How to Implement Horizontal Communication in Your Team

Horizontal communication can be defined as the flow of information, ideas, and messages from one team member to another within an organization, or between different departments in the same company. This style of communication contrasts with the more traditional vertical communication which typically involves the boss communicating information down to his/her subordinates. Horizontal communication offers many benefits that go beyond those offered by vertical communication alone, such as closer relationships and better productivity among team members who feel like they’re part of a cohesive unit rather than just an extension of the boss’s brain.

What are the benefits of horizontal communication?

The benefits of horizontal communication are that it is an easy way for team members to share information and get feedback on projects. It also reduces misunderstandings and allows employees the opportunity to speak their minds while still working. There are more opportunities for creativity and innovation because there are no barriers. Interpersonal communication improves as well, which can help with employee retention. Overall, this form of communication allows for a more productive work environment that boosts business growth, employee productivity, and employee satisfaction.

There are many benefits of horizontal communication. It allows for more transparency and a forum where workers can raise any concerns they may have or issues they feel are affecting their productivity. While teams need to be able to discuss matters openly, it can cause conflicts when there is no process in place and team members feel others are only speaking up so they don’t get fired or reprimanded.

Tips to Implement Horizontal Communication in Your Team

1) Define your team’s goals

In order to achieve our goals, we will need to implement lateral communication within the team. This will allow us to have productive dialogues and enhance employee satisfaction. With improved employee satisfaction, we should see an increase in productivity as well as an improvement in business growth.

The first step in implementing lateral communication is defining our goals. What do we want to achieve with horizontal communication? Our team needs to sit down and determine what we want from each other. This meeting should be conducted like any other and handled by someone who has power over their peers. Then, set deadlines for reaching these goals, along with setting individual benchmarks that are tied into those larger deadlines.

2) Encourage transparency

Encourage transparency within your team by fostering a culture of communication and mutual respect. This will help prevent communication breakdowns, increase employee satisfaction and improve productivity. You can implement lateral communication through regular feedback sessions, open dialogue, or making use of external channels such as Slack.

Regular meetings allow employees to share ideas and offer feedback without feeling pressured or interrupted. They can also help you resolve conflicts early on and make sure any problems are dealt with before they become big issues. Regular team meetings can be conducted either face-to-face or over Skype, depending on how often you need to hold them and how big your team is. Some teams choose to hold weekly one-hour meetings, whereas others may meet once every two weeks for a full day of discussions.

3) Promote collaboration

Employees perform best when they feel their ideas are taken into consideration and their opinions are valued. Lateral communication can improve employee satisfaction, business growth, and employee productivity. It has many benefits including ease of communication and improved employee satisfaction. Implementing lateral communication is an easy way to improve team dynamics.

Lateral communication improves employee satisfaction by providing opportunities for employees to be heard and valued. It also provides more avenues for team members to offer feedback and engage their colleagues. When you encourage a culture of collaboration among your employees, you enable productive dialogues where information can flow easily, creating fewer instances of miscommunication or breakdowns in your team.

4) Encourage feedback

One way to implement horizontal communication into your team is by using the round-robin technique. This allows everyone on the team a chance to be heard and ensures that they are not left out of conversations. If you want employees to feel included, this is an effective way of ensuring they do. This method also helps create productive dialogues with your teammates; as opposed to creating a constant stream of communication breakdowns. Plus, there are many benefits that come from implementing lateral communication into your team.

Another option is implementing a biweekly team meeting. During these meetings, you can address each person individually, discussing what they need from their coworkers and what they are contributing back to them. These meetings will allow your employees to feel heard, which can be an effective way of improving their productivity. And if you implement horizontal communication into your team early on, there’s a good chance that it will improve both employee satisfaction and workplace culture as well.

5) Lead by example

When you are the leader of a team, it is up to you to set the tone and start by modeling the behaviors that you want your team members to adopt. You can start by implementing lateral communication within your team. This form of communication will help improve employee satisfaction, ease of communication, and business growth.

One way you can implement lateral communication is by encouraging employees to offer suggestions, feedback, and solutions when you have problems or concerns. As a leader, it’s not your job to solve all of your team’s problems. You should encourage your team members to think critically and actively participate in solving issues as a group—while you take on more of a guiding role than an authoritative one. Employees want their voices heard—they want an opportunity to put forth their ideas for success.

6) Teamwork and unity

A lot of businesses hinge on the ties that form between the personnel. Because it encourages employees to work together as a team, company leaders should heavily support horizontal communication.

In this regard, corporate culture is equally crucial. Employees are motivated to work for a firm when they are aware of both the company’s objectives and the importance of each individual employee.

Employees that engage in horizontal communication are not subject to stringent guidelines for how they should interact with one another. As a result, they quickly establish a shared language, which helps them work as a great team. Corporate culture, in turn, has a role in the sense of community felt by all employees.

Regardless of the roles they occupy, employees understand that they are not only working to earn a high income but that they are also working together to make the firm successful by speaking openly with one another.

7) Task and projects coordination

In order to have a productive dialogue, it is important for both parties to feel like they have been heard. This can be difficult when there are communication breakdowns or when the information being given is overwhelming. Implementing lateral communication will help ease the burden of tasks and projects as well as improve employee satisfaction.

Another important aspect of lateral communication is that it helps your business grow. Because of improved internal communication and increased employee satisfaction, employees will be more productive, which ultimately drives business growth.

Although implementing lateral communication may be a difficult adjustment, it has a number of benefits that make it worth it. You’ll have more productive dialogues and improved employee satisfaction, which is just one part of what makes your business thrive.

Last thoughts

Lateral communication is a form of communication that can be implemented when there are breakdowns in interpersonal communication. It is a two-way process that takes into account the needs and feedback of all parties involved. This type of communication improves employee satisfaction, business growth, and employee productivity. If you have any questions about implementing horizontal communication in your team, feel free to reach out!