7 Tips to Improve Communication and Teamwork

Communication and teamwork are intrinsically linked. Effective communication keeps team members on the same page, improves teamwork, boosts productivity, and enables employees to perform at their full potential.

Remote work is ever on the rise, and hybrid teams are becoming the new standard. As a result, communicating at work has become more difficult in recent years. That’s why every leader should prioritize communication and teamwork skills.

This guide highlights some of the most effective tips to help you improve teamwork, communication, and company culture. 

Signs of Poor Communication at Work

Is your team communicating daily through messaging channels like Slack, Teams, and Google Chat? Great! That doesn’t mean you’re in the clear, though. Your workplace could still be suffering from poor communication. 

Active communication doesn’t always equal effective team communication. Team members often struggle to convey emotions and tones when communicating via chat and email. This can lead to miscommunication, confusion, and frustration. 

The signs of poor communication at work can manifest in various ways. Here are some questions that’ll help you decide if you need to place greater emphasis on communication: 

• Misunderstandings: Are your employees often confused about roles, expectations, or deadlines? Do tasks require multiple rounds of revisions because they get completed incorrectly?

• Lack of clarity: Do mistakes or delays often occur because somebody didn’t clearly communicate key details? Have employees complained about vague or overly complicated instructions? 

• Limited feedback: Do your managers provide constructive feedback to help employees improve? Do employees often say that their concerns are being ignored?

• Conflict and tension: Is there a noticeable lack of trust or collaboration between team members? Has miscommunication escalated into arguments or resentment in the past? 

• Information silos: Is there a lack of transparency between teams, leading to missed opportunities and redundant work? Do teams or departments withhold information from each other, even if it’s unintentional? 

• Blame-shifting: Do mistakes often lead to a blame game that gets in the way of problem-solving? Are employees commonly defensive when issues come up?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, it’s time to focus on improving teamwork and communication skills in the workplace. The more collaboration your projects require, the more assertive and intentional your team’s communication should be. 

If you answered no to every question, consider being proactive and working on it anyway! Most employees can benefit from some guidelines and even team activities to improve communication regardless. 

7 Tips for Effective Communication and Teamwork 

So, how can you improve teamwork and communication? Team building activities and new workplace communication guidelines are examples of effective options. 

Below, we’ll highlight our top seven tips for improving communication and teamwork. Consider reordering them from most to least important based on the issues in your workplace. Alternatively, you might look for a couple of ideas you can implement this month and then move on to the other ideas in the following months.

1. Facilitate Effective Communication and Teamwork by Listening

A good speaker is a good listener. Learning to communicate more effectively also means noticing what others say when they talk to you. 

Here’s a good rule of thumb: Always begin and end any communication by listening. 

We’re not saying you should ask endless questions, but be sure you’re taking the time to listen before communicating. Focus on understanding what other people say and mean; this is especially important over Zoom and other virtual platforms.

Good listening skills immediately improve the efficacy of communication in teamwork situations. Here are some pointers: 

• Listen: Remember that your goal is listening to what the other person is saying. 
• Confirm: If you feel confused, repeat what the person told you in your own words and ask if you understand them correctly.
• Be present: Avoid the impulse to listen only for the end of their sentence so that you can blurt out your thoughts and ideas.
• Be patient: Don’t interrupt or talk over other people. Doing so can make them feel insignificant or unheard, which could lead to other misunderstandings.
• Double-check: Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback from others to ensure they understand you. 
• Check-in: Encourage employees to give anonymous feedback about the team’s communication and teamwork skills to check in about their perspective. 

Something as simple as sending a message asking each person to practice active listening can improve team cooperation and communication skills. 

2. Be Mindful of Your Messaging

When you’re talking to someone about a problem, is it your intention to place blame? Or are you trying to get to the bottom of an issue? 

Chances are, you want to discuss what is and isn’t working and then find a solution. But if you’re using language that sounds critical, your discussion might feel more like a verbal attack. This can hurt relationships within your team and leave you completely uninformed.

Work situations can get emotional, making clear messaging even more challenging. Here are some guidelines to help with mindful messaging: 

• Stay on topic: Avoid tangential asides or discussing too many subjects simultaneously. Stay on one topic until the discussion is over.
• Use the correct words: If you’re not sure of the meaning of a word, don’t use it. When you use the wrong words, employees will not understand you—they may also doubt your competency the more it happens.
• Know your message: Know what you’re trying to convey before speaking. If you need more time to complete a thought, take it. Schedule a time for your conversation later in the day or week. 
• Make eye contact: Research suggests that when two people make eye contact, their neural activity synchronizes and improves communication. Holding someone’s eyes while you speak also conveys trust and honesty while helping them focus on you.
• Use intentional gestures: Body language and tone can easily send the wrong message, so be intentional with your gestures. This is especially important when discussing anything emotional. 

These same guidelines apply when messaging a team member. Consider your words and how you think your coworker will interpret them. If it’s appropriate for your company culture, you might also benefit from using one or two well-placed emojis. 

Remember, the timing of your message is just as critical as its execution. Assess your team member’s mood and use that as a gauge. 

For instance, say your team member is stressed, overwhelmed, or rushing to meet a deadline. In this case, it’s likely best to hold off on communicating anything that could be perceived as negative. Wait until they are in a better headspace, and then come back to it. 

3. Practice Effective Communication

Here are some additional tactics to improve communication and teamwork in the workplace. You can practice them in conversations with people in your personal and professional life or even on your own during your commute or downtime. 

• • Slow down: Pause before you respond to give yourself a chance to think and to avoid cutting someone off.

• Speak clearly: Make sure your words can be heard and understood the first time you say them—avoid mumbling and use good enunciation.

• • Use appropriate volume: Talking too loudly or quietly can distract the listener, so choose a volume suitable for the setting.
  • Write down your thoughts: Keeping notes about what you want to say helps you stay on topic and cover all your points. 

• Be open: Sharing a bit about yourself during the conversation can encourage open, honest communication. 

• Close the loop: Is the conversation finished? Then wrap it up so there’s no confusion. 

When leaders communicate openly and effectively, their teams are more relaxed around leadership and each other. Kit Pang of BostonSpeaks reiterated this when we chatted with him about communication anxiety, stating:

“As a manager, how can you share examples of yourself? Maybe the last time you had perfectionism, the last time you felt imposter syndrome, the last time you got nervous speaking—your sharing will help your team share more, too.”

4. Set Team Communication Expectations

Establish norms and expectations within the workplace to keep everyone on the same page. This also offers a good chance to set personal boundaries. 

Let your team members know your preferred communication channels for different topics and the best times to reach you. For example, you could mention that you respond quicker on Slack and clarify that you silence communication after hours so you can answer the following day.

Then, encourage them to do the same so everyone knows the best ways to communicate with each other. 

Beyond timing and channels, encourage the use of concise and informative subject lines in emails and messages. This will help recipients understand the purpose without opening the entire message if they’re busy. Also, remember to establish guidelines for urgent or priority markers to signal when quick attention is needed.

Setting these expectations minimizes misunderstandings, which improves communication and teamwork while protecting each person’s boundaries.

5. Schedule Team Building for Teamwork and Communication

Team building activities are practical tools for strengthening communication and teamwork. Virtual options, such as online game shows, team challenges, or escape rooms, work well for remote and hybrid teams. 

These activities allow your team to mingle outside of their typical work environment, allowing them to bond and learn about one another.

Teams interacting in relaxed and fun settings can break down communication barriers, leading to more open and honest interactions. 

It’s important to treat these activities as more than just a one-time event. They’re best at improving connections and communication when they’re integrated into your team’s culture. At TeamBonding, we have 25+ years of experience doing this, and we’ve seen it work time and time again. Trust us. 

6. Encourage Active Participation in Team Meetings

Fostering an inclusive environment where team members feel safe sharing their perspectives is the foundation for effective communication and teamwork. 

With remote work and online meetings fast becoming the standard, creating opportunities for everyone to contribute is more important than ever. This might mean encouraging quieter voices, using structured turn-taking approaches, or requiring video communication so people can see non-verbal cues. 

Whatever the approach, encourage active participation from all team members. 

One of our podcast guests, Maurice Harary, gave us valuable advice to improve remote meetings:

“Don’t just get on a call. Get on a video call. Seeing the person and their reactions—there’s a lot of nonverbal communication that goes on. We do lose some of it with remote, but if you have your video on, you at least can eliminate or minimize how much of that you’re actually losing.”

Beyond the meetings, provide a platform for follow-up discussions to ensure everyone is heard. Consider providing meeting agendas in advance so everyone has time to prepare their contributions and questions.

7. Cultivate Emotional Resilience and Empowerment

Stress is detrimental to communication and teamwork—it leads to isolation, disconnection, and low morale when allowed to fester. 

To cultivate emotional resilience, focus on coping mechanisms to help everyone navigate stress and adversity. Encourage team members to share their struggles and challenges and offer support and understanding when they do. 

The leader’s job is to notice when a team member is struggling and provide adequate assistance. The leader should promote a culture where mental well-being and psychological safety are a priority and team members feel comfortable seeking help when needed.

Empowerment through peer recognition is also crucial for communication and teamwork. Trust your team members to take ownership of their tasks and projects. Delegate responsibilities and encourage them when they do something great. This can improve engagement and proactive communication in problem-solving tasks.

 

Master Effective Teamwork and Communication Skills

Effective communication and teamwork can influence in-person and remote workplaces for the better. Likewise, poor communication and teamwork are detrimental. Pay attention to what works for your team and what doesn’t, and dedicate yourself to constant improvement. 

It’s essential to take additional measures to bring your team together and ensure they are communicating mindfully. If you have a virtual or hybrid workplace, educate your team on best practices to improve communication and teamwork. 

TeamBonding offers a variety of team building programs to foster effective communication—some of our faves are Charity Bike Build, Mystery Bus, and Beat the Box. 

Contact us today and start enhancing your teamwork communication!

Want the science behind what makes teamwork, well, work? Download our free Psychology of Teamwork eBook!