How to Communicate With Groups of Employees

Yellng is not usually an effective way to communicate to a group.

Communication is one of the most important skills that a manager or business owner can have. When you think of communication with your employees, you probably think of the one-on-one communication that is common in business. However, there will be times when you must communicate to a group of employees. From companywide meetings to collecting status reports from employees working on group projects, you must ensure that you can effectively communicate with groups.

Instructions

1. Improve your public speaking skills by working on them as often as possible. Remember that public speaking skills will be necessary when you are conducting a formal meeting; if you are unable to effectively communicate and run a meeting, you will lose credibility with your employees. A manager with no credibility will have a very difficult time communicating with and leading employees effectively.

2. Communicate with groups in person as often as possible. Never attempt to take care of all issues using group emails. You will get more accomplished by bringing employees together in a meeting and discussing issues in person. Remember that by doing this, you will eliminate the chain of emails that will be generated by attempting to use email for communication with larger groups.

3. Hold informal group meetings as well as formal meetings. Start each day with a group huddle that takes no more than 10 minutes. Allow employees to ask questions in an informal setting, and use the time for group brainstorming on any ongoing project concerns.

4. Ensure that your message is clear and easy enough to comprehend that everyone in a group can understand it. Don't include information or terms that the entire group may not be familiar with; you don't want to communicate to only a small section of a large group. Keep information that you want to communicate to large groups more general than information you would communicate to smaller groups or individuals who might have additional knowledge.

5. Keep memos and other written group communications short and concise. Use bulleted lists and small paragraphs; never allow a group memo to be longer than a single page. Remember that urgent matters concerning a group of employees should be handled via a meeting rather than by circulating a memo.

Tips & Warnings

• Meeting with employees as a group regularly helps keep everyone working toward a common goal.

References

• Inc.: How to Communicate With Employees