Business Improvement Article - Employees Can't Hear What You Think

Business
Improvement
Article

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Employees Can't Hear
What You Think

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.

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