Good communication is essential to achieve productivity and maintain strong working relationships. The importance of regular communication lies in its ability to build trust among employees. And increase productivity, output, and morale in general. Poor communication leads to unmotivated staff that may begin to question their own abilities. And that of the organisation.

Benefits of regular communication

There are all sorts of reasons why the importance of regular communication should be a focus in any business. In today’s highly-competitive work environment, some of the most vital benefits are:

1. Regular communication facilitates important innovation

When employees feel comfortable in openly communicating new ideas, cooperation and innovation will be at an all-time high. Staff may be unable to convey their ideas due to limited communication facilities. If so, it’s likely that the idea will not be implemented to its full potential. For example, HR directors are missing a trick if they don’t involve IT personnel in choosing new tech for the next big rollout.

2. Building an effective team with regular communication

If open communication within a workplace is encouraged, a more cohesive and effective team will emerge. Good communication within a team also tends to boost employee morale.

Employees benefit from being well-informed of the company’s direction and vision. If you can pull that off, they will feel more secure within their role. Don’t forget the importance of regular communication for improving work ethic. Reminding staff of their achievements and those of others reinforces that they are working towards a common goal.

3. The importance of communication when managing employees

Managers need to be effective communicators. They must be able to inform staff adequately of their responsibilities. They also need to be able to realistically set the expectations of staff in turn. Good communication skills also help managers to provide constructive feedback to their staff, build better relationships, and understand personal goals that staff may wish to work towards.

The shortcomings of traditional annual or biannual performance reviews highlight the importance of regular communication. Over 6-12 months people forget about their objectives and organisational goals and priorities change.

4. Regular communication ensures transparency

When regularly communicating both internally and externally, organisations remain more transparent. This is important in building trust in your brand, in your services and also internally when it comes to the trust that employees have in higher management.

The importance of regular communication when you’re managing Millennials and Gen Z

Millennial and Gen Z employees place a lot of value on regular, effective communication that keeps them in the loop. Technology has played a key role in shaping both generations. But why are we harping on about them so much?

Well, they’re soon going to compose the majority of modern workforces, for starters. In the UK, the number of Millennials in the population surpassed the Baby Boomer population for the first time in 2020. At the time, there were over 14.2 million Millennials in the UK population, as well as almost 12.7 million members of Gen Z. So, between them, it follows that they’re pretty much dominating the modern workplace.

Gen Z especially is having a major impact on workplace cultures. Here are just some of the changes being spearheaded by our youngest innovators:

Regular communication helps to contextualize their work

Millennial and Gen Z staff prefer to know the reason for doing a task before they do it. Knowing the upfront value of their work can be an excellent motivator. Why should they invest their time in this task and how does it fit into the bigger picture?

They want ongoing feedback and honest communication

Millennials are brutally honest with each other, and they expect the same from their employer. They want to feel as though their opinion matters and that their insights are contributing to a bigger picture that is allowing the company to develop. Companies need to adopt a transparent communication policy.

They see job flexibility as a basic expectation

Millennials and Gen Z place a lot of emphasis on job flexibility, to the point where many would switch jobs for it. Of course, the pandemic played a key role in legitimizing remote work. But the fact that it’s here to stay is something we’ve seen a lot of support for among young employees. And let’s not forget that the importance of regular communication is even greater when you have a decentralized employee base.

How Zensai facilitates better communication within your organisation

Our own weekly employee check-in uses your choice of OKRs or SMART Goals so you can see your objectives succeed in real-time. But it also contains a highly customizable range of questions designed to monitor wellbeing and engagement. Here are just some of the advantages of a weekly employee check-in:

1:1 conversations

Perhaps something came up in a group meeting, or someone has a personal issue they want to discuss. Either way, 1:1s are your bread and butter for dealing with issues on the micro scale. They’re a chance for you to build rapport, get to the root of issues, and show you care about employee concerns.

Progress updates

Micromanaging is disruptive, but the motivation is understandable. Fortunately, a light-touch progress update can give you all the info you need. But it’s also an opportunity for mutual feedback. Updates are just as much about making you aware of problems as it is checking tasks off a list.

It doesn’t matter whether your organisation is part of the armed forces, a legal firm, a car dealership, a restaurant, a financial institution or a technology company. Whatever its purpose, effective communication is vital to its survival and successful operation. Regular communication is of the utmost importance for your organization.