communication is to install a VoIP system that is easy to use yet cheap enough since it uses the internet protocol to mediate communication. The VoIP system, therefore, would not limit or discourage communication due to costs-related issues. Besides, VoIP phone systems are easy to configure besides having other benefits, something that can be done by every member of the office.
Hold Office and Workplace Meetings Often
Another way to encourage intra-office communication is to be holding office meetings where each member of the office is given an opportunity to share. To ensure that each member is brought on board as far as being proactive in communication, the meetings can be informalized such that it is an open forum. All members can then be encouraged to share by being given the opportunity to chair the meetings where other office members are required to do a briefing on the course of their work. In such a setting, every member of the workforce is encouraged to communicate, even the shyest members.
Be an Active Listener
Communication cannot be effective without one party listening effectively. Being a listener encourages the other party to communicate. In an office setting, listening can entail being responsive to communication channeled to you by the communicating party. Such listening involves understanding and accommodating the point of view of another person and appreciating their differing opinions. On the other hand, failing to pick up calls channeled from one office to another would hamper communication and set a foul relationship.
Accommodate Social and Cultural Differences
Diversity is highly encouraged in the workplace. Such diversity brings on board members of the workforce that have differences in cultural and social values. Such differing values can be expressed when it comes to communication. When such a person is accommodated in the workforce, their communication values should as well be tolerated and perhaps attenuated and discouraged gradually over time to eliminate the barriers. To bring on board such a member, their culture-based communication preferences should be respected.
Intra-office communication is highly essential for any department or company. Making strides in the right direction towards achieving communication requires a set of certain measures as outlined above. The implementation of these measures ensures the elimination of barriers that discourage communication while setting in place a system where all members of the office are free to communicate with each other.