The Importance of Interpersonal Communication in the Workplace

The exchange of information between two or more individuals is known as interpersonal communication. It’s also a field of study that looks into how people use verbal and nonverbal cues to achieve a variety of personal and interpersonal objectives.

To be more specific, interpersonal communication occurs in the workplace in different ways, including chatting, emails, daily briefings or team meetings, client calls, delivering employee feedback, and casual discussions over lunch or tea breaks. The efficacy of your workplace communication is determined by your approach or treatment of your team as a manager. There is an unsaid quote, your team is as good as you.

Effective interpersonal communication will help you articulate your ideas and convey your message clearly, which can enhance both your professional and personal connections. And with your listening skills, you will be better able to comprehend and empathize with others.

Types of Interpersonal Communication

When it comes to interpersonal communication, there are four types to be mindful of. These will aid in demonstrating the nature of interpersonal relationships and should help you have a better grasp of them.

Listening

Listening is equally crucial for avoiding misinterpretation and improving workplace collaboration. For instance, a speaker or a host in a huge auditorium would work very hard to gain the audience’s attention because it enables the audience to listen to the speaker’s words without being distracted. Similarly, whether in person or a group, the speaker and listener have an equal role in sharing information.

Hearing is a natural response that occurs as a result of having functioning ears. Listening necessitates a greater amount of effort. It has a purpose and necessitates attentiveness to comprehend what the speaker is saying. As a result, listeners should stimulate the speaker by giving short quick responses such as Okay, Hmm…, and so on. This will encourage the speaker to communicate more effectively.

Oral Communication

Any sort of oral or spoken communication, such as team briefings, conferences, public meetings, calls, podcasts, and so on, is considered oral communication. Beyond the content of what you’re saying and what information you are conveying, aural elements like intonation have a role in oral communication. This refers to how your voice rises and falls in pitch while you speak, which might affect how people interpret your words.

Written Communication

Emails, leave letters, meeting minutes, chatting, and other written communication are examples. In written communication, the information you express will be more significant than the vocabulary you use; therefore, information in the written format must be conveyed following the audience analysis.

To communicate information more effectively, you can include GIFs, smileys, presentations, photos, and so on. Furthermore, you can use writing styles such as bullets, steps, tables, and paragraphs to captivate readers.

Non-Verbal Communication

The core of nonverbal communication is conveying meaning without using words, either written or spoken. This can be achieved through a variety of means, including gestures, postures, facial expressions, and body language, and if the implications are incorrect, it may fail the information’s purpose.

Advantages of Interpersonal Communication in the Workplace

The preceding is some of the advantages of having effective interpersonal communication at work.

Chain Reaction

Avoiding miscommunication is the major benefit of sustaining optimal interpersonal communication. If the team members are unfamiliar with each other, for example, there are two possibilities for miscommunication:

• Over communicating to completely convey the message; 
• Delivering the message abruptly and expecting the listener to understand it. 

Miscommunication

Both will result in miscommunication, and time consumption. Many companies engage in fun activities to avoid such negative consequences, which not only enhance interpersonal communication but also boost productivity.

Work Productivity

Team collaboration and work productivity will enhance as a result of interpersonal communication. Better communication isn’t enough for effective teamwork, since not every team member possesses the same communication or work-related skills. It also demands mutual trust and dependence among team members, which may be attained by encouraging your team members to engage and communicate with one another. Some companies prefer using a CTI system for more security and precision in communication.

Flawless Team

If you are a manager who encourages your team to have strong interpersonal communication, your team members will perceive you as approachable. If you act like a tyrant, your team members will live with their problems but never report them to you, which will harm work productivity.

Conduct one-on-one sessions and team meetings in person rather than depending on instant messaging software to discuss concerns to improve team collaboration. Encourage your team to discuss problems with one another and come up with some good and more innovative solutions to the problem. Hearing multiple perspectives on the topic allows them to consider the benefits and drawbacks of various options before making a final decision.

Conclusion

I hope that the above information has made you aware of the significance of interpersonal communication. Remember that teams who lack strong interpersonal communication will just follow the company’s regulations, functioning as machines that pretend to be members of your team rather than contributors to your mission. Suggest your management to conduct some team building activities and proper training to improve the interpersonal communication skills.

Since your team communication tool is so important in restoring your team’s interpersonal communication, you need to be sure you’re using a competent and secure chat app.
Otherwise, your data will be at risk, and your team’s communication will suffer as a result of its ineptness. So, be advised, to not take any chances, take an ample amount of time to research, and choose a platform that prioritizes security, such as Troop Messenger.

The interpersonal communication abilities of your team members will undoubtedly have an impact on business meetings. For instance, if you compel your team members to not communicate with one another or teams in the workplace, you shouldn’t expect them to impress you with their communication skills in business meetings with clients. Conversely, if you encourage your team communication to be end-to-end intact and try to enhance it with team-building activities, you can see the effectiveness in their business communication.

Andrej Fedek

Andrej Fedek is a digital marketer. He recently started his own blog about digital marketing called InterCool Studio. His passion is to help startups grow and thrive in a competitive environment.