The Significance of Communication

A quick question – out of 8-10 hours at the office, what do you spend your time on? Working, attending meetings, or replying to emails? Well, the answer is communication.

Out of our working hours, 80% of the time we spend on communication. From regular team meetings to client calls and replying to emails, everything that involves verbal and written communication is a part of the process of communication.

The employees and management at every organization spend a considerable amount of time communicating with employees, board of directors, partners, vendors, and clients. No doubt, the essence of communication sets the foundation of team building and thus affects the work environment at organizations.

Think about it, what kind of work environment would you like to work in – a restricted environment with limited communication imbibed by the rules or a vibrant environment where employees have the freedom to express their points of view and ideas? The answer is probably the latter for most of us.

Let’s understand the significance of communication at the workplace and how it affects the work environment and team productivity.

• Obtaining and exchanging information

Communication is a primary way of obtaining and exchanging information at the workplace. From deciding priority tasks to sound decision making, every aspect of daily business operations depends on gaining and exchanging the right information at the right time.

For example, one misplaced email about the assigned task or project deadline can cause chaos for the entire team hampering quality and productivity.

• Power to do constructive work

You receive an email from your manager about a priority task to be completed in a day or two. But you find the project information incomplete without knowing what exactly is to be done or who else is involved.

You must have faced such situations where gathering the right information takes up more of your time, leaving less time for you and your team to actually work on tasks at hand and thus impact the quality of work.

Having the right and necessary information at hand empowers employees to do something constructive each day, which can only be possible with communication and interpersonal skills.

• Linking process of management

Managers spend 70-80% of their time engaged in some form of communication, from conducting meetings and connecting with clients to perform other managerial functions like planning, staffing, and directing. For management, communication is at the heart of these processes.

Just as with every interpersonal communication, workplace communication can make or break the work environment and, in turn, team productivity.

Thus, not only managers but also employees need to develop and improve interpersonal communication skills to start and build communication on the right note.

To start with, here are the 7 c’s of communication – clear, correct, concise, concrete, complete, coherent, and courteous – you should imbibe in every communication. Need more such tips on improving workplace communication skills? Enrolling in short online courses by professionals and industry experts will lead you on the right path.