Useful Ideas On Effective Workplace Communication Training

By Agnes Dickson


In many ways, the level of communication in an organization portrays its culture to the public and so affects popularity of its brand. Therefore, it would be unfortunate for a company to utterly neglect workplace communication training for its staff. On the same breadth, a firm should have clear policies on communicating critical issues and should limit access to information on a need-to-know basis.

One of the most important aspects of any communication training in the workplace is email etiquette. Most companies have email addresses for their employees used to make their work easier within the organization. Staff members use such email account to pass important messages within or outside the organization that enable smooth running of business in the firm. However, if not properly used they could cause confusion and risk safety of information.

When writing emails to fellow staff, employees must do so professionally. The language used must be modest and simple to understand. The subject must be clear and relevant to the role of the recipient. This way, the addressee will be able to respond to the request effectively. Emails that are not clear act as a distraction to the recipients and have direct impact on their productivity.

It is also polite for employees to include full official contact details and company logo in their signature. This enables to recipient contact the sender easily in case clarification is required. It also gives the company an opportunity to reinforce its brand especially where sending emails to external parties is involved.

When communicating to the public or issuing press statements, the company should appoint a specific person to do so. Many firms prefer setting up a corporate affairs department to handle such tasks. This is very important in maintaining the image of the firm. Not every staff should be allowed to speak for the company as this will create confusion as well as convey inaccurate information especially from miss-informed employees.

Another important tool in the office is the telephone. This could also be misused if employees are not trained properly. Some do not practise telephone etiquette, while others leave their unattended to. This is wrong. With the current growth in technology, one can always set their work telephones to leave appropriate instructions for those calling when the recipient is not near the phone. Such will also record details of callers and the owner can call back for follow-up. This is better than acting like you just ignored the call.

This kind of attitude is irresponsible and not befitting modern time professionalism. It is important for every company to create a responsive culture at the workplace. Telephones should be attended to after the second ring. With advancement in digital technology, it is possible to track missed calls on a telephone handset. This way, staff members can return missed calls and assist the callers appropriately. If a call is misdirected, it is also polite to transfer it to the right person first time. This helps resolve queries with minimum handshakes as possible.

Employees ought to keep face to face talks at professional level. They should practise courtesy and proper use of language at work. Many businesses have comprehensive code of conduct each employee is given to read and commit when beginning their work.




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