Effective communication among work team members is vital to the team’s success. This is a well known fact, but what is not well known is how to be successful in communicating. Too many times we get caught up in the task at hand or the aspect that we plan to play that we may miss opportunities to collaborate with the entire team. Before we move forward lets address a few issues.
Who is in Charge?
The Team Leader holds the key and sets the tone of how team members will conduct themselves and communicate with each other. If you are the team leader it is recommended that you establish the ground rules in the beginning. Setting expectations up front will minimize pit falls as the projects proceeds.
What Are The Rules?
Communication rules need to be set at the first meeting. If you are a leader who values innovation and creativity then I would recommend that you tell team members what you are looking for from them. It is recommended that you tell all team members that they need to respect each other’s opinions. Too often there may be a team member with great suggestions but they might feel unsure that their ideas will be welcomed. Telling team member what you expect and what are the limitations will help to frame the communication rules.
When Do You Obtain Feedback?
Touching base on a regular basis is suggested but what is regular. Different people need more or less supervision depending upon their knowledge and behavior style. As a team leader you are empowered to ensure you understand team members and what they need to be successful. Regular conversations are the best way to accomplish this. As you travel through the Storming, Forming, Norming stages of team development you can use communication to guide your steps to the Performing stage of team development. Behavior styles are the key to knowing how best and how often to communicate with each team member. Some people need a lot of information before they feel comfortable moving forward, others just want to know the ultimate goal. Did I mention that your behavior style plays a role in how people respond as well?
We will discuss behavior centered communication in a future post. Communication is a key to developing an effective team. Communicating in the way each individual prefers is the best way to ensure good communication.
