How Communication Supports Organizational Resilience
Management teams and individuals in leadership roles are constantly searching for new and effective ways to reinforce the strength and functionality of their organizations. The resilience of your employees directly influences the competence and adaptability of the company. It’s not just individuals that need to develop resilience, companies need to also strengthen their organizational resilience to navigate challenging times.
What is Organizational Resilience?
Organizational resilience can be defined as the practice of adapting to challenging situations in a variety of settings. Achieving this requires individuals to notice changes as they occur and find productive ways to react to or cope with them. By developing company-wide resilience, businesses can more effectively anticipate changes before they occur and respond to threats or opportunities accordingly.
When working on organizational resilience, businesses need to address the situation at hand and incorporate the proposed changes into the company’s goal plan. Doing so enables staff members and leaders alike to gain new insights and evolve as working professionals.
The Importance of Open Communication
Communication is a critical component of success for any organization as it allows leaders and staff to share information as soon as it becomes available. Sharing information enables respondents to identify and find ways to mitigate issues. Adequate communication allows professionals to create coordinated response efforts that enable the company to recover from events.
Communication is also essential when it comes to pinpointing issues before they become serious problems and keeping staff members informed and prepared as situations unfold. It builds trust, encourages staff to cooperate with each other to achieve a common goal, and improves the way businesses operate across the board.
Communication That Supports Resilience
To enhance a company’s organizational resilience, improving communication efforts is a must. For leaders who want to foster an environment that embraces communication and collaboration, leading by example is the best way to start.
Try the following tips if you want to develop better communication tactics throughout your workplace:
- Encourage Questions and Discussions: When making announcements or introducing new ideas, leave room for questions and discussion periods. This way, you can address concerns right away rather than letting them build.
- Promote Critical Thinking: Allow and encourage your employees to think critically, point out issues, demonstrate potential shortcomings, and present hypothetical situations that challenge current protocols.
- Share Your Own Information: Share what you know. If something of concern has been brought to your attention, share it with your team. While you do not want to incite panic at work, it is important to keep staff members informed about the latest goings-on within your organization.
- Ask for Different Viewpoints: When asking for input, make an effort to seek comments, solutions, and suggestions from individuals whose thoughts, experiences, and viewpoints may differ from the general tone you are observing. Different outlooks are crucial for leaders who want to create critical response plans.
- Lead Productive Meetings: Meetings are not always engaging and entertaining, but if you involve members of your team, you will find that your meetings are at least more productive than before. Ask for input, discuss new ideas, and allow your team to brainstorm solutions for a challenge you all face.
- Reduce Email Communication: There are plenty of instances where email communication works well, but preparing for big changes may not be one of them. Collaboration and buy-in are key. In these situations, call for an in-person or a virtual meeting in real time. This way, thoughts can be shared, ideas can be built upon, and everyone can communicate as a group.
Communication is critical in all aspects of life, especially within the professional landscape. By working towards more effective communication, you can increase your team’s ability to generate positive results together, create multifaceted plans, and overcome challenges as a group. Enhanced communication efforts go hand in hand with the development of a flexible, resilient workforce.