eTip #648 - Why Collaboration Needs Healthy Communication

Strong workplace collaboration can increase successful innovation by 15%! You’d be hard-pressed to find a hugely successful organization that doesn’t implement some form of collaboration on a regular basis to achieve their goals. But, when your team cannot communicate effectively, business success is shot before it even begins.

We’ve all been there. You respond to a client’s inquiry without knowing the new status of a project because no one filled you in. A colleague seemingly ignores an important e-mail and halts an entire project as a result. Or maybe your team avoids communicating a problem to a leader who is often times rude. If any of these scenarios sound familiar, you know just how instrumental collaboration and communication are to business productivity.

Communications and collaboration go hand in hand in any healthy work environment. Failing to perfect this process can make or break your company’s overall success.  It is absolutely vital that each member of your team aligns on long-term business goals and the communications tactics needed to reach them together. Teams that master communication and collaboration tend to be more efficient and much happier.

A 2016 survey conducted by 15Five found that a whopping 81% of millennial employees would rather join a company that values open communication over a company that offers top of the line perks and benefits. The reason is clear! Broken communication hinders performance, causes frustration, and creates a lack of trust among colleagues.

When employees are unhappy with the communication dynamics at work, collaborative projects fail and customers are left unhappy. This drives homes Richard Branson’s famous theory that says putting your staff first comes full circle. Your happy employees create happy consumers, and your business’ achievements create happy shareholders. Successful business owners recognize that this cycle starts with healthy communication.

Which employee prefers texts over e-mails, and who dislikes who in your office may seem trivial at first. In the end however, these communication preferences matter because they affect your road to business success.

Reversing poor communications habits or creating better ones is not easy. Breaking down organizational silos can help. You can find tips to get started on our blog: Breaking Down Organizational Silos With Cross-Departmental Teams.

Many businesses opt to bring Dale Carnegie Training in house with customized programs or send team members to our Dale Carnegie Course to repair the lines of communication at work.

Successful communication looks different for every business. There is no one size fits all. That’s why Dale Carnegie creates programs tailor-made for middle-market organizations and beyond. We come in-house or off-site to turn around the communication climate of the companies we service. Our Dale Carnegie Course will teach professionals at all levels to maximize their performance and become stronger leaders who communicate effectively. The results are: completed projects and a happy team environment.
For more information, visit our website!