No one can avoid communication in the workplace. How else will business owners run their firms? Without communication, customers would never know which products a firm sells. An employee wouldn’t know what’s expected of them. Similarly, managers wouldn’t have a clue how to propel workers to do their work or make deals to expand their businesses. Communication skills are important for every business. And that’s why it’s important for each employee to work on improving their workplace communication skills.

Nobody has the perfect solution to improve anyone else’s skill when it comes to interpersonal relations. Over the years, however, some of the following methods have shown some potential.

Simple ways of improving your workplace communication skills

1. Listen to others: when you listen to what others say to you, you learn more about them and their motivations. You’re able to know how to get your messages across. Listening to others also makes them pay attention to you when you speak.

2. Maintain eye contact: maintaining eye contact tells people that they can trust you. Therefore, if you want to get your colleagues to hear you out in meetings or on the corridors, you need to hold their gazes.

3. Stay positive: nothing puts people off than a bad attitude. It’s always more effective in business to be positive when talking to your friends, colleagues and even customers.

4. Control your body language: your body speaks louder than your words. A simple way to ensure you communicate efficiently with others is to use your body to do it for you. Nod when you agree with something. It shows that you’re listening to whoever’s speaking. Avoid crossing your arms; that’s too defensive.

5. Pay attention to your audience: the way you speak to your consumers is not the same way you’ll talk to your boss. If you want to pass on your messages at the office better, modify your tone and word choice according to who you’re talking to.

6. Work on the written messages: even as you work on the face to face communication skills, remember to upgrade your writing as well. Company communication doesn’t only take place in board rooms at workroom meetups. There’s also memos, emails, and other forms of written data to consider. You can make these better with a lot of practice and more reading.

7. Think before you Speak: there are those times when people get on each other’s nerves in the office. When emotions are running high, it’s easy to speak out and most of the time out of line. One way to ensure that people listen to you is to think logically and express well thought out ideas even when you’re pissed. So if you want to communicate more effectively, ensure you think before you speak.

8. Keep it short and relevant: in a meeting, don’t waste your words. Say what you want and say it clearly. Keep your emails short and easy to understand so that no one can take them out of context.

With those few tips, you should be on your way to communicating better.