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engaged employees illustration

Workplace communication is an essential function of any productive business environment. Yet 86% of employees and executives blame the lack of effective collaboration and communication as the leading causes for errors in the workplace. This needs to be evaluated and corrected.

Workplace communication is the transfer of information between persons in a business. There are four main methods of communication, with non-verbal communication cues being the most important. Employers should ask for employee input as to how to improve workplace communication.

Take a look at these insightful workplace communication statistics to better understand this valuable business aspect.

What Is Meant By Workplace Communication?

Workplace communication describes the transfer of information and insights between one individual or group and another person or group within a business, both verbally and nonverbally.

It includes:

  • Emails
  • Videoconferencing
  • Physical meetings
  • Text messages 
  • Notes
  • Phone conversations

Why Is Communication Important In The Workplace?

Managers may better understand their employees’ abilities and skills by establishing strong communication and then giving clear directions to the individuals who are most suited to the task. This will boost the overall efficacy of each project.  

Teams who communicate effectively in the workplace may see as much as a 25% increase in their productivity (Pumble.com, 2021).

The benefits of effective workplace communication are listed below.

  • Quality communication in the workplace can eliminate unnecessary problems.
  • Efficient communication promotes better performance.
  • When employees consult with each other using practical communication skills and consider the views of others, they will be more cooperative in finding the best solution.

When teams fail to communicate effectively, the business will suffer as a result. According to research conducted by US firm Gartner, poor communication is responsible for 70% of corporate errors.

These statistics show how critical effective communication skills are in the workplace. More emphasis needs to be placed on providing employees with clear instructions and listening to their input. This is a step in the right direction in avoiding errors in the workplace.

What Are The 4 Methods Of Workplace Communication

Words and verbal communication are often seen as the only way to promote effective communication. However, this is untrue. There are four main ways that workers can communicate in the workplace.

The four methods of workplace communication are:

  1. Verbal communication
  2. Non-verbal communication (body language and facial expressions)
  3. Phone communication
  4. Written communication

Verbal communication, combined with non-verbal communication cues, makes for the most effective form of conveying important information and closing business deals.

75% of millennials dislike making phone calls as they consider them “time-consuming.” For this reason, phone calls make up only 2% of communication in the workplace today. (Pumble.com, 2021)

Emails are reported to be the primary method of workplace communication for as many as 74% of working adults. (Pumble.com, 2021)

The Importance Of Non-Verbal Communication In The Workplace

People spend 23% of their time engaged in business communication on in-person interactions. With so little time being spent on in-person communication, the effectiveness of face-to-face interactions needs to be improved. This can be done by using non-verbal communication cues to better convey important information.

Approximately 93% of effective communication is nonverbal, while spoken words account for only 7%.

Non-verbal communication includes:

  • Eye contact
  • Facial expressions
  • Posture
  • Hand gestures

How Non-Verbal Communication Can Make Or Break Deals

People are frequently unaware that they are emitting negative nonverbal cues that others notice. Positive nonverbal communication boosts your reputation and trustworthiness, which might help you close important business transactions.

Clients want to observe how your movements and facial expressions correspond to what you say. However, if you’re on an audio-only call during these crucial chats, your efforts will be squandered since clients or prospects won’t be able to interpret your nonverbal communication.

On the other hand, face-to-face video conference sessions allow for better “in-person” contact and the detection of vital nonverbal indicators.

employee dashboard illustration

How Do You Measure Effective Communication In The Workplace?

Businesses may measure internal communications through employee surveys, open email rates, intranet analytics, and focus groups.

To gain insight into their communications strategy, leaders might analyze staff turnover rates and identifiable behaviors such as job performance.

Performance Management Applications

Performance management apps like Facebook Workplace, Slack, and Zoom all contribute to improved communication between fellow employees and between employees and management staff.

Ineffective company communication causes workplace anxiety for 80% of US employees (SoftActivity, 2021).  This means that when communication is improved, especially using technology, employees will be less stressed, and productivity will improve drastically.

Applications like Slack were created with the specific aim of improving the quality of workplace communication. The direct method of communication lessens response waiting time and separates important information from non-urgent information.

This makes it easier for employees to manage their time, as the average employee spends around 5 hours a week waiting for feedback and other critical information.

Apart from video calling/online conferencing services, 57% of people also like to use performance management applications that offer instant messaging features. 43% of employees report using these platforms often. (Pumble.com, 2021)

Anonymous Employee Surveys

Employee surveys can provide a business with valuable information and statistics. Companies should be using this to their advantage and conducting surveys to measure how effective their communication in the workplace is, in the opinion of their employees.

Around 70% of employees reported that they’d be more likely to share insights with management staff if they could enter their comments and concerns into a web-based feedback platform.

Other Ways to Measure Workplace Communication

Website analytics, email click-through rates, and intranet data may all be used to better understand how staff members interact. Intranet analytics, for example, may disclose which areas get the most views, as well as how your employees feel about current concerns and what their problems are.

Website analytics can also reveal fresh information about consumer and staff behavior.

 Conclusion

Workplace communication statistics offer great insight as to how effective communication improves various imperative functions of a business. By using all four workplace communication methods, companies will achieve higher employee satisfaction rates and improve morale throughout the industry.

There are many ways to measure how effective communication in the workplace is, with the most popular being employee surveys.

References:
https://www.lifesize.com/en/blog/speaking-without-words/
https://www.texthelp.com/resources/blog/4-types-of-workplace-communication/
https://hbr.org/2002/02/getting-the-truth-into-workplace-surveys
https://blog.rescuetime.com/workplace-communication-survey/
https://searchhrsoftware.techtarget.com/tip/The-7-applications-that-impact-employee-experience-the-most
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/03/prweb12565921.htm