Improving Communication in the Team: 7 Methods for leaders that really work

A leader can refer to any person that inspires or motivates others. Whether that be a team member who is naturally extraverted and takes the reins on a project, or a manager who heads up an entire department of a company.

James MacGregor Burns defined transformational leadership as a process where “leaders and followers engage with each other to raise one another to higher levels of motivation and morality”. 

How do we put this into practice and improve team communication? We’re going to discuss seven methods with real-life examples and demonstrate how Insights® Discovery can be used as a tool in many of these scenarios.

For readers that haven’t participated in a workshop yet, you may want to have a read of our article Insights® Discovery: what it is, who it helps and when to use it to give context on the topics we’re discussing today.

1. Improving empathy

In order to build a good connection with a team, leaders and managers need to understand each individual employee’s working and communication style. Participating in an Insights® Discovery workshop is a brilliant place to start. Every team member will receive a breakdown of their colour energy preferences, alongside details of their strengths, weaknesses and approach to tasks in the workplace.

Learning the colour energy preferences of those around you enables you to adapt your approach to each individual. You’ll understand why they react the way they do and how to work effectively with them. Interacting with a person in their preferred “language” boosts morale, earns respect and creates a sense of trust.

2. Gaining self-awareness

As a leader, focus is often put on how you manage or encourage others. However, understanding this from the perspective of those you’re managing – how you’re perceived by them – can give you a fresh perspective on why team members may act a certain way. 

The knowledge of colour energy preferences is important for both reflecting on how to support others but also for self-reflection. It allows you to be confident in what you bring to a teamwork setting and be aware of blind spots you may have. Acknowledging the latter helps you become more relatable to colleagues who may report to you as a senior too.

3. Active listening during feedback

Setting aside dedicated feedback time is a key to success for those in leadership roles. It’s important to have an avenue for people to raise concerns or ask for help, before an issue affects team dynamics. Active listening means taking what is said on board and checking in on queries at a later date to ensure improvements have been actioned.

How can Insights® Discovery help here? Now you have an understanding of each person’s colour energy preference, you can set up individualized feedback environments. Your chance of these sessions being productive increases if the person providing feedback feels comfortable.

4. Finding a safe space

Closely related to our previous point regarding active listening, a safe space needs to be established in order to allow your team to feel secure in raising any challenges they may face. As a leader, you, your office or the weekly meeting you run may be this safe space.

The Insights® Discovery workshop process allows the opportunity for facilitated discussions that may usually feel challenging. Breaking down these barriers in a neutral environment, with a mediator to help propel the conversation, can help set the tone for team dynamics moving forwards. As a leader, it’s important to pay attention to how colleagues respond in a workshop. Try to pick up on topics that individuals respond to with enthusiasm or shy away from.

An Insights® Discovery workshop can be a helpful, neutral environment to engage in discussions about your team’s feedback preferences.

5. Having fun

Perhaps seen as something that should be separate from work, fun can actually play a crucial role in supporting positive team dynamics. Regular activities that aren’t directly related to a work project or company goal help colleagues establish relationships as a group. Whether that be an organised Insights® Discovery team building session, a lunch or social outside of work hours, a happy team is more likely to enjoy being in the workplace and therefore generate better results professionally. Even a meeting conducted in a more casual setting can put people at ease and encourage them to put forward more ideas than they may otherwise.

Psychological safety in teams is a concept researched by Harvard Business School Professor Amy Edmondson. The idea is that when colleagues can voice their thoughts without fear of retribution, an environment that is safe for interpersonal risk-taking is created. A workplace that supports this provides a much greater opportunity for positive team communication. 

As a leader, the ways you can help promote this:

• Enforce a no tolerance policy for bullying or discrimination
• Encourage people to learn from mistakes
• Thank people for sharing their ideas and feedback

The colour-coded model used by Insights® Discovery supports a non-judgmental, colour-coded language. It’s emphasized during our workshops that a person’s colour energy preferences are only one part of their personality. Many people exhibit more than one preference and there is no “good” or “bad” energy. This means that the psychometric tool can be used to improve team communication and provide an avenue for constructive feedback, without any individual feeling discriminated against.

7. Utilizing technology correctly 

There are a plethora of technologies to help with team communication nowadays but the constant contact in our modern world can also pose issues. The most vital rule to implement is contact hours. Are staff encouraged to keep work-related communication off their personal phones? If so, is this explicitly stated in company policy? If not, is there a cut off time for responses out of hours? The answers to these questions are individual to your organization but closely relate to the earlier topic of psychological safety. Are you getting the most productive version of your team if they are expected to communicate 24/7?

In terms of choosing team communication platforms, keep it streamlined. You don’t need every new tool out there or three different ways to schedule a video call. Don’t over-complicate or dilute efficiency by expecting your team to record the same information in multiple places.

As the first, and largest, official distributor of Insights Discovery in Switzerland, Tree Trunk Partners has spent over a decade helping individuals and teams understand and value their unique styles, and implement strategies for realizing their full potential.