How Communication Affects Teamwork

Teamwork offers advantages such as increased productivity, a heightened sense of morale and improved staff efficiency. One of the key elements in creating a good team is proper communication. To develop effective team communication, you need to understand how communication affects teamwork positively and negatively. That understanding will help you to promote good communication habits.

Increases Interaction

When communication channels in a team are properly established and information flows easily between teammates, then that increases the ability of staff members to interact, according to the Management Skills Advisor website. Team members learn how to interact more efficiently with each other to perform their job duties, and they are better able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each teammate.

Conflict

Poor communication within a team can cause misunderstandings that lead to internal conflict. A team that spends its time misinterpreting information and creating conflicts is not able to be a productive work unit. Developing a strong system of communication eliminates misinformation and cuts down on the possibility of conflict. The team can focus on company tasks as opposed to wasting time sifting through conflict.

Responsibilties

Members of a team need to understand their individual responsibilities to the team's success, and they also need to understand how the duties of their team help the company to move forward. Good communication gets all of the necessary information to each team member on their responsibilities, and it also keeps the team updated on the company's progress. A broken communication system can leave team members confused as to what is expected of them, and unmotivated because they do not understand how their work contributes to the company's success.

Training

A team with an effective communication system can be easily trained by the company, or by the team manager. When communication is not functioning properly within a team, training information does not get distributed to the entire team. The staff members that received the information are up to date while other parts of the group still need to be brought up to speed on new developments. Good team communication helps to maintain employee development and keeps the entire team updated with new information.