As a manager, one of your most important tasks is communicating to your employees. Effective communication allows your team members to function as an extension of yourself –to get the job done exactly the way that you expect.
But clear communication is rare in the world of business. And as a result, many small business workforces are far less efficient and productive than they should be. Today we are going to cover four key principles that will enable you to communicate effectively with your employees… so that the job gets done right.
1) Take the time to provide clear instructions. The small business owners I work with have one thing in common: they are always in a hurry! This is not a surprise – there’s so much to be done. But one side effect of this reality is that they often are “too busy” to provide clear instructions. Take the time to slow down and ensure that the employee can understand what you are telling him or her to do. You’ll end up wasting much less time in the long run.
2) Define your required timetable. Another common mistake is that many business owners don’t set a deadline while assigning a task to an employee. They leave it up to the employee to figure it out, often assuming that the employee is on the same page when it comes to prioritization. Then, the business owner stops by to check on the progress of the task and is shocked to learn that the employee hasn’t even begun. Set a deadline and make sure that the employee understands in order to avoid these unpleasant surprises.
3) Provide the needed resources. Once you have assigned a task to an employee, make sure that he or she has the resources necessary to actually get the job done. Many business owners don’t bother to think this through, and the result is a frustrated employee and a task that is not completed. You can avoid this problem simply by taking the time to ask the employee if he or she has everything necessary to follow your instructions. If you don’t do this, you’re setting the employee up to fail, and that’s not a good thing for anyone.
4) Check to see that the message got through. Finally, once you have give your employee instructions, it’s important to confirm that he or she received the message as you meant it. You may recall the “telephone game” that children often play – in which a message is whispered from one person to the next, to the next, and so forth. Often the message that the final participant receives is completely different from the original. It’s a fun game, but not a fun dynamic in a business. Avoid this problem by asking the employee to repeat back to you the instructions as he or she understood them. Correct any misunderstanding and then have them get to work.
Questions or comments? Please get in touch today if you’d like to learn more!