How to Improve Communication Skills in 6 Steps

Clear communication is one of the most critical skills in any organisation. It helps teams align on goals, reduce misunderstandings, and collaborate more effectively across functions and levels.

According to The State of Business Communication in 2024 report by the Harris Poll (on behalf of Grammarly), 64% of business leaders say effective communication has increased their team’s productivity, and 55% of knowledge workers agree. Notably, over half of the surveyed employees also reported a boost in confidence (55%) and job satisfaction (58%) when communication improves—highlighting how strong communication shapes not only performance, but also morale.

In this article, we’ll walk through 6 actionable steps organisations can take to improve communication across teams, helping build a culture of trust, reduce misalignment, and drive clearer, more effective collaboration at every level.

TL;DR 

• Communication impacts performance and morale: 64% of business leaders say strong communication boosts productivity; over half of employees feel more confident and satisfied when communication improves.
• Use a 7-step framework: Build better communication across teams with structured steps, active listening, channel clarity, concise messaging, feedback culture, empathy, emotional intelligence, and continuous learning.
• Practical tools drive results: Use models like S.O.L.E.R., BLUF, SBI, BOOST, and empathy maps. Standardise communication templates and channels to reduce confusion and misalignment.
• Tailored training works best: Role-based learning paths, mobile-friendly microlearning, and feedback-driven workshops ensure ongoing improvement and cross-level engagement.
• Corpoladder enables real impact: With expert-designed programs across Communication, Leadership, AI, and ESG, Corpoladder helps organisations build confident, collaborative, and high-performing teams.

What Are Communication Skills?

Communication skills are the ability to exchange information clearly, effectively, and appropriately across different formats—whether spoken, written, or nonverbal. In the workplace, this includes everything from team meetings and presentations to emails, reports, and one-on-one feedback.

Effective communication goes beyond speaking well. It requires active listening, adapting tone and language to the audience, and recognising nonverbal cues like facial expressions and body language. 

Strong communicators can express ideas clearly, understand others’ perspectives, and build alignment across diverse teams and situations.

Why Are Communication Skills Important for Organisations?

Strong communication is more than just a soft skill; it directly shapes how well an organisation functions, grows, and responds to everyday challenges. Here’s why communication skills matter across teams and departments.

1. Improves Organisational Success: Clear communication is key to any organisation’s success. It helps you to share the right information, avoid confusion, and stay focused on common goals. When teams communicate effectively, work gets done more efficiently, mistakes are fewer, and results improve across the board.
2. Boosts Teamwork: Good communication makes it easier for teams to work together. It allows you to share ideas, solve problems as a group, and support each other. This kind of teamwork leads to better performance and encourages new ideas, especially in large organisations with different departments.
3. Builds Trust and Culture: When you speak openly and respectfully, it builds trust. This trust helps create strong working relationships between team members and managers. A workplace where everyone feels heard and respected is more welcoming and supportive, which improves morale and teamwork.
4. Strengthens Leadership: Leaders need strong communication skills to guide and support their teams. They must clearly explain goals, give helpful feedback, and motivate everyone. When leaders communicate well, the whole team understands what is expected and feels more connected to the organisation’s goals.
5. Supports Change and Innovation: In a changing work environment, good communication helps teams understand what’s happening and why. It makes it easier for staff to accept changes and adjust quickly.
6. Improves External Relations: Communication isn’t just important inside the organisation; it also matters when dealing with customers and partners. Clear and honest communication helps solve problems faster, build trust, and keep people satisfied.

Now that the importance of communication skills is evident, let’s explore actionable steps on how to develop your communication skills. Applying these steps can enhance your ability to connect with others and achieve your goals.

6 Steps to Improve Organisational Communication Skills

Improving communication within large teams requires more than just choosing the right words. It involves building habits, structures, and a culture that supports clarity, understanding, and collaboration across all levels. 

The following six steps provide a comprehensive approach to developing stronger organisational communication skills.

Step 1: Strengthen Active Listening

Active listening is the skill of paying full attention to the speaker, understanding their message without interruption, and responding thoughtfully and effectively. It includes both verbal and non-verbal cues, such as eye contact, nodding, and asking clarifying questions.

Why it matters: In large organisations, messages can easily get lost or misinterpreted. Active listening ensures that key points are understood the first time, saving time and avoiding repeated instructions or conflict. It also encourages participation and makes employees feel heard and valued.

Here’s how to build it:

• Coach three core habits: Pause before replying, paraphrase the speaker’s point, and ask one clarifying question before sharing your view.
• Introduce the S.O.L.E.R. framework: Teach posture-based listening techniques—Sit squarely, Open posture, Lean forward, maintain Eye contact, and Relax—to reinforce attention during conversations.
• Use reflective listening: In performance reviews or 1:1s, encourage managers to restate what they’ve heard using phrases like “What I’m hearing is…” to confirm understanding.
• Assign a “listener lead” in meetings: Designate someone to summarise all inputs before decisions are made, ensuring alignment and surfacing overlooked points.
• Model it in leadership: Ask senior leaders to begin meetings by recapping previous conversations—this reinforces active listening as an organisational norm.

Example: During a departmental review, instead of jumping to conclusions, a team lead listens carefully, asks follow-up questions, and restates key points to confirm understanding, leading to clearer decisions and fewer errors.

Step 2:  Use the Right Communication Channels

The second step is to select the most appropriate method, such as email, instant messaging, video calls, or in-person meetings, based on the message's urgency, formality, and the audience it is intended for. The goal is to ensure clarity, speed, and relevance in the sharing of information.

Why it matters: In organisations with multiple layers and digital tools, misusing communication channels leads to overload, duplication of work, or missed updates.

Here’s how to build it:

• Create a communication channel matrix: Define which tools to use for different scenarios (e.g., policy changes = email, quick check-ins = Teams chat, project tracking = Trello/Asana).
• Host short training sessions on digital communication: Cover topics like effective subject lines, using @mentions correctly, and when to escalate from chat to call.
• Audit and streamline tools: Reduce overlap by integrating platforms—e.g., link SharePoint docs inside Teams or sync Trello with calendars.
• Document and distribute a communication playbook: Outline channel norms, response-time expectations, and escalation protocols.
• Review usage monthly: Use analytics from tools (such as Teams or Slack) to identify overuse or underuse and adjust team allocations accordingly.

Example: An enterprise in Abuja introduced a clear communication protocol: official circulars are shared via email, daily operations are managed through Microsoft Teams, and urgent updates are sent by SMS. This structured approach helped reduce confusion and improved overall coordination across departments.

To strengthen communication across emails, meetings, and presentations, Corpoladder offers a 35-hour Communication and Presentation Skills course designed for today’s workplace demands. Through hands-on exercises, real-world scenarios, and personalised feedback, participants build confidence in public speaking, sharpen their writing, and learn to tailor messages for different audiences. 

The course is especially valuable for organisations handling complex communication channels across teams, departments, and leadership levels.

Step 3: Encourage Clear and Concise Messaging

This refers to the ability to communicate ideas using simple, direct language while avoiding unnecessary detail or jargon. It applies to both spoken and written communication, helping ensure that messages are easily understood across all levels of the organisation.

Why it matters: Long-winded or vague communication wastes time and leads to project delays. Clear communication supports execution, improves understanding across language levels, and eliminates room for ambiguity.

How to build it:

• Train teams to apply the BLUF model in emails: Begin all formal emails and reports with a clear summary of the main point or request, followed by supporting details. For example, start with: “This email outlines the next steps for the procurement process” before adding background.
• Introduce writing workshops on executive summaries: Organise quarterly writing sessions where employees learn to summarise key messages in 5–7 lines, focusing on outcomes, timelines, and responsibilities.
• Use visual templates for updates: Create standard templates for reports and project updates that include tables, bullet points, and progress charts. Provide examples to show how visual aids improve clarity.
• Provide briefing checklists for team leads: Develop reusable templates for verbal briefings and team meetings, including prompts like: “Key point,” “Why it matters,” “Next action,” and “Who is responsible.”
• Review real samples during team meetings: Ask managers to bring examples of internal communication (e.g., emails or slide decks) to team reviews for group feedback and improvement.

Example: A department in a Lagos-based multinational uses standardised email templates for internal project updates. Each includes objectives, actions, timelines, and escalation points, ensuring seamless cross-functional collaboration.

Step 4: Promote Open and Respectful Feedback

Providing feedback in a way that is honest, constructive, and respectful. It focuses on behaviour and outcomes rather than personal traits, and encourages two-way communication that supports learning and improvement.

Why it matters: In many hierarchical environments, open feedback is rare. However, respectful feedback helps individuals grow, reduces repeated errors, and creates trust between leadership and teams.

How to build it:

• Implement “Feedforward” sessions that focus on future improvement rather than past mistakes. For example, instead of saying, “You didn’t handle the client call well,” try, “Next time, you could start the call by summarising the agenda to create clarity upfront.” This approach reduces defensiveness and drives constructive growth.
• Use structured feedback models like SBI (Situation–Behaviour–Impact) or BOOST (Balanced, Observed, Objective, Specific, Timely).
• SBI (Situation – Behavior – Impact): “During Monday’s team meeting (Situation), you interrupted Sarah multiple times while she was presenting (Behavior), which made it hard for her to share her full proposal and discouraged further input (Impact).”
• BOOST (Balanced, Observed, Objective, Specific, Timely): “I noticed your client summary yesterday (Observed), and it was clear and well-structured (Balanced). One improvement would be to double-check key stats for accuracy before sending (Specific and Objective). Sharing this now so you can apply it before tomorrow’s review (Timely).”
• Conduct quarterly 360-degree feedback reviews that include input from peers, reports, and managers, ensuring confidentiality and psychological safety throughout the process.

Example: A public sector team uses anonymous feedback tools before each performance review cycle to help managers receive upward feedback without bias or hesitation.

Also Read: Why Emotional Intelligence is Key in Leadership

Step 5: Develop Empathy in Communication

Empathetic communication is the ability to understand and consider the feelings, needs, and perspectives of others while interacting. It helps create a respectful, inclusive, and emotionally intelligent workplace culture.

Why it matters: In today’s diverse workplace settings, spanning states, ethnicities, and educational levels, empathy bridges gaps and reduces bias, enabling teams to work together respectfully and productively.

How to build it:

• Integrate empathy-building modules into leadership training: Include exercises such as guided self-reflection, empathy mapping, and peer feedback to help managers recognise different perspectives during decision-making.
• Use real-world case studies during team workshops: Share stories and examples based on local workplace challenges to help employees relate, reflect, and discuss how empathy could improve outcomes.
• Incorporate role-plays into regular team sessions: Simulate scenarios such as client complaints, cross-department misunderstandings, or high-pressure meetings, where employees practice empathetic responses.
• Provide inclusive communication guidelines: Distribute simple guides or cheat sheets that outline respectful language, active listening cues, and cultural considerations for both written and spoken interactions.
• Add empathy check-ins in project reviews: Ask questions like “Were all voices heard?” or “Was any part of the team overlooked?” to encourage ongoing reflection.

Example: A manager in a healthcare institution in Enugu learns to avoid technical jargon when briefing non-clinical staff, ensuring everyone feels informed and respected regardless of their background.

Step 6: Strengthen Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to manage one's own emotions and understand those of others. It enhances relationships, fosters clearer communication, and facilitates the management of conflict in a calm and professional manner.

Why it matters: High-EI teams communicate more thoughtfully, reduce workplace tension, and maintain focus during pressure or change.

How to build it:

• Deliver targeted EI training modules: Cover the five pillars of EI, self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills, through scenario-based learning and reflection exercises.
• Add EI assessments to leadership development plans: Use tools such as self-evaluation forms, peer reviews, or external assessments to help managers understand their emotional strengths and blind spots.
• Run cross-functional empathy exercises: Organise team-based activities that explore emotional triggers, non-verbal cues, and perspective-sharing to encourage open, emotionally aware communication.
• Include EI-focused questions in performance reviews: For example, ask, “How do you respond to feedback under pressure?” or “How do you manage disagreements within your team?” to promote self-awareness and behavioural growth.

Example: After attending EI workshops, several team leads improved their ability to handle stressful situations and support their colleagues more effectively. This led to fewer misunderstandings, smoother collaboration, and better overall team morale.    

Step 7: Encourage Continuous Learning and Communication Training  

This final step is about helping employees maintain their communication skills. As teams grow and tools evolve, regular training ensures that everyone remains effective and aligned with company goals.

Why it matters:

Old habits, such as using overly formal language or sending lengthy memos, can slow things down. Ongoing training enables teams to work more effectively and adapt more quickly.

How to build it:

• Schedule quarterly training sessions: Focus each session on practical topics like business writing, presenting with clarity, handling difficult conversations, or adapting tone across digital platforms.
• Use mobile-friendly microlearning modules: Break down lessons into 5–to 10–minute units on apps or internal platforms, allowing employees to learn in short bursts during their workday.
• Integrate communication goals into appraisals: During performance reviews, include specific checkpoints such as “ability to deliver clear updates” or “participates actively in meetings” to reinforce learning.
• Offer role-based learning paths: Create communication training tracks tailored for managers, frontline staff, or remote workers, ensuring content is relevant to daily needs.
• Create a resource library: Build an internal knowledge hub with downloadable templates, style guides, recorded sessions, and communication playbooks for ongoing reference.

While these steps offer a strong foundation for improving communication, considering challenges is also essential.

Challenges Organisations Face When Improving the Communication Skills of Employees

Organisations, particularly large corporations and government institutions, often face multiple barriers when working to strengthen communication across teams. These challenges can slow down progress and reduce the effectiveness of even well-designed training efforts.

1. Inconsistent Use of Communication Tools

When employees switch between too many platforms, it becomes difficult to track conversations or locate important information. This inconsistency reduces clarity, causes delays, and affects overall productivity.

2. Information Overload

Excessive emails, messages, and notifications can make it difficult for employees to focus on what truly matters. Important updates may get lost, and the constant flow of information can lead to stress and reduced efficiency.

3. Low Employee Engagement

If employees are not actively engaged, communication efforts often go unnoticed or are misunderstood. Low interest or participation can weaken internal communication, even when strong systems are in place.

4. Resistance to Change

Introducing new communication methods or tools may meet with reluctance, particularly in environments with rigid structures or long-standing habits. This hesitation often slows down adoption and limits improvements.

5. Limited Feedback Opportunities

Without proper feedback systems, employees may struggle to identify areas for improvement. A lack of regular, helpful feedback can prevent personal growth and limit the impact of communication training.

6. Cultural and Language Differences

In diverse organisations, like those commonly found in Nigeria, differences in language and culture can lead to misunderstandings. If not addressed properly, these gaps may reduce collaboration and weaken team connections.

7. Complexities of Remote and Hybrid Work

Remote and hybrid work models bring new challenges, including over-reliance on digital tools, time zone gaps, and limited face-to-face interaction. These factors can affect the clarity and consistency of communication across dispersed teams.

8. Weak Onboarding Processes

New employees may struggle to develop effective communication habits if the onboarding process is unclear or overwhelming. Without proper guidance, they may lack the confidence or knowledge needed to engage effectively with others from the start.    

To overcome these challenges, organisations need a structured and ongoing approach to build clear and consistent communication across teams.

How Organisations Can Build High-Impact Communication Across Every Team?

In large organisations, poor communication leads to delays, misunderstandings, and reduced morale. Teams often struggle with mixed messages, unclear expectations, and digital overload—especially when tools and processes aren’t aligned. As communication becomes more complex, the need for role-specific, organisation-wide training is more important than ever.

Corpoladder helps organisations solve this challenge by delivering targeted communication training that supports clarity, collaboration, and leadership at every level. Our programs are designed to match your operational needs, equipping employees with the practical tools to engage effectively, whether in person or online.

Why organisations choose Corpoladder:

• Multiple training formats: In-person workshops, live online sessions, and self-paced digital modules to suit every team’s schedule.
• Role-specific learning: Tailored courses for frontline staff, team leads, and executives to ensure relevance and impact.
• Custom program alignment: Courses designed around your organisation’s goals, communication challenges, and long-term growth plans.
• Expert-developed curriculum: Built by communication professionals and industry leaders for real-world effectiveness.
• Interactive learning experience: Scenario-based training, peer learning, and case studies for immediate on-the-job application.

Corpoladder offers a wide range of training programs focused on Communication, Leadership Development, Artificial Intelligence, and ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance)—designed to meet diverse industry needs and skill levels.

Let’s help your teams communicate with clarity and confidence across every channel, project, and conversation.

Conclusion

Strong communication is essential for building effective, collaborative teams, especially within organisations where clarity, consistency, and shared understanding directly influence performance and growth. By focusing on active listening, clear messaging, constructive feedback, empathy, and the right use of communication tools, organisations can achieve a more connected and productive work environment. 

To make this possible, Corpoladder offers practical training programmes that help employees at all levels improve their communication and presentation skills. With flexible learning options, real-life examples, and expert guidance, these courses are designed to match the needs of different roles and industries.

Reach out to us to explore how Corpoladder can support your organisation's communication goals and drive meaningful, measurable impact.

FAQs

1. How Can Communication Training Be Tailored for Large Organisations?

In large organisations, communication training should combine workshops, online modules, and feedback to match different learning needs. Tracking progress through employee feedback and performance data helps improve training over time. Focusing on clear, simple, and culturally relevant content keeps employees engaged across departments.

2. Why Is Feedback Important in Communication Development?

Feedback helps employees understand their strengths and areas for improvement. It also encourages open communication and supports ongoing learning in the workplace.

3. How can organisations help employees improve their communication skills?

Organisations can support skill development through structured training programmes, mentorship, regular feedback sessions, and providing access to resources like workshops, e-learning modules, and real-world practice opportunities within team settings.