How Employee Communication at Work Impacts Team-Building

LONG BEACH, CA, June 25, 2012 (Press-News.org) If you have ever been a manager, you know that one of the most challenging aspects of building teams is managing different employee personalities to ensure effective communication at work. Shortsighted managers may view this as a chore, but great managers are able to see how each personality type can be used to improve the productivity and performance of the individual, the team, the department, and the entire organization.

One of the keys to successfully managing a team is matching tasks and projects with the interpersonal skills of every team member. This takes a manager who understands team dynamics and recognizes that employee communication at the workplace is critical to the success of the team.

To evaluate employee communication at work we must address the four dimensions of relational work, which were originally studied and later identified by Timothy Butler and James Waldroop. These researchers posited that relational work can be defined by 1) influence, 2) interpersonal facilitation, 3) relational creativity, and 4) team leadership. Let's take a closer look at these four dimensions and how they relate to employee communication at work:

• Influence: As the moniker suggests, influencers are happy when they are able to influence others. They have an innate ability to negotiate and persuade other team members, existing customers, and prospective customers alike. They are great at building networks and connections, and their communication at the workplace makes it easy and often necessary for them to lift the spirits of other team members. Influencers are often cheerleaders.

• Interpersonal Facilitation: Team members in this category excel at sensing other employees' emotions, motivations, and conflicts. They typically work behind the scenes to hear the frustrations of employees and are adept at smoothing the waters. These employees are insightful and easily know what it takes to motivate another team member.

• Relational Creativity: Employee communication at work in this dimension is characterized by the use of images and words to create and convey emotion, motivate others, and build relationships. Different from the influencing personality type, which involves person-to-person interaction, relational creativity occurs from a distance. Consider, for example, a copywriter writing a speech for a CEO that is able to inspire an organization to meet a deadline.

• Team Leadership: The title may seem to say it all, but it's important to remember that influencers are different from team leaders in their communication at the workplace. Influencers are focused on the end result and how they affect the win, while team leaders measure success on the ability of their people to increase productivity and achieve goals. They are more interested in the people and processes they put together to accomplish their objectives.

Understanding these four dimensions and how the interpersonal strengths of your employees impact your ability to build better work teams is critical to improve and sustain growth. Keep in mind the importance of rewarding your team, starting by speaking with employees about both their effective and ineffective communication at work.

Learn more about ways to improve your employees' communication at the workplace by visiting http://www.ThinkBlueThinking.com or calling 619.550.8052.

About:
Bruno Raynal is the president and CEO of Blue Thinking, a business consulting firm based in San Diego, California. Bruno works with top level senior management to enhance their awareness of modern business practices and patterns so they can make informed choices, take the right action, and achieve their vision and goals. Learn more about Blue Thinking by visiting http://www.ThinkBlueThinking.com or calling 619.550.8052.