Why communication skills are the most important driver of organisational culture.

Culture and communication skills are important in any workplace, to ensure you and your team can build meaningful interpersonal relationships, as well as develop a truly effective and positive business and yet we often treat communication as if it were a discrete act, a matter of performance or lack thereof.

A crucial, but often overlooked, function of leadership is creating a culture in which effective communication can flourish.

Establishing yourself and your organisation as leaders in communication and culture requires passion, dedication, effort and a clear vision of what that communication culture looks like. The Google method of attacking problems in this Harvard Business Review article might not work in all organisations but gives a great insight into how an effective culture can function.

What are culture and communication skills?

If you or your company relies on strong relationships between team members, customers and other stakeholders, communication will be a vital consideration.

The ability to listen and build a rapport while sharing ideas, opinions and information is crucial for establishing a working relationship. This is where your interpersonal skills come into play.

Culture and communication skills help you to develop positive rapport and create personal bonds to benefit you and your organisation. Having employees who are comfortable talking to each other is important for any business. Communication skills are crucial when talking to clients, customers, managers and other stakeholders.

People matter, so culture and communication strategies need to focus on the kind of skills that can help promote more positive relationships and interactions with everyone.

Why are culture and communication skills important in the workplace?

There are many ways that culture and communications can be used to improve the workplace. Creating positive personal bonds can help you relate to customers, colleagues, managers and many other stakeholders.

This is also crucial when welcoming new staff into your business, as open and strong communication skills will ensure that onboarding is a breeze, and new workers are able to gel with the company culture with minimal effort.

Communications and culture training and coaching can deliver many benefits for companies and individuals. Professional development in this area helps you to establish a workplace that fosters excellence and develops future leaders.

For individuals and team members, skills in communications and interpersonal relationships can give you to the courage you need to develop as a sales or service star.

Communication skills are the greatest driver of positive workplace culture, as the ability to talk to one another and engage in constructive discussions is essential to ensuring all views are heard and considered. As part of that communication, company goals must be clearly outlined so that there is complete understanding across the board about what those goals and how employees are a part of meeting those goals.

This ultimately means the business can make the best decisions to accommodate everyone’s views and promote a culture of inclusion and positivity.

Fran Berry, Founder of Alive & Kicking Solutions, says that ‘one instance of ineffective communication can begin to shift and change a culture’. MORE HERE