These 3 TIPS to improve communication are taken from what a group of participants concluded after the reviewing process during a teambuilding project. This is an excerpt from the Post Activity Report that I sent to the team.
The fundamental key for a team to have a healthy environment is communication. Good communication opens all doors to having good relationships. Good communication involves many aspects, but fundamentally it begins by listening very well to the other and communicating or sharing our ideas by being proactive, constructive and empathetic.
As you have identified during the activity, SIMPLICITY, ACCESSIBILITY AND FLEXIBILITY are 3 important factors that favor communication as a team"
1. SIMPLICITY Communicate with yourself first, when you finish your day, do a review about what has not worked and why and what has worked and why. When you wake up, take some time and, ask yourself how I am today, get ready for a good day, mentalize yourself and give thanks for everything you think is important to you.
Giving thanks breaks the barriers that your own ego generates, THIS ACTION makes you more vulnerable to listen more and better to others. Breathe.
Results of this action: you create a complete state of mindfulness, towards yourself and your environment, and you empathize with yourself, accepting yourself as you are. You produce endorphins oxytocin and dopamine which are the main social chemicals in our body.
2. ACCESSIBILITY Create habits or actions that generate healthy communication, start your day by asking your co-workers, how are you today? How are you doing? Do you need anything? Can I help you with something? restart your committee or department meeting, with a round of sharing, how are we today, how do we feel? Are we aligned today? Are we stuck at some point? Do you feel like we're making progress?
Results of this action: you create a high level of empathy, the others feel involved and integrated into the results of the day, it generates trust because you open up to listen, we leave the functionality of the tasks, to enter the emotional side and social side of the team.
3. FLEXIBILITY Generate questions to open communication and not statements that close communication processes. Some practical examples to generate questions that open the communication would be:
Avoid labels, "the clever", "the wise", "the funny" etc.
Don't judge, give priority to what you feel more than what you think.
Do not be imperative or demanding, change the "must or have" to "want or can".
Results of this action:: you generate open and flexible communication, where you include the person or the team, you generate a very high level of trust avoiding gossip and closed groups, people feel part of the solution and not the problem, the information is accessible to all and creates a creative, participatory and responsible environment.
The article was written by Roberto Brown. Coach and Facilitator.