6 Steps to Increase Your Communication Skills in the Workplace

When it comes to the modern workforce, communication has become a vitally important skill for employees to have. Organizations need employees who are able to collaborate with their colleagues and solve problems in order to succeed. If you’re looking for ways to improve your communication skills in the workplace, keep reading! This article highlights six key steps you can take today to start improving your communication skills in the office.

1.Make a habit of speaking up

When you first start at a new job, it’s easy to feel like you have to take initiative and actively start communicating with your co-workers. However, doing so can be particularly intimidating if you’re a new employee who’s never had to do it before. If so, try the following techniques for breaking the ice and easing into it.

• Ask questions - Whenever you have a question, seek to know the answer before you decide to ask it. This will make you look like a curious, rather than intrusive person.
• Ask for help - Even if you don’t want or need help, it can be incredibly polite to ask if you can ask for it. If you’re stuck on a project or task, ask a co-worker if you can make use of their help for a short while.
• Ask your manager for help - If you don’t want to ask a co-worker for help, you can ask your manager for it. Make sure you ask for only what you need. If you have a question you’d like to ask your boss about, approach them in a polite and respectful manner.

2.Be clear with your messages

When you’re communicating with others in the workplace, you have to make sure that every message you send is clear. In order to do this, you should aim to use short, simple sentences with one or two main points and a clear tone of voice. Try avoiding unnecessary words and phrases that add nothing to the sentence and make it longer than it needs to be.

3.Help others feel comfortable talking to you

When you’re walking around a new workplace, you’re bound to be nervous and intimidated by the people you work with. This is completely normal, and there’s no need to feel embarrassed about it. There are a few things that you can do to help you overcome these feelings and be able to properly communicate with your colleagues. Approach your manager. Your manager will be willing to give you one-on-one advice or help you get into one of their training sessions. Another great way to overcome your shyness and embarrassment is to simply open up and talk to your colleagues. There are a lot of people out there who would love to be given the opportunity to open up to others in the workplace, so don’t be afraid to take advantage of this.

4.Cultivate good listening skills

When you’re in a new workplace, you’re bound to have a number of conversations that go beyond the typical “Can you do this for me?” or “Is everything okay?” conversations. By listening effectively, you will get more information from people, you will increase others' trust in you, you will reduce conflict, you will better understand how to motivate others.

5.Take part in teamwork activities

One of the best ways to make yourself feel more comfortable in a new workplace is to participate in team-based activities with your colleagues. Doing so can help you make friends in the office, and it can also help you develop your communication skills by practicing them with other people.

6.Practice self-presentation and body language

Self-presentation and body language are two things that you’ll benefit from practicing more often when you first start a new job. Self-presence refers to the way in which you show up in the office every day, and it’s a key skill that you’ll want to work on. In almost all presentation situations, your posture should be upright and open. This will make you look and feel more confident, and it will invite your audience in rather than pushing them away.