When it comes to teamwork, one of the most crucial key for success is good communication. That’s why miscommunication can be the weakness point of a team. Building and maintaining good communication is not easy. However, it is not that impossible either. It needs efforts from everyone in the team. Any relationship has higher chance for success with good communication.
Miscommunication prevents a team from achieving success
Professional setting like in the workplace doesn’t stop miscommunication from happening. Even though everyone behave professionally, miscommunication often happen due to various reasons. Here are types of miscommunication most common to happen in workplace that you can avoid, and how to fix them properly.
Time zone mixups in remote team
Teams who are working remotely have more challenges in communication. It is easier to cause miscommunication even caused by small thing such as timezone differences and mixups. The acronyms for different time zones are easily mixed-ups. To fix this type of miscommunication encourage your team to attach time zone to every meeting they schedule. Or, ask them to print out as well as post a chart on their wall.
Poor phrasings seem like not a big deal
However, it can cause huge problems in the team. It is not only when communicating verbally but also in written. Project specifications that are poorly phrased can lead to misunderstanding, errors, and more need for clarification. Therefore, it is best to encourage everyone to speak and write using clear words and phrasings as to not cause any misunderstanding.
Unclear expectation
Unclear expectation when charging your team with a task can cause miscommunication. The result of this type of communication is the products that don’t look like what you have expected from the beginning. You cannot blame everything on your team if you didn’t set clear expectation from the beginning. Hence always set expectation clearly along with the purposes of the project. Also, you can use success metrics if the expectation of certain project is more measurable.
Unproductive accusation
Unproductive accusation is the type of miscommunication often happens in workplace. Blaming each other won’t solve the problems and only create tension between the team. Hence, always encourage your team to develop their own accountability. Hence, they will learn that every individual has to be responsible for consequences of every action they take. Owning up to their own mistake is a form of accountability. Also, it is important for you as a leader to create an environment where every team members feel comfortable include in admitting their shortcomings.
Refuse to talk
When team choose to keep silent then there won’t be any productivity. It may only cause misunderstanding and failure. hence, always encourage your team to talk it out. When a member has something to say or something they feel doubt about, encourage them to speak up. Also, bad behaviors are usually easier to be swept under the rug when everyone choose silence. Therefore, good communication is also a key to maintain discipline and good work ethic especially in professional setting.