What is good team communication and why is it important

Good team communication is the foundation of good teamwork. In other words, in

order for teammates to successfully collaborate together, they’ll need to
communicate well throughout their joint work.

Table of Contents

 Working in a team — basic definitions

o What is a team?

o What is team communication?

 o What is teamwork?

o Why is teamwork so important?

o How does team communication relate to teamwork?

 What are the components of the team communication process?

o The sender

o The message

o Encoding

o Noise

o The channel

o The receiver(s)

o Decoding

o Feedback

o Environment

o Context

 An example of good team communication

o Initiating communication

o Replies

o Why is this an example of good communication?

 o How this example of team communication could have gone wrong

 Why good team communication is important (a.k.a the benefits of team

communication)

o Good team communication promotes understanding

o Good team communication leads to good collaboration

o Good team communication increases productivity

o Good team communication increases creativity

o Good team communication helps you accept changes easier

o Good team communication helps you solve problems easier

o Good team communication improves employee morale (and decreases

employee turnover)

o Good team communication helps you deal with conflicts easier

o Good team communication creates a non-threatening environment

o Good team communication builds trusts

o Good team communication builds self-esteem

o Good team communication encourages future input

o Good team communication builds client relations

o Good team communication improves the organization’s reputation

 How poor communication affects a team

 How do you effectively communicate in a team?

o Be honest

o Be clear and concise

o Be respectful and considerate

o Choose the best channel for conveying your message

o Listen attentively

o Be open to feedback and constructive criticism

o Address issues as they arise

 Conclusion

Working in a team — basic definitions

Before we explain what team communication is, let’s start with the basics of what
working in a team implies. Here, we’ll talk about the basic definitions of teams,
communication, teamwork, and how team communication connects these terms.

What is a team?

According to the MIT Human Resources website, a team is as a group “formed

deliberately and carefully to meet work needs that an individual or a group of
individuals cannot meet as effectively.”
Individuals working in a team need to work interdependently. They need to come
together frequently, in order to make decisions, carry out discussions, plan future
work, and solve problems. They primarily focus on team goals and are concerned
with everyone’s outcomes and challenges.

All of this implies that teams need to communicate frequently and effectively.

What is team communication?

In the words of the American screenwriter Charlie Kaufman: “Constantly talking

isn’t necessarily communicating.”

So, effective communication involves more than a simple transmission of

information. It also requires that the transmission of information be successful —
i.e. that the person sharing the information is successful at conveying it properly,
and that the person or group receiving the information is successful at interpreting
it properly.

Team communication represents all interactions and exchanges of information that

occur in a team. These interactions and exchanges in a team may occur:

 as different types of communication (e.g. verbal, nonverbal, written, or

visual interactions);

 as different communication situations (e.g. 1-to-1 conversations, job

interviews, or meetings);

 as different communication styles (e.g. aggressive, passive, or assertive

forms of communication);
  via different communication channels (e.g. phone calls, direct messages in
team chat apps, or emails).

To learn more about different types, situations, styles, and channels of

communication, check out our other dedicated guides:
→ The types of communication at work: everything you need to know
→ Communication situations you’ll take part in at work
→ The communication styles you’ll encounter when working in a team
→ The channels of communication

What is teamwork?

According to the MIT Human Resources website, teamwork is “a shared

commitment both to the team’s process (how the team works together) and to its
product (what work the team accomplishes).”

Factors that describe great teamwork include:

 Clear directions towards common goals;

 Well defined roles;

 Trust;

 Constant collaboration;

 Open communication.

Why is teamwork so important?

The benefits that connect great teamwork with successfully reaching a common
goal while working interdependently are many:

1. Teamwork breeds great ideas — According to John J. Murphy, the author of

“Pulling Together: 10 Rules for High-Performance Teamwork”, we may
admire the “lone geniuses”, but each famous name whose inventions and
skills we praise today had a team of people behind them who made it all
possible to such an extent.
2. Teamwork encourages healthy risk-taking — Working in a team allows
individuals to share responsibility with their teammates, and thus encourages
them to take some healthy risks and propose new solutions to old problems.
3. Teamwork makes individuals happier (and more successful) —
One Atlassian research reports that honest feedback, mutual respect, and
personal openness (which are all integral to great teamwork) help make the
members of a team 80% more likely to report high-emotional well-being and
60% more likely to achieve more and perform work faster.
4. Teamwork helps teammates grow as individuals — According to Susan
McDaniel, Ph.D., a psychologist at the University of Rochester Medical
Center, teamwork can help individuals understand their weaknesses and then
work on improving them:“We all have blind spots about our behaviors and
strengths that we may be unaware of, and feedback from a team member can
expose them.”
5. Teamwork decreases the chance for burnout — According to various
research, 7 out of 10 people have had at least some contact with burnout.
Burnout is linked with the stress of having a lot of work to do and not
enough time and resources to do it, and teamwork can alleviate this kind of
stress as teams share the workload.
How does team communication relate to teamwork?

Team communication is a crucial element in establishing great teamwork across

the workplace.

After all, the flow of new ideas, recognition meant to highlight your efforts thus
far, feedback meant to inspire you to improve further, or, in gist, everything
beneficial that comes from teamwork, requires constant, proper communication.

What are the components of the team communication process?

In order to understand the processes of team communication, once again, we’ll

need to understand the processes of communication first.

According to various theoretical frameworks, the communication process is a

series of actions taken in order to successfully communicate a message. It involves
8 main components:

 The sender;

 The message;

 Encoding;

 Noise;

 The channel;

 The receiver(s);
  Decoding;

 Feedback.

Certain theoretical frameworks add 2 more components:

 The environment;

 The context.

Here’s what each is about:

The sender

The sender (also often referred to as “the source”) is the foundation of the
communication process, as the sender is the person who initiates communication.

After the sender generates a piece of information they want to transmit, they
encode it in such a way that the receiver is able to understand it.

According to A.C. “Buddy” Krizan et al., the authors of “Business

Communication”, the obligations of the sender in the process of communication
include:

 selecting the type of message

 analyzing the receiver

 using the you-viewpoint

 encouraging feedback
  removing communication barriers.

The message

The message is the piece of information (e.g. a thought or idea) the sender wants to
transfer to others. According to Scott McLean, the author of “The Basics of
Interpersonal Communication”, a message in a communication process
represents “the stimulus or meaning produced by the source for the receiver or the
audience”.

The message may be transmitted in several different ways, including:

 In spoken form;

 In written form;

 As visual information;

 As nonverbal cues.

The way in which the sender will transmit the message will depend on the situation
and the type of information the sender wants to convey.

Encoding

Encoding is the process of turning the thought or idea the sender wants to convey
into communication.

The process of encoding may involve the sender choosing the right words in the
right order to “describe” the thought or idea (or selecting a suitable visual aid for
this purpose) and then placing the message into an appropriate channel.
Noise

Noise (also often referred to as “the interference”) represents everything that

interferes with the communication process and distorts the intended message.
Noise may occur during the process of encoding (on the sender’s end), the process
of decoding (on the receiver’s end), or during both processes.

According to Julia T. Wood and her book “Interpersonal Communication:

Everyday Encounters”, there are 4 types of noise:

1. Physiological noisei.e. the factors that affect how we feel and think (e.g.
hunger, headaches, fatigue, etc.);
2. Physical noisei.e. the interferences in our environment (e.g. cold offices,
music on the radio, people talking loudly nearby, etc.);
3. Psychological noisei.e. our qualities that affect how we communicate with
others (e.g. personal worries, relationship problems, etc.);
4. Semantic noisei.e. when communicators don’t understand each other (e.g.
due to jargon or technical language).

The channel

According to McLean in his book “The Basics of Interpersonal Communication”,

the channel is “the way in which a message or messages travel between source and
receiver.”

Each channel of communication (sometimes also referred to as the “medium of

communication”) has its advantages and disadvantages, so the sender will need to
be careful to select the appropriate channel when encoding the message.

The receiver(s)
According to McLean, “the receiver receives the message from the source,
analyzing and interpreting the message in ways both intended and unintended by
the source.”

The receiver(s) (sometimes also referred to as “the audience”) may listen, read,
view, or otherwise experience the message.

For the communication to be effective, the receiver(s) will need to:

1. be attentive in order to understand the message;

2. have the right communication channels active;
3. not be distracted by the previously mentioned noise.

Decoding

Decoding is the process of turning communication into a thought or idea, to make

sense of what was communicated.

The process of decoding involves the receiver interpreting the message (e.g. a
thought or idea disclosed by the sender), and trying to understand it in the best way
possible.

Feedback

Feedback (sometimes referred to as “the response”) represents the reply the

receiver has to the message transmitted through a particular channel of
communication by the sender.
Feedback is the crucial step in the process of communication, as it answers the
question of whether the message was properly encoded, sent, decoded, and
interpreted.

Environment

McLean defines environment in the following way:

“The environment is the atmosphere, physical and psychological, where you send
and receive messages.”

For example, the environment in the communication process may refer to the room
where a conversation is taking place (e.g. smaller rooms require you don’t speak
loudly, as your receivers are likely standing right next to you).

But, it also refers to the appearance of the communicators (e.g. formal dress
implies that the conversation is formal and professional).

Context

According to McLean, context includes “the setting, scene, and expectations of the
individuals involved.”

For example, the context in the communication process may be interpreted

differently by different participants in a conversation, in terms of its formality and
the rules the communicators should follow.
—

So, now that we’ve understood the communication process in general, it’s time to
see how this process applies to communication in a team:

Well, in gist, the team communication process involves the same listed
elements in its process.

In any instance of the communication process among teammates, members of other

teams, and managers, someone will be regarded as a sender who’ll need to
encode/transform a line of thought into a message.

Moreover, someone will be regarded as a receiver who’ll need to

decode/understand the message and then provide suitable feedback/reply.
At any point during this process, noise/interference may arise to distort the original
message and/or feedback and disrupt communication.

Let’s look at an example of good communication among teammates.

An example of good team communication

Imagine Rose, who writes articles for a blog, and Thomas, who creates illustrations
for that blog.

Initiating communication

Rose (the sender) wants Thomas to create a graph for her future blog post.

So she encodes her process of thought that led to the idea of creating a graph into
written form, where she explains how she wants the graph to look.

She manages to convey her idea for the graph clearly and concisely, despite being
distracted by her dog loudly barking at the front door of her home office (physical
noise).

She sends her request to Thomas (the receiver) as a direct message in a chat app,
such as Pumble (the channel of communication).

Rose also adds a reference image for the graph, just to make sure that Thomas
understands what elements this particular graph is supposed to have:

Rose Tennant: Hey Thomas! I’ve just finished a new blog post titled “Fun facts
and statistics about time zones”.
I’m sending you a link to the draft – https://docs.google.com/document/d/example

At one point in the text, I talk about the top 5 countries with the largest number of
time zones, and I wanted to create a graph for this data. The data I want you to
create a graph for is in the draft, I’ve highlighted it for you.

I was thinking that we could create a graph that involves a horizontal bar graph
and an appropriate illustration above it.

Here is an example of the layout I’d envisioned:

So, the title of the graph should be “5 countries with the largest number of time
zones” and it should be at the top.

The accompanying illustration should be below it. And, the actual horizontal bar
graph should be below the illustration.
The footnote should read:

France spans across 12 different time zones, despite being only 42. on the list of
the largest countries by total area. Source: United Nations Statistics Division

The illustration above the data and below the title could be a map of the world,
with the mentioned countries highlighted.

Conversation in Pumble

Replies

Thomas (the receiver) receives this written message and the reference image,
and decodes everything in such a way that he understands clearly what Rose has
envisioned for the graph. He manages to do so, despite being quite
hungry (physiological noise).
He sends her a reply that he will send her a sketch of the graph by 2 pm today, and
finish everything by tomorrow morning, 10 am at the latest (the
feedback/response).

Rose thanks him, and makes it clear that she is available for any further questions.

This communication process may repeat several times in the future, as Rose and
Thomas talk more about the graph, in which case the messages and feedback they
want to convey, their roles in the communication process, and even the noise that
obstructs their communication, may change.

Thomas Clark: OK, Rose, I’ve looked into everything and I understand what
you’re looking for. I’ll have a sketch for you by 2 pm today. Once you approve the
sketch, I’ll finish everything by tomorrow morning, at 10 am at the latest.

Rose Tennant: Thank you, Thomas! Let me know if I’ve left anything unclear or if
you have any further questions, so we’ll discuss the graph more.

Thomas Clark: Will do!

“
Conversation in Pumble

Why is this an example of good communication?

There are several reasons why the above-described example of communication

between Thomas and Rose was successful:

 Rose was effective at explaining her request

Rose, as the sender, was successful at encoding her idea into a piece of
information. She explained everything she wanted the graph to contain, and she
was clear, precise, and concise while doing so. She sent Thomas a link to the draft
that contains the data, so he can take in a larger context of the data for the graph, if
needed. In the end, she made it clear that she’s available for further questions.

 Thomas was effective at interpreting and replying to the request

Thomas, as the receiver, was successful at decoding the piece of information he
had just read. He was also successful at sending Rose appropriate feedback, i.e. a
suitable reply. He was clear about understanding the request and provided precise
times when he’ll deliver upon that request.

 The channel of communication was effectively chosen

The chat app they used proved to be a great channel of communication for this
conversation, as it allowed Rose to attach a reference image to clarify her request.
Plus, considering that the conversation was realized in written form, Thomas can
use Rose’s description of the graph as a reference whenever he needs a reminder of
the points they’ve discussed.

 Both parties were effective “listeners”

Both Rose and Thomas were attentive when reading each other’s replies.

 The interferences were successfully overcome

Both Rose and Thomas managed to overcome the noise (i.e. the barking dog and
the feeling of hunger) threatening to disrupt the effectiveness of their
communication process.

 The communication environment was suitable

The atmosphere the two communicators built while communicating was pleasant,
and Rose did not let her dog (who was a part of that environment, at least on
Rose’s part) disrupt her line of thought at the time.

 The context was clear

Both parties understood the context of this communication interaction, i.e. each
other’s expectations.

How this example of team communication could have gone wrong

So, the previously described example of communication between Thomas the

illustrator and Rose the blog post writer is an example of good team
communication.

However, the course of this particular instance of the communication process could
have gone in a completely different direction:

 The interferences could have won

The dog barking in front of Rose’s door could have led her to forget to highlight
important elements of the graph in her written message. Moreover, Thomas’s
feeling of hunger could have led him to misinterpret the type of graph Rose wants
him to create, even if she was clear about this in her written message. Thomas also
could have been distracted by his other assignments, meaning that he may have not
been paying sufficient attention to understand what Rose is requesting.

 There could have been a lack of clarity

Rose could have also been vague in her request, meaning that Thomas may not
have understood what type of graph he needs to create. Thomas could have been
vague about when he’ll get back to Rose about her request. In addition, Rose could
have paid less attention to the formatting of her written request, which means that
Thomas could have had a harder time distinguishing where Rose’s written request
ends and where the data she wants to include in the graph starts.
  There could have been technical issues

Thomas could have received the message later than it would have been ideal, due
to problems with his internet connection he wasn’t even aware of, considering he
usually creates illustrations in an offline app.

Rose Tennant: Hey Thomas! I’ve just finished a new blog post titled “Fun facts
and statistics about time zones”. At one point in the text, I talk about the top 5
countries with the largest number of time zones, and I wanted to create a graph for
this data: France – 12; The US and Russia – 11; The UK – 9; Australia – 8;
Canada – 6. Something simple, but elegant.

Thomas Clark: OK, Rose, sounds great. I’ll get back to you about this today or
tomorrow.

Rose Tennant: OK, great!

Good communication involves properly conveying and understanding a message.

And yet, the process of communication can go wrong in various different ways, as
evident.

However, good communication among teammates, but also with other

colleagues and managers is always worth pursuing, as it has a number of
tangible benefits to establishing great teamwork.

Why good team communication is important (a.k.a the benefits of team communication)
From better understanding, easier collaboration, increased productivity, to
improved creativity, easier problem solving, and a lower chance for conflict, here
are all the benefits of good team communication that highlight why you should
pursue it, for the sake of great teamwork.

Good team communication promotes understanding

According to a survey conducted by Interact and reported by the Harvard Business

Review, as many as 57% of employees report not being given clear directions for
their work. What’s more, as many as 69% of managers report they’re often
uncomfortable communicating with employees.

But, teammates and managers who communicate with each other are more likely to
understand each other and overcome a number of obstacles in their work.

If you have a question, problem, or any concern, simply reach out to your
colleagues, managers, or employees for answers.

If you’re clear, concise, precise, but also attentive on your own end when
conversing with someone, you’ll increase the chances of understanding what has
been communicated, for both parties in the communication process.

Good team communication leads to good collaboration

According to an infographic reported by the Queens University of Charlotte, 39%

of employees believe that the people in their organization don’t collaborate
enough.

So how does effective communication affect collaboration in the workplace?

Collaboration and communication go hand in hand and help build an effective
workflow. Teammates that collaborate with each other and share the workload
manage to decrease stress levels across the team, and minimize the chance for
individuals burning out.

In order for teams to collaborate well, they’ll need to maintain proper

communication throughout their work together.

As a result, business processes will run more smoothly and all obstacles in work
will be noticed and addressed in a timely manner.

For in-depth information about collaboration among teams, visit our Team
Collaboration Hub.

Good team communication increases productivity

All teams strive for productivity. But, productivity is only possible if everyone
understands their roles in a team, the roles of their teammates, as well as the
expectations for their work:

“What task should I work on first?”

“What resources will I have to work on the task?”

“What is my deadline?”

Answers to these and similar questions bring clarity, and such clarity only comes
with investing an effort when communicating. As a direct result, everyone can
fully focus on pursuing the roles they play in the expectations for the common
goals of the team.
Moreover, good communication and better productivity are also
connected indirectly. When you communicate more frequently, you decrease the
chance for misunderstandings, which helps you work faster, and with better
quality.

Good team communication increases creativity

It’s often said that two minds think better than one. And, according to another
article by the Harvard Business Review, communication that occurs between team
members (i.e. internal communication) and communication that occurs with people
outside of your team (i.e. external communication) both promote innovations, as
they enable you to learn from others and work with a larger pool of information.

So, once you have a particular idea, it’s a great practice to further discuss it with
other people. They can share their own knowledge and experience on the subject,
and contribute to your original idea with their own suggestions and alternative
solutions.

As a result of such brainstorming sessions, teams will increase the creative

potential of individual teammate’s ideas and perhaps build innovative solutions
that retain worth from the point of view of many different perspectives.

Good team communication helps you accept changes easier

According to an article by Forbes that cites a 10-question assessment called

“What’s Your Style of Change Management”, as many as 45% of frontline
professionals prefer to retain their status quo.

But, the business world is often changing, and so is the marketplace.

By fostering good communication tactics and strategies, you’ll ease the negative
effects people may associate with changes, by making everyone aware of these
changes in a detailed and timely manner.

When everyone is aware of what benefits certain changes may mean for the future
of the team, a project they are working on, and maybe even the entire company,
these changes become much easier to accept.

Good team communication helps you solve problems easier

Working on a project usually comes with its fair share of problems — problems
that may require some difficult decisions. And, according to the consulting
firm McKinsey, as many as 73% of senior executives believe their companies
make bad decisions more often than good decisions.

But, consulting with others makes difficult decisions easier, as you get a more
diverse set of opinions and solutions to choose from. This applies both when trying
to solve problems plaguing your individual tasks and your team’s project on the
whole.

Good team communication improves employee morale (and decreases employee

turnover)

According to a survey by Recruiter, as many as 33% of employees state that a lack

of honest communication affects their morale negatively.

But, teammates who communicate with each other, and aim to communicate
honestly, connect with each other better.
Moreover, if managers communicate with their teams more, they may better
understand individual team member’s skills and talents, and then use this
knowledge to assign the right tasks to the right people.

As a result of improving the connection between team members and

acknowledging the value of individuals, the environment in which the team works
becomes more positive and attentive. This results in improved employee morale,
but also in decreased employee turnover.

Good team communication helps you deal with conflicts easier

Diverse teams have teammates with different opinions, and such different opinions
may result in occasional conflicts. After all, the report “Workplace Conflict and
How Businesses Can Harness It to Thrive” shows that as many as 85% of
employees have conflicts to deal with, at least on some level. These conflicts may
stem from misunderstandings or the feeling that you’re disrespected, taken
advantage of, or disregarded in any way.

Good communication helps people voice their concerns, better understand each
other’s behaviors and thought processes, and then respond to differences in opinion
with a more open mind — thus easing or even preventing conflict.

Good team communication creates a non-threatening environment

Successful communication with team members creates a healthy environment

where everyone feels safe. Psychological safety is essential for job satisfaction and
quality of life, as well as the quality of work done.

Research shows that a toxic work environment — one including bullying,

harassment, humiliation, and other problematic types of behavior — leads to
emotional exhaustion and job burnout. It also decreases productivity significantly
since people can’t function at their maximum capacity when they’re under constant
stress.

On the other hand, when communication in teams is open and coworkers resolve
conflicts in a professional and mature way, people feel safe and at ease, which
allows them to work without any psychological and emotional impediments.

Good team communication builds trusts

According to Lexicon, more than 80% of Americans say employee communication

is the key to developing trust.

If you are able to listen attentively and convey your own messages with clarity, as
well as accept other people’s ideas and opinions, you help build the trust that
everyone understands their responsibilities and duties. More importantly, you help
build the trust that everyone means to carry out their work as expected.

Good team communication builds self-esteem

It’s true that a group is only as strong as its weakest link, which is why it is vital to
build each individual in a team up and help them boost their self-esteem. Effective
group communication can do just that — help everyone feel their best to strengthen
the team as a whole.

The overall team resilience depends on the self-confidence of individuals. This

means that the team won’t get disheartened in the face of failure or challenges, and
it will easily bounce back from any setbacks.
Successful teamwork and communication will not only build people’s professional
self-esteem, but will also reflect on their private lives. After all, work is a large part
of our lives, and its effects can pour into other aspects of our identities and not just
our work personas.

Good team communication encourages future input

According to Westside Toastmasters, effective communication makes people more

open and willing to share with the team, as they know that their opinions will be
heard and valued.

Every time the team listens, respects, and maybe even accepts a new idea or
opinion, it paves the road for more diverse and useful input from other colleagues,
across the entire team, in future interactions.

Good team communication builds client relations

An organization can’t foster great relationships with its clients and other external
parties if its internal communication is amiss.

When you need to communicate with the outside world, you do so as a whole.
When a representative talks to a prospective client, they do so on behalf of their
entire organization, so they need to be well aware of its internal processes.

If a representative handling a client miscommunicates their requests while relaying

them to their team, the client will not get what they asked for and will quite
possibly terminate their relationship with the business.

Effective team communication makes internal processes function like a well-oiled

machine, which facilitates communication and collaboration with external parties.
Good team communication improves the organization’s reputation

So great communication and teamwork directly affect the company’s client

relations, thus improving its overall reputation.

If your company is marked as sloppy, disorganized, or inattentive, this can have

long-term negative effects on how the world perceives you.

However, it’s not just about your reputation in terms of how potential clients see
you — it’s also about building your employer brand.

Successful communication and teamwork in the workplace can build a company’s

reputation as an employer. Satisfied employees spread the good word, thus
attracting more qualified job seekers. Organizations with a strong reputation as
employers get twice as many job applications as those with a negative employer
brand.

How poor communication affects a team

Poor communication happens when the sender and receiver have a different take
on the message for one reason or another. In teams, this problem can occur on a 1-
to-1 level of interaction among teammates, between management and employees,
as well as within a team as a whole.

The effects of poor communication in teams can be grave:

1. Unstable work environment — When teams are unable to communicate

effectively, they are easily overcome by the constant uncertainty and stress
of not having clear objectives;
 2. Lower productivity — When there’s a breakdown in communication, team
members can’t function at their optimum level;
3. Disruptions in team collaboration — Without effective communication,
team members are often left to their own devices;
4. Low employee morale — Without proper communication, employees can
lag behind with work, leading to their getting disheartened;
5. Workplace tension — In the atmosphere of uncertainty and
miscommunication, tension can build up and disrupt the workflow;
6. Conflict — The most visible, and at the same time, the most detrimental
effect of poor communication is conflict among coworkers, which can harm
the entire team;
7. Poor external relationships — Poor communication is infectious, so when
team members miscommunicate, they can relay confusing and even
contradictory messages to clients and other external parties;
8. Loss of reputation — When poor communication becomes the norm, the
entire company suffers, and as bad reviews pile up, the organization’s
reputation suffers.

How do you effectively communicate in a team?

Acquiring strong team communication skills can do wonders for you and your
coworkers. But what makes effective communication in groups and teams?

Here are some tips on how to effectively communicate in a team.

Be honest

Honesty and open communication are the cornerstones of successful teamwork.

However, people often choose to conform at work in fear of going against the
current. But the truth is that inauthenticity at work creates a dissonance within a
person that causes them to drift away from the rest of the team.

What’s more, when a team member expresses their disagreement with the general
idea, they provide a different perspective that could benefit everyone.

For example, a member of the marketing team is the only one who notices that the
new slogan could be misinterpreted. If they decide to keep quiet only because
everyone else agrees the slogan is great, this could seriously damage the brand.

Be clear and concise

As demonstrated in the example above with Rose and Thomas, one of the most
important components of successful team communication is being able to convey
the message clearly and precisely.

So think before you speak and try to get your point across as effectively as
possible.

Miscommunication leads to misunderstandings, and the latter can cause all sorts of
problems within your team, such as missed deadlines, errors, bottlenecks in the
workflow, and even conflict.

Be respectful and considerate

Respect your teammates’ time and energy and be careful not to overburden them.
If you want to delegate a task to someone, first check if they have the time and are
willing to do it. If someone is on a break and doing nothing, it doesn’t mean they
are available for work.
Being considerate can also mean offering help if you see that someone is
struggling or even bringing a cup of tea to a stressed-out colleague.

Seemingly little things can go a long way and truly strengthen your relationships
within the team.

Choose the best channel for conveying your message

Effective and efficient communication also depends on the team’s smart use of
different communication channels.

Choosing the right channel to contact a coworker is especially important if you’re a

remote team and can’t simply hop to their desk and pop them a question.

But even in the office, face-to-face communication is often not the best option. For
example, you won’t go from person to person delegating tasks if you can do that
through a project management platform. The latter option is much better organized
and time-saving.

Likewise, when remote workers need to consult their colleagues on a problem, it’s
much more practical to discuss it in a team chat app, such as Pumble, than send
emails back and forth.

Listen attentively

Getting your message across successfully is only part of the work. Great team
communication is also about active listening. This is a skill you can practice by
being attentive to what your colleagues are saying and truly understanding their
point of view.
You can encourage your interlocutor as they speak and respond appropriately.

This way, you’ll not only improve your overall team communication and
collaboration, but you will also show respect for the other team members and their
opinions.

Be open to feedback and constructive criticism

No one is immune to mistakes, and we often can’t see our own errors. That’s why
we should value constructive criticism coming from our colleagues, as it can help
us learn, grow, and stay engaged.

In fact, 43% of highly engaged employees get feedback at least once a week.

Even if you don’t agree with the feedback you receive, take it with grace and don’t
get offended. Simply explain your perspective and try to find common ground.
Where there’s room for feedback, there’s room for improvement.

Being open to constructive criticism means allowing your team members to prompt
you to always strive to become better at what you do.

Address issues as they arise

When left unaddressed, even small issues tend to create frustrations that eventually
lead to major problems in the team. So if something is bothering you, be sure to
communicate it in a respectful, neutral tone and try to deal with it right away.

The communication in successful work teams is unobstructed and doesn’t steer

away from dealing with difficult things.
You may find it hard to deal with the problem, but by addressing it right away, you
clear the air and save yourself from building up resentment.

Conclusion

Good team communication plays a crucial role in establishing effective teamwork

and improving the work experience for the entire team. Ultimately, it stands as the
foundation of everything teamwork stands for, as it can be linked to various