Personal success plan development and implementation strategies

Team Communication

Best and Worst Practices: Team Communication

In today's workplace there are an unprecedented number of ways for team members to communicate. These options can range from face-to-face meetings, to email, to video chat, to instant messaging, text, and the list goes on and on. There are so many different ways to communicate that choosing one can be a daunting task. Each form of communication has its own set of inherent advantages and disadvantages. Both email and text are both efficient and convenient however it is often difficult to place the information from these sources into context. Much of the information in emails is subject to misinterpretation or sometime it is glanced over altogether.

One worst practice that I have witnessed is a group member sending an email to try to convey something urgent and really important. However, when the receiver gets this email they do not interpret the information correctly and dismiss it or do not recognize the sense of importance that the message is trying to convey. While it may be ok to transmit a whole range of information through email, when something is of critical importance face-to-face or even phone calls work best. This allows team members to get a better sense of the situation because they can pick up on things such as voice tone or body language which are subsequently lacking in written forms of electronic communication.

Another worst practice I have personally witnessed is being in a group without an effective facilitator either because the facilitator is not properly trained in this role or there is not one designated at all. Without someone to facilitate such meetings, the group seems to frequently get off track and talk about many non-critical items. The group can debate different aspects of a project or decision way longer than is actually necessary. This often occurs when there is not a designated agenda as well. The group can easily loose track especially if the track is not clear from the beginning of the meeting.

One of the most effective ways to communicate with a group is through a team meeting. One of the best practices I have personally witness in this type of setting is having a formal agenda and meeting process. If the agenda is prepared and distributed before the meeting, then this gives group members an opportunity to think about what is to be discussed well before hand. As a result, members can prepare themselves to offer insightful opinions rather than having to determine their responses "on-the-fly." Therefore, although it may not seem like a critical component of an effective meeting, having the agenda prepared before can greatly improve the quality of the discussion by all members during a meeting.

Also, having designated time slots for different topics can also facilitate the direction of the conversation. For example, if the agenda contains information about the meeting such as the group has ten minutes to discuss a particular budget item, then the group can pace themselves and put the discussion in context of the available time set aside to discuss the issue. If a member knows that the group has discussed the issue for nine minutes of the ten minutes that was made available then they could self-censor a potential response that they have thought of so that the group can stick to its schedule.