Communication: Five Ways to Improve Your Business
by Kate Smalley
Published on this site: July 22th, 2005 - See
more articles from this month
If you've been in the business world any time at all, you're
bound to have at least one story about how poor communication
jeopardized or even killed part of your business. The inability
to communicate has always been a challenge in companies, and
the advent of technology to make communication possible 24
hours a day, seven days a week hasn't necessarily made it
easier. In some ways, technology has just given us more ways
to miscommunicate!
Here are five tips to improve your business through better
communication. No matter whether you are the Great Communicator
or a person who has a difficult time putting thoughts into
words,you can get a better handle on your company and your
productivity by being aware of critical communications issues.
- Be aware of others' communications issues. Whether
it's a client or a co-worker, be aware of any particular
challenges they may have with communication. A co-worker
who is dyslexic may be able to compensate most of the time,
but it will be more difficult for her to read at the end
of the day when she's tired. Leave her voice mails after
3 p.m. A customer doesn't know how to keyboard, so don't
expect long emails from him. Call or meet with him when
you need critical information.
- Address your internal communications issues. Most
companies have a myriad of challenges when it comes to communication,
from disappearing executives who don't tell anyone where
they are going to employees who don't share critical information
with co-workers. Write a weekly email newsletter to keep
your employees up to date on changes or issues. Make sure
all employees have cell phone numbers of every staff member
available at all times. Require periodic reports from uncommunicative
employees.
- Make meetings productive with an agenda and a report.
Whether it's an internal staff or client meeting, keep it
on track with an agenda. Nothing gets accomplished in staff
meetings without a focus, and an agenda helps with that.
Make sure every agenda has a short time allocated to discuss
new business. After the meeting, write a report, or minutes,
so everyone is on board with decisions made during your
time together.
- Get it in writing. This is a basic tenet of business,
but we all forget it from time to time. Don't let someone
pass you in the hall at the office and ask you to do something
- tell them to send you an email. Have clients sign off
on work by emailing or faxing their approval. Put everything
in writing and make sure that anyone affected by actions
in the document are aware of their role and that they put
it in writing, too!
- Don't rely too much on technology. Who hasn't
been the victim of a crashed hard drive, a cell phone dropped
in a coffee cup, a misplaced PDA or a stolen laptop? As
great as technology is, backup systems are imperative. Be
sure you have yours in place!
Any business guru will tell you that better communication
means fewer delays, upset customers and improved productivity.
That means a better bottom line and a lot fewer headaches!
Kate Smalley, Connecticut Secretary [email protected]
http://www.connecticutsecretary.com
Freelance Transcription Services
|
