Rules for communication in the team

Good communication in a team is the basis for achieving the set goals, and knowledge of its basic principles is an element that affects an engaged and harmonious team. There are a huge number of techniques to improve communication methods. They affect the reception of the content conveyed through words, gestures, behavior, tone of voice and also in other methods of transferring information between people.

Communication is an integral part of everyone's life. Every day we communicate with a huge number of people. During the day, we exchange information with people of different groups and also fit into the way of conversation, in a given company. However, we manage to do this by following certain rules that prevail during a conversation, which we even unconsciously follow. We will try to define these rules more and also give examples of occurrence, of particular behaviors during conversation.

What is communication?

Communication is a process aimed at causing the person who is the recipient of information to change his consciousness to that intended by the sender. Communication consists of the following actions:

- encoding of thoughts by the sender,

- transmitting the medium receiving the medium through the recipient of the message

- reproduction of the content of the information.

- feedback

Communication is the mutual transmission of information. The sender initiates a message by encoding a thought. The message is the physical result of the encoding by the sender. A message is speech, writing, gesture. The channel is the means through which the message travels. The recipient is the addressee of the message. However, before he can receive the message, the symbols must be translated into a form he can understand. This stage is the decoding process.[2]

Modes of communication

We are able to distinguish three types of communication. The first type of communication is oral communication. This group of communication includes formal or informal conversations, gossip and rumor networks. It has the following advantages which are the speed of the transmitted information and feedback, that is, direct reaction to the transmitted content. The disadvantage of this part of communication, on the other hand, is the susceptibility to content distortion. When information is transmitted orally, by more subjects, the information may be deformed and may not even retain its original content.

The second type of communication is written communication. It consists of such elements as e-mail, applications that have chat like Messenger, letters, notes, faxes. The advantages of this group of communication include the impossibility of changing the content, during the further transmission of information and, the possibility of long-term possession of a document with a given content. The negative element, on the other hand, is the time-consuming nature, caused by applying the information in the form of a letter.

The last way of communication is non-verbal communication, commonly known as body language. It is shaped by elements such as body movements, intonation or accentuation of words, facial expressions and physical distance between the sender and receiver. The advantage of this type of communication is feedback. The gigantic disadvantage is that often nonverbal communication is not dependent on us and we do not control, some of the content conveyed by body language.

What is a team?

A team is most simply a group of people working together to achieve a required goal. There are many definitions of the term team. To cite a few:

“A team is also a collection of people who have a common, specific goal of action and complementary skills."[3]

“A team is regarded as a specific, cohesive group of people with clearly defined group roles, norms and responsibilities."[4]

If we want to have as well as talk about a well-rounded team, there are several important points to consider. “In a team there is a sense of mutual responsibility, willingness to take action together and belonging. The team, as an element of the organization, has both formal and informal ties, and strives to perform specific tasks in order to achieve tangible and intangible gratification."[5] Having a close-knit team working toward a top-down goal is far more profitable than the actions of individuals pursuing the same goal. The team, through the diversity of people and knowledge, is able to help each other, which eliminates individual gaps that appear on the path towards the chosen course, which a single person cannot fill in such a short time.

Rules of communication in a team

We will list five principles of good communication:

1. accountability.

In a team, we need to convey relevant content in an appropriate way. In a team, we assume that everyone knows his or her tasks, and therefore we speak from the position of “I” when conveying information. We try not to directly address a command or complaint in the direction of a team member. We do not use terms such as , “you never”, , “you constantly”, , “you always”, because this is a direct attack in the recipient of the transmitted content. This arouses negative emotions in the recipient and does not benefit team communication. In the communication of our team we are concerned that we convey information and not attack the participants.

2 Open conversation

Team discussions should be an open conversation in which each participant has the opportunity to voice their opinions and share their experiences. Discussions of this type allow for different perspectives on the situations raised. It also builds trust within the team and a lack of fear of voicing one's opinion. Also, it introduces freedom to, for example, detect and neutralize unwanted problems more quickly.

3 Identify motivators and demotivators

In a team, we need to understand what are the motivators for work, and what actions demotivate the team. By finding the right motivators, we are able to increase the quality of our team's work, productivity, and efficiency. In turn, excluding demotivators will allow us to have better control over the work in the team and no drop in quality. Each member of the team may have a different motivating factor, and the role of the team is to know the factors and work together to achieve them.

4 Procedures and arrangements must be clear

Each team should have a set of procedures and arrangements to regulate their tasks. These can be simple arrangements that talk about the workflow or specify tasks to be performed. This prevents de-organization in our team and makes it easier for us to pursue the adopted goal.

5 Being assertive

Assertiveness should be an inherent trait of individuals in any team. If the team is working on a specifically adopted goal, it should not be guided by emotions and ties and consistently and assertively evaluate specific situations. Despite the role in the team, decisions should always be made on the basis of increasing the possibility of achieving the goal and not emotions.

Summary

As we can see, communication in the team is an important element affecting the group's achievement of individual goals. With proper communication, we accelerate all processes that bring us closer to the target and also maintain good quality of work. Good organization also builds group morale and thus encourages the group to act. Introducing the principles of good organization makes it much easier to achieve an increase in quality and efficiency.

Mikułowski J. (1983), Nęcki Z., Komunikowanie skuteczne, Kraków

Kmiotek K., Pecuch T.(2012). Zachowania organizacyjne. Teoria i przykłady, Difin, Warszawa, s. 162

Rutka R., Wróbel P. (2012). Organizacja zachowań zespołowych, Polskie Wydawnictwo Ekonomiczne, Warszawa s. 75

Kożusznik B. (2002). Zachowania człowieka w organizacji, Polskie Wydawnictwo Ekonomiczne, Warszawa, s. 104

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