Once your company reaches a critical size, with multiple teams or different departments, it is no longer quite so simple to manage. As it becomes more difficult for you to maintain a detailed oversight of developments and plans, so interdepartmental communication becomes crucial to business success.
Here are the ways that good interdepartmental communication is key to business success.
Improved Relationships
With frequent meetings to disseminate important information, both management and staff can enjoy improved relationships. Having better interpersonal bonds develops a greater level of general trust throughout the organisation and prevents relationships becoming strained, which can lead to misunderstandings or even hostility.
When teams distrust each other, there can be conflict and blame. Departments will point the finger and not take responsibility for errors or failings.
An improved understanding of others’ roles and responsibilities comes with less risk of resentment and anger and a greater likelihood of harmony and efficiency.
Sharing of Information
Keeping the information flowing in the business avoids siloes developing. When departments remove barriers and share information, it allows others in the company to work optimally and to improve collaboration.
For example, if marketing is running a new promotion, involving the sales department will allow them to input into the plans and to prepare their own follow-up actions.
Better Customer Service
At the heart of every business is the customer. Doing well by your customers is how you make a sustainable profit.
With effective communication, essential information travels between departments, giving staff the knowledge they need to best carry out their roles. In turn, customers will be better served, preventing them from taking their money elsewhere.
Improved Performance
When staff collaborate on an aligned strategy, and work towards cross-company objectives, everyone performs better.
Good communication helps motivate staff and boosts productivity levels. When you appraise all stakeholders with business intelligence and progress reports, then cross-company projects can be achieved more quickly and effectively.
Better Employee Motivation
When staff feel involved and that they have a voice, they have a better view of their own worth and their importance to the business. Communication should not just comprise directives that come from the top-down. It should also flow back up the management chain, as well as sideways, between departments.
Enhanced communication drives motivation and improves morale. Happy, committed and loyal staff are more engaged and more productive. In fact, data from Gallup shows that highly engaged staff are 21% more productive.
Aligned Goals
Tying individual team or departmental results to a corporate objective gives you an opportunity to incentivise your staff to perform better.
For example, if you set a company goal of achieving certain levels of customer satisfaction, this will impact all departments that have customer touchpoints. Teams absolutely must communicate well with each other so that they can achieve the performance aims, so they have an incentive to communicate well and to work closely together.
Fewer Misunderstandings and Mistakes
With clear cross-department communication you avoid situations where mixed messages can bring about undesirable results.
A unified voice from across the company also helps with customer communication. This stops customers getting different information from different departments, helping to achieve more predictable outcomes.
Interdepartmental communication also reduces the chance of mistakes being made. With everyone using a single central information database, for example, staff across the company can access consistent information about customers, suppliers, stock, or client projects.
With increased accuracy, your customers will receive a better service. Marketing’s campaigns will be more accurately targeted. Sales will be following up with the most lucrative prospects. And Finance will be billing and collecting money on time.
Shared Systems and Data
You can also achieve better communication using technology and businesses processes. Shared systems and data allow your staff to access the same information, in the same way, which helps communication and produces a more harmonious work environment.
While companies traditionally saw their staff in the same office, able to walk up to each other and communicate instantly, things have changed. Not only are we becoming more global, with many companies employing remote and dispersed workforces, but the impact of the pandemic has seen staff working from home a lot more. Systems and technology that aid communication are vital in these sorts of set ups.
NetSuite solutions can help to technologically unify your business. With functionality that assists across all functions of your business, it allows all your staff to work on the same real-time information, ensuring they can communicate and collaborate better. For more information, contact us today.
