Having a work family is a flex! It means you have done your part to build close, supportive, and trusting relationships across your organization. In a work family, employees see each other as more than just coworkers. They share mutual respect, empathy, and commitment to each other’s well-being and success.
The five ways to Communicate Effectively and Improve Teamwork are the following:
- Establish clear communication channels throughout your team to ensure everyone knows how and when to communicate.
- Encourage active listening among team members to ensure that everyone feels heard and understood.
- Clearly define roles, responsibilities, and expectations for each team member to minimize confusion and misunderstandings.
- Foster a culture of constructive feedback where team members feel comfortable providing and receiving feedback.
- Utilize collaboration tools and technologies to facilitate communication and teamwork, especially with hybrid or remote teams.
Improve Communication to Foster Stronger Collaboration and Teamwork
Establish clear communication channels throughout your team to ensure everyone knows how and when to communicate.
If you are a remote employee, it is easy to feel disconnected from your office coworkers. Feeling siloed can be difficult and create tension or resentment with those who are often together if left unattended.
At our last company retreat where everyone traveled to our HQ in Arlington, TX, I kept hearing a specific phrase amongst my remote colleagues:
“I feel like I am on an island.”
And I really wanted to change that. Now, we have monthly All-Hands meetings where we get to check in with each other and feel connected. Relationships cannot be built through a chat screen. You need to see expressions, hear tones, and feel the vibe of a conversation in order to truly build camaraderie.
Create ways for even your behind-the-scenes members to shine
Like most organizations, we have a team behind the scenes who make our client-facing roles easier. As instructors, we can’t be successful at our jobs if the correct materials don’t show up on time. And since I’m based out of our HQ office, I’m privy to seeing the process that unfolds in our warehouse.
During our last All-Hands, I wanted to give a shout out to our warehouse lead for doing such a great job. This would give everyone on the call a chance to thank him. I gave him a heads up that morning that we were meeting at 3:00 and that he could join the Zoom call in my office. Being an introvert, he emphatically refused but thanked me on repeat.
Despite my pleas, he said he did not need the attention and preferred not to. Fast forward to five minutes before our 3:00 meeting, he peeked into my office with a sheepish smile and said, “So, hey, I can go ahead and do that.”
All people want to feel appreciated.
Establishing clear communication channels in your team is like setting up well-marked roads and traffic signals in a busy city. Just as signs and signals guide drivers to move smoothly and avoid confusion, defined communication channels help team members know where to go for information and when to reach out. This structure keeps everything flowing efficiently and reduces the risk of miscommunication or delays.
Regular touch point meetings with team members are vital for a strong and healthy work culture. Just as with any other relationship, it takes time and effort to build a good foundation of trust and respect.
I look forward to my 1:1 meetings with my coworkers. After the business part, I like to see how THEY are doing. It’s remarkable what happens to your working relationships when you know even just a little about their world and how they hold space. Underneath titles and tenure, people are people. And at the end of the day, we all want to be seen, heard, and appreciated.
“Good communication is the bridge between confusion and clarity.” — Nat Turner
Encourage active listening among team members to ensure that everyone feels heard and understood.
Active listening skills take time. It also requires a willingness to adhere to the practices that ultimately build trust and rapport with others. Being able to fully understand and engage with what someone else is saying means you are fully present in the conversation—like hanging a “Do Not Disturb” sign on your attention.
I will always remember that gut-punch moment on a scheduled call with my coach. She said, after a bunch of things I still don’t recall, “Amy, why don’t you call me back when you have time. You obviously aren’t listening.”
And then she hung up.
I was aghast with shame and felt embarrassed. I had the privilege of having this person who I looked up to and respected give me their time, and I couldn’t reciprocate? It took a whiplash moment to feel the consequences of not fully being present in a conversation.
How Pixar trained their team to develop the power of active listening
A prime example of the power of active listening comes from Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios. In the early days of Pixar, Catmull noticed that junior team members sometimes hesitated to speak up during meetings. This was especially true around more experienced staff. Ideas from junior members were often dismissed or overshadowed, leading to a loss of potentially valuable input.
To address this, Catmull implemented a culture of “Braintrust” meetings. In them, every team member, regardless of role or seniority, was encouraged to share their perspective openly. A critical part of these meetings was practicing active listening. Team members were encouraged to paraphrase others’ ideas and give thoughtful feedback without judgment. By listening actively, the team fostered an environment where everyone felt heard and valued.
This practice led to some of Pixar’s most successful ideas, including creative solutions and storyline changes in films like Toy Story and Finding Nemo. Catmull’s emphasis on active listening played a crucial role in Pixar’s collaborative success. It shows how this approach not only improves team dynamics but also contributes to creative breakthroughs and innovation.
My rule for communication: “If it’s important, look me in the eye!”
That’s my rule about important conversations only taking place in person, or as a total last resort, on a video/phone call. Texting is impersonal and lacks emotion or the ability to capture the tone of their voice or read facial expressions.
Important discussions must happen in a forum that allows us to make eye contact, use proper body language, and recognize when to answer without interrupting. And most of all, it means being able to ask questions based on what you heard them say. All of these actions prove that you are actively listening and engaged in the conversation.
Clearly define roles, responsibilities, and expectations for each team member to minimize confusion and misunderstandings.
Organizational charts are important for several reasons. For one, they provide a clear visual representation of a company’s structure, roles, and reporting relationships.
They also help employees understand their own roles and those of others in the organization. Thus reducing confusion about responsibilities and decision-making authority. This helps alleviate bottlenecking, where one person is left juggling too many decisions. In turn, this also helps point out where someone can be promoted or tasks can be delegated.
Leaders need to have at least one other person, or a team depending on the size of your organization, that they trust to steer the ship at any given moment.
In addition, it is important for team members to fully understand their role and what is expected. Most positions come with a list of duties that are considered a part of their job description. Not only should the description be clear and concise, but there also has to be acknowledgment and buy-in. Without buy-in, a person hasn’t fully committed to the expectations.
Your charts should be revised immediately should there be any changes or additions to the role
For example, Google often uses a method called “Objectives and Key Results” (OKRs) to ensure each team member understands their goals and responsibilities.
OKRs set specific, measurable objectives for each team and individual, aligning them with the company’s overall strategy.
By defining clear goals and responsibilities through OKRs, Google ensures that each person knows what is expected of them and how their work contributes to larger projects.
“Accountability breeds response-ability.” — Stephen Covey
Clearly defining roles, responsibilities, and expectations for each team member is like assigning positions on a sports team. Just as every player knows their role on the field—whether they’re defending, passing, or scoring—each team member knows exactly what’s expected of them. This clarity allows the team to work in harmony, avoid overlaps, and reach their goals more effectively.
Foster a culture of constructive feedback where team members feel comfortable providing and receiving feedback.
I love to cook and am always trying new recipes and food pairings. Cooking for people and sharing food is my love language. At our table, we have a very simple rule; tell me what you like or don’t, otherwise I won’t know and will keep making it that way. It took a little while, because nobody wanted to hurt my feelings, but once my family realized that I genuinely need and want their honest feedback, for their benefit, they understood and appreciated the opportunity to be truthful.
When people feel comfortable sharing their thoughts, you will receive honest feedback.
An example of fostering a culture of constructive feedback can be seen at Netflix. Netflix has implemented a culture of “Radical Candor,” where employees are encouraged to give honest, direct feedback in a constructive manner. This approach is rooted in transparency, with the goal of helping everyone improve without fear of retribution or discomfort.
For instance, Netflix holds regular feedback sessions where team members openly discuss their work, highlight areas for improvement, and recognize each other’s achievements. Managers model this behavior by giving and receiving feedback openly, creating a safe environment where all employees feel comfortable sharing their thoughts.
By normalizing feedback as a tool for growth, Netflix ensures that team members see feedback as positive and essential, rather than as criticism. This culture has helped the company maintain high standards and drive innovation, as employees constantly strive to improve and learn from one another.
Utilize collaboration tools and technologies to facilitate communication and teamwork, especially with hybrid or remote teams.
When I began working for The Leaders Institute, we were still utilizing email to communicate with each other, and at the time, most of our team members worked remotely. It wasn’t until we started growing and hired our new Marketing Director that we learned about Slack and how archaic email communication was in terms of productivity.
Soon, we were wondering how we ever functioned so well without it and reveled in feeling more connected with our remote team members. No matter the time zone or location, everyone is now up to date and able to chime in, which is crucial in cohesive teams. And we didn’t have to work so hard at staying in the loop.
No matter which platform you choose to use, you must streamline communication if you want to be productive as an organization.
Using collaboration tools and technologies with hybrid or remote teams is like setting up a virtual office where everyone has their own desk, phone, and meeting space. Just as a physical office provides the spaces and resources teams need to work together effectively, digital tools give remote teams a shared space to communicate, collaborate, and stay connected, no matter where they are.
Communicate Effectively to Improve Collaboration and Teamwork
By establishing clear communication channels, encouraging active listening among team members, clearly defining roles, responsibilities, and expectations, fostering a culture of constructive feedback and utilizing collaboration tools to facilitate communication and teamwork, you are laying the groundwork for a solid foundation. This supportive environment fosters collaboration, loyalty, and a sense of belonging that can make work more fulfilling and enjoyable.
Let the team unification commence!