Want to improve communication within your team? Tech could be the answer. There are many applications and gadgets that can make communication faster and clearer. Below are just 7 tips for improving communication within your company’s team.

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Start a company group chat

Company group chats can serve as ongoing virtual team meetings. They’re ideal for communicating remotely with staff, plus you can use them to share files like images of rotas or links to important forms. They are a great way to reduce physical meetings so that you’ve got more time to focus on other tasks. WhatsApp is one of the most common tools for company group chats.

Use apps to track what everyone is doing

Applications are more commonly being used by businesses to allocate work tasks and then monitor the progress of these work tasks. Instead of having to talk individually to each staff member to see how projects are going, managers can simply use this software to check which tasks employees have completed. Field service software can be particularly useful at helping remote staff easily report progress of tasks throughout the day – reducing the need to constantly check up on them with messages or phone calls. Some software can also allow you to track the location of remote staff, and even capture screenshots of their devices to check they’re working.

Transcribe important meetings

If you regularly discuss lots of important information within meetings, consider getting into the habit of recording meetings so that you can then transcribe them into text. This gives you a text version of the meeting that you can easily refer back to, as well as providing legal written evidence as to what was said in the meeting. There are freelancers that you can outsource online to transcribe your recordings. Alternatively, you can try AI transcription tools.

Send out weekly email summaries

Weekly email summaries can be a great way to get everyone up to speed with what’s going on without having to hold a meeting. These could be sent out every Monday to prepare people for the working week. You could ask employees to reply to the email to confirm they’ve read it to make sure that such emails aren’t being ignored.

Know when to use video calls

Video calls can be useful for substituting face-to-face interaction when you and team members cannot physically meet up, and would like to take a warmer approach than simply relying on a voice call or instant messaging. They can be very useful for giving virtual tours or presentations to remote staff. Unlike a phone call, it’s also easy for multiple people to join a video call. Just make sure that video calls are always scheduled and try not to schedule them too regularly so that you and your team don’t suffer from ‘Zoom fatigue’. Just like a physical meeting, video calls can be a waste of time if they don’t have a clear purpose.

Know when to use walkie-talkies/an internal phone system

If your workplace is very large, you could find yourself wasting valuable time walking from one end to the other to communicate with specific members of staff. Sending an email is an option if you’re both on a computer, but if it’s urgent information there’s a risk that they may not see it in time. An internal phone system can make it much easier to communicate with other staff members who may work in a different room or on a different floor. If staff aren’t regularly at a desk and are constantly moving to different parts of the workplace, a walkie talkie may be a more convenient way to communicate with them. For example, some large restaurants and nightclubs use walkie talkies to communicate between the bar and door staff.

Try anonymous feedback tools

Anonymous feedback tools can allow staff members to file complaints or answer surveys anonymously. This could encourage staff members to open up about issues that they may be otherwise too afraid to say in person in fear of being identified. Companies with large workforces that may lack intimacy with management are likely to benefit from these feedback tools the most – staff may feel more comfortable using these tools to discuss complaints with staff or general problems with the company. Such tools aren’t always a good solution in all work settings, and may discourage certain staff members from being as physically open or may lead to witch hunts to find the source of complaints. By trying out these tools, you can determine whether they have more positive or negative consequences.

About the Author: Garlak Theodorakis

My name is Garlak Theodorakis, I am graphic designer with almost 10 year experience in the field. Founded Tooft.com in january 2010 with idea to share my knowledge with the world.