2. The impact of poor communication at work

Poor communication affects companies more than we think. We can identify at least five major areas that are altered by the effects of poor communication:

• Productivity: when employees do not feel heard or feel they cannot express their ideas freely, they tend to be less productive.
• Organizational climate: poor communication between co-worker’s results in a heavy atmosphere, full of mistrust and confusion.
• Leadership: how can we follow a leader who does not know how to communicate? The development of effective communication is an inescapable responsibility of the leaders of a company, it is a requirement that comes attached to the role.
• Costs: there is no doubt that inefficient communication translates into reprocesses, dissatisfied customers, errors and, therefore, unnecessary expenses.

Five tips for developing effective face-to-face communication

• Active listening: in a dialogue, it is important to pay attention to the sender’s message. Active listening consists of providing feedback on what the sender is saying in order to generate a continuous conversation.
• Clear and concise message: to avoid conflicts or misunderstandings, it is important to be clear about the objective of the message, what information is most relevant and how to detail it. It is not a matter of expressing it with many words, but with the necessary words to deliver a clear and concise message.
• Assertive expression: both knowing how to say no and how to defend your position are fundamental skills for assertive communication. To achieve this, the important thing is to express personal opinions and preferences little by little and in a polite way in order to create the habit of communicating in a firm manner.
• Empathy: some people withdraw into their own perspectives without trying to understand the position of others, that is, without being empathetic. This can lead to interpersonal conflicts if a solution is not found in time.
• Non-verbal expression: the body says more than words express. No matter how well expressed the ideas are, the receivers also perceive how you are by the way you move your hands or by your facial expression. Controlling your body will also allow you to communicate much more effectively.