Effective and proper communication is a major pet peeve of mine in business as well as your personal life. I personally believe that many businesses fail or do not reach their level of effectiveness due to poor communication skills from the managers and leadership team.
Do you want an effective small business? Do you desire for your employees to truly understand your expectations? Do you want others to like you? If you answer yes to these simple questions, read on for some tips on how to improve your small business communication.
- Be Approachable – Do you want to be the kind of boss that people are scared to approach, constantly feel they are walking on egg shells when they are around you or really they just flat out don’t like you. I hope the answer is no to this! As a manager of your small business, be conscientious of your personality. Are you friendly? Do you create the type of environment where others feel they can talk with you? Do your customers and employees seem to generally take interest when speaking with you?
- Be clear and point out all expectations in detail – It is vital that your employees, business partners and suppliers understand exactly what you are saying, and what your expectations are. If they aren’t “hearing” you properly, things will not get accomplished the way or in the timeframe that they are needed. There should be no question in their minds as to what you are asking of them. If there is, they you should be approachable enough where they feel comfortable coming to you and asking questions.
- Talk – IN PERSON – Too many people have gotten away from old fashioned sit down conversations. No, it can’t happen all the time and thank goodness for email and texting. However, you can’t take the place of making your employee feel special and that you have a genuine interest in them as sitting with them face to face for real conversation.
- Put things in writing as well – In person conversation is great, but you should also put expectations in writing. Make sure you have everything documented as to what is expected, when and that there is no gray area where someone can say, “but I didn’t know I was supposed to do that.” It is in writing!
- Social Media – Be on Guard! Many small businesses benefit greatly from social medial. It is a great way to be on a more personal level with your clients and potential customers. Definitely be personable but not so much where you say things you should not.
Never underestimate the value of good thorough communication. Know what you mean, express it, stick to it and be clear. You want your business to thrive and communicating properly with your employees, business partners and suppliers is a great start improving your small business.
Owning your own business can be stressful enough – don’t let poor communication drag you, your employees and company down. Read our blog post about managing stress of a start up business and see how communication is one of the keys to help with that!