Effective communication within the departments of any business is essential for achieving both success and a better working environment. When different groups work together to reach a common goal by sharing ideas and resources, everybody wins. But there are challenges, and today’s post takes a quick look at these and explores ways to overcome your communication conundrum.

Magazine Training International is on a mission to help Christian magazine publishers share the good word. Today’s post is just one of many aimed at your team that can help you operate more efficiently so that you can enjoy the success you deserve.

Utilize tools that allow for cross communication.

There are many tools available that help you communicate with people, whether they are inside of your physical location or across the country. Google Docs, Trello, and Slack are great examples. Google Docs offers word processing, spreadsheets, and more online and supports in-document commenting and annotations. Project management software Trello lets you discuss different tasks and projects in real time. Slack is an instant communication platform that lets you create “channels” to target certain groups or initiate individual conversations.

Learn to understand process intelligence.

Whether your magazine is just starting out or is a decade or more older, there’s always room to improve. With the use of process intelligence tools, for example, you can utilize the power of machine learning, artificial intelligence, and human-like language to gain insight into your internal practices. This can help you identify deficits in your communication and collaboration methods by showing you where things are and are not working.

Identify your failure points.

If you’re not ready to use process intelligence just yet, you’ll have to manually identify interdepartmental communication failure points. These include silos, which is when a department operates independently and does not share information with other departments. The Helpjuice blog asserts that silos may be the product of physical separation but also happen when your departments are not focused on a singular goal. A lack of trust between departments is another reason your groups may not be communicating effectively.

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Set clear objectives.

For your departments to share a common goal, you have to set objectives for each that all lead to the same place. OfficeVibe recommends using the OKR method of goal setting. This stands for objectives and key results and essentially means that you set a goal and identify metrics by which you measure progress. An example here is making sure that your art, copy, advertising, and editing departments are all aware that your June issue must be printed by May 1 and must feature X number of articles, X original images, and X number of interviews with pertinent parties.

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Understand the importance of communication.

By now, it should be clear that effective interdepartmental communication can help you achieve your goals, but there are other benefits as well. When everyone is more open, your organization will be more efficient and, therefore, less costly. You’ll avoid effort duplication, and your employees will likely feel more autonomous and empowered. Plus, great internal communication leads to trust, openness, and transparency, which can all improve the employee experience.

Largely, the magazine industry is a tough business to be in. But, when you and your staff work together to achieve a common goal, you can do anything you set your mind to. From using process intelligence to identify communication boundaries to setting clear goals and truly understanding the importance of interdepartmental communication, today’s tips can help you write the story of your own success through maintaining open channels with everyone in your company.

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by Poppy Williams, Tech Biz Guide

Photo by Kaleidico on Unsplash