Today myself (Melissa Grainger, CEO Inspire Affect) and the talented Eleanor Gregan, Solicitor at Davenports Harbour Lawyers have teamed up to bring you the law and the low-down on workplace communication.

Having worked with hundreds of people, teams and businesses from all levels (CEO to junior graduates), I have found that there is a clear and vital link between effective communication and a company’s overall success in any industry.

The importance of communication in the workplace is a topic that is often over-looked and highly under-valued, but it is actually the simplest and most effective way to avoid most problems that can crop up in any team environment.

What we’ve found is any problem, big or small, within a company, often seem to start with bad communication.

And the hardest part is – most people don’t realise there’s a problem in the first place.

We often assume that because we can speak, we can communicate well, and if someone doesn’t understand us, it’s their fault or it’s because they weren’t listening properly.

Have you got people on your team with whom you struggle to communicate with?

They always seem to take it the wrong way or just “don’t get it!?”

What if, it wasn’t them?

What if, it was simply that you aren’t speaking their ‘language’?

What if, you could slightly adjust the way you communicate with others in order to be heard and understood by anyone (no matter how different or ‘difficult’ they seem)?

Imagine for a moment being able to speak to individuals the way THEY like to be spoken to.

Imagine what that would do to the quality of your communication with EVERY person you work with.

Imagine how well respected you would become as a leader because you better understand those you lead.

How can you do that? I’ll get into that in a moment, but for now I’ll hand you over to Eleanor to give you the low-down on the law when it comes to workplace communication.

As employers, you have an obligation to act in good faith towards your employees.  What that means to each employee, and how each of your employees is affected by your actions (and inactions), can vary depending on an employee’s personality.

We recommend that business are better off using their legal team at the beginning of any employment relationship, whether that be preparing a legally compliant employment agreement, putting in place protective workplace policies or coaching managers on how to best to speak with their team members.  In our experience, this method proves much better than the “ambulance at the bottom of the hill” approach, when the employment issue has managed to spiral out of the employer’s control.

The law is very clear that whenever an employer is proposing to make a decision which may have an impact on the employee’s employment, then the employer must follow a procedurally fair and substantially justified process.  During this sort of process, communication is key.  The way that an employer communicates a proposal and/or a decision to an employee may have a significant impact on an employee… which may lead to the employee suffering some hurt and humiliation.  A term and a result that any employer should want to avoid!

There is a huge difference between being a compliant employer and a great employer.  Both my team at Davenports Harbour Lawyers and Melissa’s team at Inspire Affect can help you equip yourself with the tools so that you become a great employer.

Now that we’ve given you the law and the low-down, let’s look at solutions – what can you do right now to avoid many workplace problems simply by improving communication?

When speaking to businesses and business owners from all around the world the one common element that everyone says would help them and their teams is improved communication.

This is where we can help.

Introducing DOTS Precognitive Communication Training Workshops.

These workshops have been proven in hundreds of cases within Kiwi and Australian businesses to dramatically improve interpersonal relationships and increase the communication effectiveness of all levels of participants.

What exactly is DOTS Precognitive Communication Training?

Precognitive means before cognition, that is, before thought.

So what is Precognitive Communication and why is it a critical factor in our ability to communicate effectively?

Think of it as the study of the way we process our thoughts. Or as I like to put it – the art of quickly and accurately predicting someone’s likely thinking and behavioural strategies (why they think and act the way they do).

Why is this important to you?

The ability of knowing how someone wants to be spoken to (speaking their ‘language’), before you even start talking allows us to then be able to identify our own and others “preferred” method of thinking and communicating which gives us an unparalleled power in our environment.

Like they say though, with great power, comes great responsibility. Luckily for us, anyone who discovers this simply wants to share it with others because of the profound impact it has on their life.

Discover the power of Precognitive Communication with an in-house team workshop in your own office.

Enquire today to find out how we can help drastically improve communication in your workplace in just a few hours with a DOTS Team workshop.

If there’s one piece of advice I can leave you with today, it is to put your team and improving communication in your workplace as a priority.

Because how you and your team communicate with each other is vital to your overall success.

“The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime.” – Babe Ruth.

If you’ve found this advice helpful please make someone else’s’ life a little easier and share this article with them.

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