|
Business owners are frequently
frustrated that their employees don't act as expected. Ironically, these same employees
are often frustrated because they don't receive enough information about
what's expected of them (or how they are doing, where the business is heading, etc.).
Business owners, because they are
owners, spend lots of time thinking about their businesses. They think about conducting
business, solving problems, making improvements, and other important matters. Because of all this
thinking, owners are intimately familiar with what they believe should be done, when it should
be done, how it should be done, etc.
Unfortunately, the transfer of this same
information from owner to employee is generally brief and incomplete. Important instructions and policy
explanations are often provided on one or two occasions with the expectation that employees will thereby
become as conversant with the information as the business owner who has been mulling over the same issues
for days, weeks, or even months. The result can be a dramatic mismatch between the owner's thorough
understanding of the important issues and the employees' lesser appreciation of the same.
And, as you might expect, lack of
information, or lack of understanding, can significantly impair employee performance. Performance
suffers not just when you fail to clearly convey instructions, but also from the damage to morale,
commitment, and personal development that results from the practice of depriving employees the information
they need and want.
So what should you do? --Consider the
following suggestions:
- Recognize and understand the
problem. Most employees don't receive all the information they want and need. Also, recognize that the
problem lies with you, the owner, and your communications processes.
- Communicate comprehensively. Don't
assume that, because you understand what you are saying, others do. Also, don't assume understanding
comes easily or quickly.
- Repeat your messages, especially
important ones. Information often isn't absorbed and retained when first conveyed, and may
require many repetitions to fully sink in.
- Communicate to your employees about
lots of things, not just direct instructions. Include discussions of values and your ideas about
the future of employees and the enterprise. The more you share, the more you will develop a culture that
enforces consistency and coordination of action.
- Use multiple methods for
communicating: oral, written, demonstration, etc. Different people learn in different ways. And everyone
benefits from the repetition and the varied perspectives on an idea or topic.
- Make praise a regular feature.
Without praise, employees don't know what they're doing right. If you want employees to keep up the good
work, let them know that the work is good.
Conclusion:
Constantly challenge your
communications with employees, and your company's systems for communicating. The suggestions in
this article are merely a starting point. Effective communication is a weakness in most businesses, and can
almost always be improved, generally with significant positive results.
Click here to return to the full
list of Business Improvement Articles at
Getting Started.
|