Are you getting through to your team?  If you are sitting shaking your head and you feel like you don’t get back what you put in, then perhaps it’s time to take a closer look at the ways you can improve the connection you have with your team.

It’s okay if your team needs some nurturing. Psychologist Bruce Tuckman coined the phrase ‘forming, storming, norming and performing’ to describe the developmental stages a team progresses through on their journey to top performance.  It may be that your team are on the journey to the top so, take a look at these factors that can improve team communication.

  • Listen Carefully

Let’s admit it, we all struggle with this. Understand what the other person is saying and feeling. Pay attention, be patient with them and do not interrupt. Not only is it rude to cut someone off, but it makes it hard to understand what they are saying. Provide your feedback when they are finished.

  • Body language

Your body language can speak louder than your words, it reveals your true feelings and emotions.  If you want to connect with your team then nonverbal cues are the first point of call. To get results from your co-workers, learn to assert your position within the team by using direct eye contact and hand gestures with the people you are talking to. Instantly, this presents you as an enthusiastic leader who wants to see results from their team.

Communicating your passion and sincerity for the task at hand through your body language may result in your team mirroring your actions. Mirroring is a social phenomenon where people copy others actions.  Commonly, this is an unconscious behaviour but it signifies empathy and synchronisation.  So, use your body language to engage your team and share your drive.

  • Read & Write

In order to improve your verbal communication, read and write as much as you can. Read books, the newspaper, comics, blogs or anything you want to boost your vocabulary and improve your writing skills. Similarly, watching sitcoms and movies also helps improve one’s communication skills.

  • Ask Questions

Asking questions helps clarifying things. It shows that you are interested in having a conversation by keeping them engaged. Moreover, it also helps overcome the fear of small talk.

  • Manage Stress

Stress can be a major impediment to effective communication. Learn to manage it. Use humour in your conversations, keep calm, exercise and drink lots of water.

  • Personality profiles

It takes a range of people to make a brilliant team.  But have you ever considered that this may be impacting how effectively you connect with your team?  Understanding someone’s personality allows you to look closer into their work behaviour and optimise their strengths whilst bettering their weaknesses.

Completing a DISC personality assessment may be the solution to getting better results from your team.  The DISC model is the most popular behavioural assessment tool in the world.  It presents four main personality types;

  • Dominance: Direct and guarded, fast-paced and task-orientated, focuses on problems and challenges, assertive.
  • Influence: Direct and open, fast-paced and people oriented, focuses on people and contacts, persuasive.
  • Steadiness: Indirect and open, slow-paced and people oriented, focuses on pace and consistency, supportive.
  • Conscientiousness: Indirect and guarded, slow-paced and task-orientated, focuses on procedures & constraints analytical.

The ability to communicate clearly, concisely and coherently takes years of practice. Hence, incorporate the above-mentioned steps to not just improve your communication skills, but also improve the quality of your life.

ActionCOACH is offering a DISC behavioural assessment worth £90 to everyone in the UK for FREE

FREE DISC Profile Assessment: Personality Profile Learning Style Report (actioncoach.co.uk)

You can download our paper on Creating a Dream Team HERE which includes further guidance to create winning teams as well as other tips to intentionally attract and build dream teams.