Communication isn't a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. There's good communication, and there's most certainly bad communication, as well as everything in between. We often hear about communication skills as one of those 'buzz' phrases that get thrown about in corporate spheres, without ever really stopping to examine what those skills actually are. The reality, though, is that a commitment to more positive communication within the workplace (and all walks of life, for that matter) can genuinely yield better results.
In this post, we're going to explain exactly why that is. But before we dive further into the impacts that positive communication can have on your organisation, it's worth clarifying exactly what we mean when we talk about positive communication skills.
What is positive communication?
Positive communication can be thought of as effective communication and it constitutes a range of aspects, including (but not limited to) your facial expressions, eye contact and other nonverbal communication, your ability to listen deeply to the speaker's message and avoid interrupting, your ability to pick up on important cultural differences, and generally positive, open and welcoming body language.
If you can focus on honing these positive communication skills, and establish areas where you (or your employees) might be falling upon, then your organisation's team effectiveness will almost certainly increase as a result. Now that we've established the 'what' of positive communication, we need to look at how/why it can lead to better results.
Why is positive communication important?
Effective communication has many positive impacts, including:
Creating a more trusting work environment
There's nothing worse than a company where everyone feels as though they have to walk around on eggshells. When you communicate effectively using those techniques mentioned above, employees feel as though they can speak their minds without fear of judgement or blame.
If you feel stressed about a deadline or task in the workplace, you're less likely to want to talk about it if the thought of talking to your boss fills you with dread. And if it doesn't get talked about, then the problem will likely become worse, creating a vicious cycle of non-communication, and a more toxic workplace overall.
Mitigating conflict becomes easier
Conflict is an inevitable part of any workplace. Whether it's an issue for HR or simply a creative disagreement, pressurised environments (which all jobs are, at least to an extent) provide ideal breeding conditions for disagreements, conflicts and differences of opinion. If an organisation doesn't value communicating positively, mitigating such conflicts becomes more difficult. In fact, those conflicts can end up escalating if you're not careful.
If an organisation prioritises positive communication, however, conflicts are more easily nipped in the bud. That's because a conversation that has the potential to be flammable, so to speak, is dowsed by focusing on mutual understanding, active listening and a respectful tone. Again, these might seem like obvious practices, and if you're already implementing them within your professional role, then kudos! But you'd be surprised at how many people tend to default to guarded, closed-off body language in tense conflicts.
Keeping things calm and trying to understand all perspectives
Mitigating conflict is all about diffusing a situation, and that's far easier to do when a conversation is conducted with respect and where emotions are kept in check where appropriate. In a conflict, one of the most effective communication skills is to avoid putting all the blame on the other party.
In truth, conflicts are rarely ever completely one-sided, so an acknowledgement of where they might be coming from can help validate the person with whom you're sharing the conversation, even when they're objectively in the wrong. This is an especially important step if you're mediating a conflict between two employees.
Another good tip to help avoid letting your frustration, anger or upset get the better of you mid-conversation is to speak slowly. Not only does this give you more time to formulate exactly what it is you want to say, but it also helps prevent you from saying anything rash or anything that might escalate a conflict further.
Positive communication helps remote workers feel included
We've all been there - reading too much into the 'tone' of a colleague or supervisor's email. It's much harder to convey tone-of-voice through an email or other online communication, and being concise (to the point of being blunt) has the potential to damage the morale of your remote workers over time. Fortunately, though, this is an incredibly easy thing to change.
The inclusion of just a few more positive words within your emails can be enough to ensure your remote workers feel valued and included. The latter is particularly important if your organisation features both office workers and remote workers, as staff working from home might already be prone to feeling more left out when compared with their on-premise colleagues.
Whether it be a small, non-work-related personal question, the addition of a positive concluding sentiment (like "my warmest wishes") or even just the inclusion of an exclamation mark, these seemingly minor tweaks can keep a remote worker's morale (and therefore productivity) higher than it would be otherwise.
What are examples of effective communication skills?
- Active Listening: as we've mentioned, positive communication is all about actually listening to whoever is speaking. You can show you're an active listener with nonverbal cues like angling your body in the speaker's direction and making regular eye contact.
- Empathy: the ability to understand and share another person's feelings is essential for those wanting to develop deeper relationships - something everyone should hope for. It not only builds trust but demonstrates that you are aware of those around you.
- Feedback: a culture of constructive feedback is important in promoting growth, but only if it is received as a positive message with good intentions. Like any skill, both giving and receiving feedback can require practice.
- Clarity: it's no use communicating in a way that others can't easily grasp, especially in situations of collaboration. If you overcomplicate things, not only are misunderstandings to be expected, but you may also come across as intentionally trying to intimidate someone with complexity. Always be clear about what you want people to know.
Want to learn more about positive communication?
If, having read this, you'd like to improve your positive communication skills consider one of UTS Open's communication short courses or microcredentials? We have a range of courses in which to enrol, for example, our Managing Crisis Communication and Engaging with Stakeholders: Tools and Tactics short courses.
Final thoughts
The creation of a more trusting, safer-feeling workplace, the ability to mitigate conflict better, and the reframing of your online communications to better include your remote workforce, are all products of more positive communication. If you'd like to find out more about any of our short courses, then click here.
