Poor communication with your coworkers will cost you time and money. Many poor communicators are also the boss or a supervisor. Sometimes they think they’re just tough with staff, when the leader is actually a poor communicator.
Whether you lead a team or just want to communicate better with your coworkers, you’ll like these tips. It’s all about clearly getting your message across to someone.
In this episode of our Productivity Edge series, you’ll learn how poor communication can lead to mistakes and guesswork. You’ll also pick up effective communication tips for coworkers and other people in your organization.
What Productivity Questions Does This Video Answer?
- How do I become a better communicator at work?
- How can I communicate better with my team?
- What can I do to communicate better with coworkers?
- How can I prevent communication mistakes?
Video Transcript
You think you’re a tough boss but are you really? A lot of people who say, “I’m a tough boss,” are actually poor communicators.
They have mistaken the fact that their team is rushing around all the time, for them being demanding and bringing out the best in people, when it may just be their communication style is so bad that it produces chaos.
Poor communicators often leave out important pieces of information. And then staff members, they have to play detective and try to figure out what you meant.
The problem is if it they guess incorrectly, that leads to more work and a decrease in productivity.
Poor communicators usually are not present in the moment. You may be rushing from meeting to meeting or you have constant calls. But when someone comes to ask you a question, are you able to stop everything else and give 100% percent of your attention to that person, addressing their concern?
Very often, you’re not really listening, your answers isn’t that good, you may not even remember what you said. It leads again to problems down the road.
So someone needs some help from you, some advice, some guidance. They shoot you can email, leave you a voicemail. You need to get back to your team member but you never do. Even just to say, “Hey, I’m swamped. Let’s talk about this later.”
So again, people have to guess. Try to figure out what you need and what you want. And they guess wrong? Ding, ding, ding. Loss of productivity.
You don’t want to train your team to just stop even trying to reach you because they’ve become so frustrated.
Good communicators, they save time, they save energy, they keep people from getting stressed out on the job. Think about that. A good communicator is a great boss.
Ken Okel’s ongoing Productivity Edge video series is designed to make you more effective on the job. Every week, you’ll learn a new, easy to understand tip that you can use right away.
About Ken Okel
Ken Okel works with leaders and organizations to boost productivity, performance, and profits. At conferences, conventions, and company meetings, he engages audiences with new ways to maximize their time at work. To see a sample of his keynote and workshop presentations, visit: https://www.kenokel.com/videos/
