Given the number of changes a company undergoes as it grows and evolves, maintaining the same internal processes over time can become incredibly challenging and risky. In particular, outdated approaches to internal communication and collaboration may lead to misunderstandings between different departments and teams and costly errors that hurt the business in the short and long term.
While it is possible to continue using established systems as they are, making even small tweaks can be a surefire way to enhance how the company operates as a whole. Here, 14 Forbes Business Council members share specific improvements leaders can implement to help improve internal communication and collaboration across the company.
1. Set The Right Tone
Creating a culture of collaboration and positive relationships among different departments can significantly influence collaboration. Introduce regular meetings with counterparts to understand challenges and progress and help brainstorm ideas to solve problems. This will promote a sense of collective accountability in the campaign’s success where everyone can feel valued. – Adam Povlitz, Anago Cleaning Systems
2. Commit To Internal Company Values
A commitment to internal values like curiosity and inquiry will inherently lead to stronger internal communications and collaborations. When every team and individual sees company recognition given to those who strive to know each other better and those who seek out others’ perspectives of successes and struggles, it will seed an empathetic communications culture that leads to mutual understanding. – Lowell Aplebaum, Vista Cova
Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?
3. Ask For Employee Input
To improve your internal communication and collaboration across different departments and teams, step up your game. Stop thinking you have all the answers and start asking your employees for their input. Encourage open dialogue and constructive criticism. Make sure everyone is on the same page by establishing clear goals and expectations. And don’t forget to lead by example. – Chris Kille, Payment Pilot
4. Lead By Example
Start with leading by example, actively engaging with employees across levels and departments. Set the tone for the entire organization to communicate openly and with transparency. Hold regular meetings and encourage open dialogue that includes regular constructive feedback. Recognize and reward collaboration, and provide incentives for employees to collaborate across departments. – Adi Vaxman, Sheba Consulting
5. Create Psychological Safety
Improving internal communication and collaboration relies on informing, activating and connecting employees in a place that is easy to deploy, use and maintain. Focusing on authenticity and prioritizing the humanity of employees helps build more enduring and productive organizations and is critical in building a pattern of regular and consistent communication across departments and teams. – Dhiraj Sharma, Simpplr
6. Schedule Regular Touchpoints
Internal communication might sound trivial but it’s an intricate process that highlights the importance of direct communication. Regular touchpoints are the best way to ensure all departments are involved. It’s also important for these meetings to happen in a casual environment. – Udi Dorner, SetSchedule
7. Communicate As Often As Possible
To improve internal communication, it’s imperative that leaders communicate as often as possible, even if they feel they are overcommunicating. This can be done through in-person or virtual meetings, emails or internal company newsletters. Leaders must recognize the value of collaborating with other departments by including them in the brainstorming or decision-making processes for new initiatives and ideas. – Kent Ingle, Southeastern University
8. Make All Efforts Collaborative
I always encourage leaders to “show up together.” Pairing up to communicate important messages, recognize colleagues and talk about strategy is a great way to improve collaboration across teams because when people see their leaders showing up together, they model that behavior at their own levels. – Julie Williamson, Karrikins Group
9. Focus On Alignment
Make alignment a priority. Hold in-person workshops to create personas and scenarios and leverage them with brand positioning focused on alignment. The entire team should be able to recite simple answers defining who you are, how you think, what you do, how you do it, who you do it for and what you sell. Do a simple test in one-on-one meetings with your leadership team and see how varied the answers you get are. – Ran Mullins, Relequint LLC
10. Ask What Specific Barriers Teams Are Encountering
Instead of trying to improve things in a generic sense, get specific by asking each team where they feel the barriers are between departments. Empower them by asking how they’d solve the problems. The people impacted by the problem will value the solution more if they have a hand in solving it. – Ty Allen, SocialClimb
11. Prioritize In-Person Dialogue
Talk to your people. Do this not electronically, by phone nor by video but in person. Emails, Zoom and calls are good to exchange and share simple points, but to have a meaningful, productive dialogue about big-picture stuff that truly matters, you must be in a room with your fellow team members. The in-person proximity will allow you to ideate, debate and find smart solutions that work for everybody. – Dr. David Lenihan, Tiber Health
12. Determine The Most Optimal Communication Channel
It’s important to understand the various channels available for optimal communication and what works best for your specific company culture. The information itself may also determine the appropriate channels based on potential time restraints. For example, consider a weekly newsletter for regular updates and nonurgent communication. Social media or online collaboration programs could be used to convey urgent information. – Ryan Godinho, Specialty Batch Coffee & Stomping Grounds
13. Encourage Informal Interactions
Informal communication promotes knowledge sharing within a company and has a cumulative effect. Engaging in conversations on topics unrelated to professional matters fosters stronger relationships, trust and reinforces communication channels. As a result, these channels become conduits for exchanging knowledge and creating a synergy of complementary expertise. – Vladislav Kraynov, MSOFT
14. Create A Shareable Team Calendar
Create a shared calendar for the team to share important dates. Holidays like National Poetry Day or International Women’s Day can provide an opportunity for teams to come together and celebrate those moments of recognition. This calendar could also be used to share birthdays or other special occasions, creating a culture of inclusion and celebration within the organization. – Ashley Saye, Daily Rays Inc.
Read the full article here