In many companies, different departments have their own distinct work culture. This is especially true of technical and non-technical departments, where employees use different practices, platforms, and vocabulary to perform their daily tasks. Due to these differences, many technical and non-technical teams often find it very challenging to communicate effectively with one another.
As organizations integrate more technology into their daily operations, they must learn how to improve communication within their technical teams to boost their chances of business success. The rapid growth of ecommerce is making businesses pay more attention to their websites to acquire more customers and increase sales. Productive communication with your web development team can enhance the quality of your online presence, helping you promote brand visibility and business growth.
The quality of your website can make or break your online business. Follow these strategies to learn how to improve communication with your web development team so you can collaborate productively on accomplishing your business goals:
Create Cross-Functional Teams
At many organizations, departments often work in silos, which leaves employees ill-informed of the responsibilities of other teams. Lack of familiarity with other teams’ roles and functions often leads to misunderstanding and poor communication with other departments, resulting in performance inefficiency and lost productivity at your business.
To improve communication with your web development team, create a cross-functional group of developers, digital marketing professionals, designers, and salespeople, and allow them to work together on goals and projects. Spending time working together in one group will help your employees learn from the others’ field of work, bridging the communication gap between your technical and non-technical teams. Improving your employees’ understanding of other teams’ functions and responsibilities is the key to effective communication in your workplace.
Develop Specific Goals
All initiatives start with a goal, so why should your web project be any different? What goal are you trying to accomplish through your work with the web development team? Do you want to improve website speed by at least 30% in the next 12 months? Defining a specific and measurable goal before starting a project will help to improve team communication as it reduces confusion and misunderstanding later on.
Track Project’s Progress
Work with your developers to design a blueprint for accomplishing your goals by outlining exactly what you hope to achieve from the project. The goals must be specific and measurable so you can track their progress over time. Your blueprint should specify where you are now, and where you want to be over the next few quarters. It’s important to set deadlines and expectations to ensure everyone is on the right track.
Collaborating with your web development team on developing specific goals will reduce communication gaps during the project as it helps both of you identify and resolve potential misunderstandings early on. Planning and working with your web developers towards a shared goal will keep them engaged and motivated. This is a hugely important factor in learning how to improve team communication throughout the project.
Request Clarifications
If you’re not familiar with technical vocabulary, conversing with web developers can be challenging. Web developers commonly use industry-specific terms and jargons to communicate with other programmers and perform their job. To non-technical employees, web developers seem like they’re speaking a different language. This language barrier often results in confusion and communication breakdown.
If you don’t understand what “there is a bug in the library function” means, do not hesitate to ask your web development team for clarification. When you’re trying to find out how to improve communication within a team or between different teams, it’s crucial to raise questions whenever necessary. Asking for clarification will help to improve team communication as it enhances your understanding of the topic being discussed. There is no shame in asking for further explanation when you don’t understand a technical concept or terminology. Clarifications help promote clear communication, enhancing the productivity of your conversations.
Avoid Assumptions
Sometimes, we are unable or don’t want to take the time to get the big picture or intricate details of a situation, so we assume we understand what the other team means. Assumptions cause confusion and misunderstandings, leading to poor quality communication and unproductive collaborations. Wondering how to improve communication within a team? You must eliminate all assumptions, and ask for clarifications and further explanations if you’re unsure of a situation.
Take a Crash Course on Web Development
In our digital age, technical skills are essential for most professions and career advancement. If you are a web designer, digital marketer, or any other professional that deals frequently with developers, signing up for a short web development and programming course will teach you the basics of website technology so you can have a more productive conversation with your web development team.
Acquiring a basic understanding of web technology principles boosts your technical literacy and skills, helping you to improve team communication with web developers. Learning to speak the language of developers eliminates confusion and misunderstandings during conversations, saving both teams time and energy down the road. Besides facilitating communication with web developers, gaining valuable technical knowledge can help your career development and advancement goals.
Build a Consistent Communication Routine
Developing a consistent schedule to meet and discuss the project’s progress with your web development team will keep all stakeholders up-to-date on the latest developments. You can schedule short weekly updates and long monthly reports to help you acquire the full picture and intricate details of the project. A consistent schedule of meetings will help to improve team communication, resulting in smooth and seamless collaboration.
Besides scheduling consistent communication, you should also decide on the method of communication that works best for you and your web development team. You can schedule weekly conference calls to get brief updates on the project while preferring in-person meetings to examine the latest developments. Develop a communication strategy that best meets your needs, and schedule them consistently to enhance team collaboration.
Enjoy The Benefits of Learning How to Improve Team Communication
In many organizations, non-technical employees often find it challenging to communicate effectively with web development and other technical teams. Web developers’ distinct work culture and vocabulary produce communication barriers, leading to inefficient and unproductive workplace collaboration.
Improving the quality of inter-team communication in your workplace is an important factor in helping your business operate more effectively. With better communication, your teams will enjoy greater clarity, easing common workplace frustrations and allowing them to perform their jobs more quickly and efficiently. Implement these tips to better integrate your web development team into the rest of your company and reap the rewards.