Effective communication is one of the key aspects of a successful business. After all, a business is only as good as its employees, so having your departments communicate in a timely and effective manner is always necessary if you wish to ahead of your competitors and to remain efficient in your organisation.
How we communicate is rapidly changing. Today, over 300 billion emails are sent per day and over 3.8 billion people use social media. This means that there are billions of potential opportunities for your business, but if you’re not communicating effectively internally you’re already disadvantaging yourself. Here is why communication is important in business.
Everything stems from communication
Essentially, every business relies on communication, even if it consists of just one person. Communication between managers and employees, customers and sales people, investors and owners – it’s all crucial.
A business cannot presume itself to be organised and efficient if its players aren’t communicating effectively. Managers need to be aware of activities throughout the business so they in turn can manage their employees effectively. If staff have a clear perception of their responsibilities and what is expected of them, work is more likely to be efficient.
Good communication skills can help build strong teams and work to boost employee morale. Effective communicators will contribute more to the business due to their people skills. For example, motivation, feedback and direction all rely on workers who are able to get the information across clearly and orderly.
Communication impacts customer service
If your business is disorganised and you’re lacking communication, your customers will begin to notice. Especially if your business is customer-facing, not having productive communication will give a bad appearance and could lose you sales.
Essentially, communication in customer service relies on appearance. For example, customers don’t want to see staff members being reprimanded unfairly if they’ve made mistakes. Similarly, they also don’t want to be spoken to unprofessionally or treated badly. When dealing with customers it’s important that you’re professional when communicating with them and with other employees.
If you cannot fulfil the customer’s order or complete their query, you should transfer them promptly and apprise the relevant staff of what the customer needs. Businesses also have to follow the Data Protection Act 2018 when communicating with their customers. It’s important that your business follows these laws, otherwise you could face prosecution.
Communication helps businesses stay with the times
In recent years the growth of social media has rapidly changed how businesses market themselves. Over a billion people currently use Instagram regularly, with this brings endless opportunities for your business to communicate with potential customers. Utilising new forms of communication such as social media, messaging apps and video calling systems is essential for your business to stay modern, after all businesses that aren’t seeking innovation aren’t as likely to be successful.
Something that businesses should strive for is having a unified communications network, which ties together all your systems in a seamless manner – from VoIP phones to remote working setups. It’s estimated that an optimised internal communications setup can improve your productivity by as much as 13%.
Communication boosts employee morale and encourages creativity
Customers aren’t the only ones that need clear and effective communication, your employees value it also. No one wants to continue a job where either they are undervalued or their role isn’t clear, communication can help your employees prosper and increase productivity.
A recent study found that when employees are valued and respected by their leaders, their job satisfaction levels go ups by as much as 63%, which in turn creates a spike in engagement by as much as 55%. Having a strong relationship with your boss and your team can make employees more excited to come to and productive when they’re in work, which are huge benefits for the organisation.
Similarly, if employees are comfortable expressing their opinions and feel valued enough to contribute their own ideas, levels of creativity can be greatly increased. They may have ideas on new products, different strategies or even just small suggestions on different products. Open communication can result in a list of great ideas through collaboration.
