Communication Breakdown - How Lack of Communication in Your Business Breeds Disorganization The reality of most businesses today is that more and more employees must multitask. Many people work independently, while others must work in groups sharing project responsibilities. I find that in every office there are at least two communication problems. How many times have you not done something because you automatically assumed someone else was doing it? How many times have you worked vigorously to complete a task or assignment that you realized, after the fact, five other people were doing the exact same thing? Work frequently gets duplicated, while other work gets completely, although not intentionally, ignored. Do we ever wonder why this happens? Simple - lack of communication. Lack of understanding ones role in their place of employment is another huge contributor to these mishaps. In the larger scheme of things, if important work is ignored, it causes chaos and in turn, things fall out if place and become a mess. Now, it is not always a paper mess that ensues, per say, but the situational conflicts that can cause overall disruption of an office. When a shared work environment does not operate properly it costs the company time, employee productivity, and ultimately profit. When profit is lost it affects everyone in a business from the top executive down to the hourly employee. Often, as a result of profit losses, expenditures almost always rise due to the cost of either fixing an existing problem or duplication of efforts. If there is a clear, streamlined channel of communication everyone understands what their goals and tasks are. When people do not know what they are supposed to be doing it can become a stressful situation. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states unequivocally that 80% of our medical expenditures are stress related. (Fast Company Magazine, 2/03 pg. 88) This illustrates a snowball effect. People dont effectively communicate, therefore dont do the work required of them, they then get stressed, get sick, and miss work. Hence a huge gap in productivity and continued loss of profit. There are many simple, schematic ways to streamline the pipeline in your office. As a business owner, or upper level executive, you need to have a clear, direct, and frequent exchange with your management staff. You must have weekly, or at least monthly, meetings with your management team so they can be clear on what is expected of them and the employees they oversee. Managers need to have the opportunity to ask questions and set goals for themselves and their subordinates. Each manager has to understand the responsibilities of each staff member they oversee so they can assess productivity and troubleshoot quickly. Executives need to make it clear what is expected of each manager or department head. If your management staff is not clear what is expected, you will have disorganization and chaos all the way down the food chain! Once your management staff is fully compliant, they need to meet and address those employees they oversee. Each tier of a company, or a department, needs to have an understanding of the strengths and weaknesses each employee possesses. Your best managers utilize each individuals strengths and downplay their weaknesses by distributing tasks that showcase where the employee is comfortable and competent. In doing this you can create a well oiled machine that contributes an effective group of components that ends in a project being completed in a timely and productive manner. It also reinforces pride in ones work when they can own it and excel at the tasks at hand. Managers should also focus on encouraging employees to work on their weak spots using positive reinforcement and incentives. When one enjoys their work, they have sense of pride in it. They want to be successful. As a manager, you can facilitate success or failure based on how and when you communicate with your co-workers. When you fail to communicate, you fail to ask questions. You fail to troubleshoot. You fail by assuming everyone knows what they need to do. When you fail to communicate vital information can be lost. And in some industries it can take thousands of dollars to recreate or compensate for that loss. The effects of a good information pipeline always will result in increased productivity and profit. Article Source: ezineseeker/?expert=Angela_A._Aldrich
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 12:25:07 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015