All of us know how important communication is for survival and to grow and evolve. Without communication it would be impossible to convey ideas and thoughts. To grow as a business, you need to share certain ideas, thoughts, opinions, judgments and suggestions and to share these, you first need to convey. This is looking at communication in its most basic form in the workplace. Most teams communicate with each other as a need, and not in actuality, this is where the meaning of communication skills is precisely lost. Employees need to understand what exactly is meant by communication and communication skills, inculcate these in their workplace behavior, and then gradually improve them. As far as improving team communication skills is concerned, there are 5 steps mentioned below which you can follow to conquer your objective of improving the said skills. Check them out! How You Can Improve Team Communication Skills Understanding Communication If you want to teach your employees the best communication skills, you have to first teach them the importance of communication and why we need it. There has to be understanding of the concept to learn more about it, and to then enhance this knowledge even more. Communication skills are not limited to only the way you communicate verbally, but also to other methods of communication. Communication also includes aspects such as body language that play an equally important role in determining efficient communication. Once you inculcate this importance, you can proceed to sharpen that knowledge by learning the communication skills. Communication Games Communication games are one of the best ways to improve communication skills and fun too. They also give you the much-needed break from work and daily chores in the workplace. Communication games can include some fun games where the communication skills of employees can be tested by making them compete against each other. For example, you can announce a 'department of the month' competition where the company would be rewarding the most efficient department. To achieve maximum productivity, the employees will have to communicate with each other in the best possible way and once they do, they'll see the results for themselves. Team Building Activities Communication might not come easily to everyone, and this makes it important for the employer/organization to hold team building activities that would promote team communication. Also tell the employees how to communicate with each other in the perfect way and in lesser time. These activities tell us how minimum communication can get great productivity in less time. You can either search the Internet for some team building activities or call a professional to conduct these activities. Letting Go of Perceptions Preconceived notions about a particular group of people, or just about a particular individual, can lead to unwanted communication barriers. This can be overcome by professional communication skills where you don't judge anyone on any scale apart from that of work. Being opinionated is one thing and being judgmental is another. Don't let personal bias towards a selected few get in between your communication with all the employees at large. Perceptions will lead to assumptions eventually. Educating Communication skills can't be acquired if you are not educated about the different methods of communication. Employees need to learn different types of communication such as verbal, written, formal and informal, and also the methods to use them. There is a particular way you write in, when you communicate with your employees and this is very important for efficient communication. As an organization that promotes efficient communication, you need to inculcate this in your employees if they aren't aware of it. These were some ways of improving team communication skills and benefits of doing the same. Since you now know how important developing effective team communication skills is, you can implement all the necessary changes in your workplace. You also have to understand that communication skills can't be achieved overnight, so be patient and they'll surely work out for you! Best of Luck!