Help Your Employees Enhance Communication!

First, ask yourself...
Would you like the members of your team to engage in open communication and collaboration more often?

We are all familiar with the traditional concept of dialogue, which is when you are engaged in a 2-way exchange of information with another person. Yet, there is another of effective form of communication that significantly impacts the amount of teamwork and level of trust between the two parties. It's called "Relationship Dialogue," which is a continuous flow of open communication throughout the life of the relationship. It spans far beyond one single interaction - it describes the overall willingness and ability of 2 individuals (or two teams) to have a relationship geared around open communication.

The easiest way to increase relationship dialogue is to actually put people (and yourself) in a position to interact and communicate more openly. Here are some strategic actions you can take to help increase the level of relationship dialogue in your relationships, and within your team: make yourself (the manager/leader) available and approachable, involve others in planning and problem solving, share information as much as possible with others which will encourage their input, be receptive to feedback when given to you, and provide opportunities for cross functional collaboration (which might be in the form of joint-team meetings, cross functional projects, etc).

When we have a healthy relationship dialogue, we are able to openly share information, ideas, and feedback with each other...without fear of defensiveness, conflict or reprisal. Not only will communication increase, but relationships will develop, commitment to a common goal and vision will strengthen, and the attitude overall between employees will jump!


**This week's tip was taken from "Promoting Open & Healthy Dialogue" which is the October session of The Compass Program. Click Here to view the schedule of all 12 sessions for The Compass Program.