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Tips for More Effective Business Communication
Read on to discover simple ways to streamline communications and maximize productivity—in the office, at home, or anywhere.
The way people communicate at work has evolved quickly over the last couple of years as employees settle in with remote and hybrid working situations. We are behind the screen now more than ever, and in-person water cooler discussions and sit-down meetings with clients have been replaced by phone calls and video conferences.
As the tide continues to shift, entrepreneurs, managers, and employees are turning to a new playbook to navigate the reliance on digital communication. To help clear the path, here are five smart tips to help modern professionals communicate more effectively—whether at their desks or on the go.
Tip 1
Simplify the number of tools that your teams are using
If your teams are using disparate tools to manage projects or communicate, this creates a lack of transparency and visibility across teams, which can result in crossing wires or missing information.
“Building a central communication culture or digital HQ is really important, and this is often dependent on a single tool that can connect your teams in whatever office, remote working location, or country they’re in,” says Esther Yoon, VP of Product Marketing at RingCentral. Focus on finding solutions that reach across your entire company and are relatively simple to teach and implement.
Tip 2
Allow people the choice of how they want to connect
When corresponding with customers, businesses should consider the preferred mode of communication their customers might have, whether that’s through in-person meetings, video calls, phone calls, or even text/instant messaging. “Some clients can’t meet in person, but they truly enjoy having a face-to-face conversation because that is critical to their decision-making or trust-building processes, so it’s important to have the tools and flexibility to meet them where they are,” Yoon says.
This same choice shouldn’t just be limited to customers–employees deserve the same autonomy to decide when and how they meet or communicate with one another.
Tip 3
Be flexible and mindful in your communication etiquette
With remote and hybrid work setups, it’s no longer necessary for employees to be in one location, which brings up the challenge of communicating and collaborating throughout different global time zones. “There’s a wider range of working hours for folks across the globe, and it’s crucial to allow your employees to live their lives in their appropriate time zones,” Yoon says.
Plus, in some cases, if it’s after hours, an instant message instead of a phone call is probably more appropriate. Make sure you’re building awareness of communication etiquette, especially in relation to global teams and the time zones that they are operating in, to make sure you’re building a healthy communications culture.
Tip 4
Utilize communications technology that reduces your employees’ burdens
Communications should be simple, and employees shouldn’t be bogged down with an increased workload to deliver a single message. It’s important to ensure that your teams are adopting the tools and capabilities that help them do more within their limited time. With hybrid work’s rising popularity, we’ve entered an era where meeting fatigue and overload is becoming more common. “Hybrid work has increased our meeting times dramatically, and sometimes it’s not possible to attend every single meeting request that’s placed on your calendar,” Yoon explains.
“At RingCentral, we have a unique tool that can provide AI-generated meeting insights and summaries of each meeting hosted on our video calls or conferencing. So, if I miss a meeting, I have a tool that automatically delivers the highlights and important talking notes covered during that meeting right to my email.” AI technology, like this RingCentral tool, helps employees get their time back by outsourcing the more time-consuming tasks.
Tip 5
Implement communication technology that keeps employees engaged
App overload is a real thing for employees. As companies grow, they add more tools, increasing the back-and-forth between platforms, which decreases employee productivity and enhances the likelihood for frustration. It’s important to streamline and integrate communications across applications, like your dedicated CRM or project management/customer experience platforms. “Did you know that there are countless studies from leading academics like Harvard Business School, that say employees spend nearly five weeks of the year switching between apps? That’s mind-blowing, yet not surprising, based on what I’ve experienced in the past. The more your technology can help you minimize menial tasks, the more you can free up your time to do so many other things,” Yoon explains.
Learn more about how RingCentral can help streamline communications and maximize productivity—in the office, at home, or anywhere.
