3 Tips to Actually Improve Communication in Your Finance Department

Communication skills have taken on an increasingly important role for finance professionals. In the world of finance, the mastery of technical skills is no longer enough to get you ahead. The modern workplace now demands that technical skills be paired with soft skills such as communication and teamwork. Unfortunately, many CFOs still complain that communication skills are among the most lacking within their finance department.

Here’s why communication is such a powerful tool and how you can beef up the communication skills of your finance department.

The Power of Communication in Finance

When most people attend college or pursue an advanced degree, their main focus is the acquisition and mastery of new technical skills. This is particularly true when it comes to the data-intensive fields of accounting and finance. However, one thing you may not have learned in school is that hard skills such as number crunching and financial modeling can be practically useless if they aren’t complemented by soft skills like effective communication.

Let’s say you’re a prodigy when it comes to accounting. Everyone in your company’s finance department comes to you with their most tricky technical questions. But when you’re put in front of the team of C-suite executives to explain the company’s most recent financial data, they think you’re speaking a foreign language.

It’s true: Finance deals with data, numbers, and concepts that will go over the heads of most laypeople. But this just means it’s even more crucial that a finance professional can explain the significance of their data while composing a compelling narrative.

A true financial expert should be able to explain trends, patterns, and forecasts in a clear and concise way that gets everyone in the company up to speed and on the same page. And with continuing advances in automation and artificial intelligence, the future workplace will likely rely more and more heavily on soft skills.

3 Tips to Improve Communication

Effective communication skills are increasingly important for the modern finance department. But what’s the best way to improve these skills?

Unfortunately, soft skills like communication can be harder to learn than technical skills such as accounting and finance. That’s because hard skills are more straightforward to teach and measure. And unlike technical skills, communication skills aren’t something that you can simply memorize from a book.

Instead, you’ll need to make a conscious, daily effort to change the way you relate to other people. But with a commitment to ongoing practice and self-development, significant improvements can be made.

Here are a few tips to help get your finance department to communicate more effectively.

1. Prioritize active listening

Listening is perhaps one of the most fundamental interpersonal skills. Active listening means giving all of your attention to the speaker and providing tangible feedback that shows the speaker they are being heard.

Feedback can be as simple as eye contact and the occasional positive affirmation. Even better, ask relevant questions or make statements to build on or help clarify what the speaker is saying.

At the end of a conversation or meeting, summarize the main points by reiterating them in your own words. This will both help improve your own understanding of the issue at hand and give the speaker a chance to correct or expand on any points if needed.

Active listening helps make the person speaking feel at ease and encourages them to communicate more openly and honestly. It will also help prevent potential miscommunication between coworkers.

2. Know your audience

Understanding your audience is critical when it comes to effective, persuasive communication. As a finance professional, you’ll need to interact with a wide variety of colleagues within your company, which might include members of your own team in the finance department, the head of IT, and even the CEO.

Each of these people has a unique viewpoint. Get to know the people in different departments and do your research before preparing for a meeting or presentation. That way, you can address your colleagues’ distinct set of concerns, needs, and goals.

3. Don’t forget about nonverbal communication

When working to improve communication, most people focus on what they’re saying. However, nonverbal cues can:

• Reinforce or even modify what you say with your words
• Regulate the flow of communication
• Define or reinforce interpersonal relationships

So don’t forget to also consider how you say something.

Bonus Tip for Your Finance Department

The mastery of effective communication is increasingly important for finance professionals in modern companies. Focusing on active listening, knowing your audience, and paying attention to nonverbal cues can help anyone improve their ability to communicate effectively and persuasively.

Although soft skills like communication can be harder to learn than technical skills, dedicating time for personal development in your finance department can do wonders.

Another way you can improve communication in your finance department is by breaking down the barriers of managing data in siloed systems. When your team has to work to share information, communicate needs, and collaborate on reports, technology can be your greatest asset, or your biggest hindrance.

At insightsoftware, we offer a suite of interconnected finance solutions that allow your team to pivot from data managers to strategic problem solvers so you can focus on improving processes and maximizing performance. See how these solutions work with your data by requesting a free demo.