3 Easy Tips to Improve Communication in Your Team

One of the things that I've always loved about yoga is the emphasis on breathing. Each move is associated with an inhale or exhale - enhancing and supporting the movement. Breathing also serves as a safety measure for the practitioner. If a particularly pretzel-y twist is too challenging to breathe through, then it is a sign something is wrong, and maybe it's not the best position for the person.

Just as breathing is to yoga, communication is a vital indicator of an organization's health. Suppose communication is short or confusing within your organization. That might indicate that you're twisted into a challenging position, and something needs to change. Without effective communication, projects will suffer, and you risk hurting your organization. Here are a few ways we can work to improve communication, even when times are tough:

1. Make the best use of technology. 

Communication doesn't need to be face-to-face to be effective. Many tools are available to help your team be more productive through indirect communication. Cloud-based tools like Google Calendar can help your team set goals, plan meetings, and keep in touch with each other's projects. Asana and Trello are task management platforms that allow you to assign tasks and track their completion. Nonprofits can access resources like Google Apps for free, and there are usually low-cost options available from vendors like Tech Soup. 

Our team checks in via a 15-minute G-Chat twice a week, and we're working on incorporating task management software to keep us up to speed in between. This helps me, as a manager, to know what is accomplished and who needs help without gathering everyone into one room.

2. Make meetings sacred time. 

How do you do that, exactly? Well, the first thing is to make sure that meetings are productive. No one wants to attend a meeting that rambles on eternally and accomplishes nothing. Leave brief time for a catch-up - because team building is important - but try to tie that time to something tangible, like sharing coffee at the beginning of the meeting. Make sure the agenda is published in advance so everyone can contribute.

Next, ensure your meetings are safe spaces where everyone's contributions are important. If a dominant voice talks over shy team members or a certain staffer seems to slink back instead of projecting forward, consider some facilitation methods to help everyone feel included.

Lastly, ensure that your meetings are scheduled at regular intervals so nothing important is missed, and each meeting doesn't need to last for hours. If a regular meeting lasts more than an hour, it is either discombobulated, poorly planned, or needs to happen more frequently. Since no one's attention span can last much longer than an hour, why not consider breaking it up or assigning some items to online tools?

3. Utilize the power of one-on-one. 

If your board members, volunteers, and/or staff don't hear from you often, they may begin to feel disconnected. But that doesn't mean every meeting needs to happen in a large group. Getting it all out at once can feel easier, but it can be hard to plan. Why not schedule a quick call or face-to-face check-in? You'd be surprised what people think is not worth reaching out to you about. Your team's next big success could be a concept they imagine and dismiss as impossible. A slight hiccup that plagues a volunteer could be cleared up in a ten-minute call. The power of one-on-one gives people a safe space to ask questions or pitch ideas they wouldn't feel comfortable doing in a group. Because it's so much easier to plan a meeting with two people, make a call, or pop by an office, it can help keep teams connected.