As a manager, you receive considerable information about what is happening at your company and use that information to get your job done. But what about your staff? Do they have the information they need to be successful at their jobs?
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Just like managers, staff members need information to accomplish their work. They depend on you –their manager –to keep them informed so they can play their part in the company’s success. Problems occur when managers become too busy or simply choose not to be good communicators with their teams.
Here are some simple ways to ensure you keep the communication flowing:
Management by walking around – It’s an age-old concept, but still a good one. Even if you have an open door policy, staff members may feel awkward or intimidated dropping by unannounced. Instead, reserve time on your calendar at least once a week to walk the halls and talk with your staff members. Tell them the latest information about the company. Ask for their thoughts on a particular challenge the company is facing. Answer questions as best you can and simply check in on how the employee is doing. Make sure you touch base with all employees who are in the department you are visiting and be careful not to criticize a worker in public, even if you notice something is amiss. This conversation can always be had in private.
Regular huddles – Huddles are short meetings of 30 minutes or less where teams are brought together to discuss company updates, big projects, potential changes in daily workflow, and challenges that team members are facing. While some teams have daily huddles, others find that weekly works best. The point is to make them part of your team’s culture and ensure that everyone is heard during huddle time. It’s a good idea to have a standard huddle. Also, ask the team to remain standing during huddle time, which reinforces the importance of keeping the meeting brief and productive.
Visual management – Use your huddle area or another open space to keep the team informed on how it is doing in reaching its key metrics. Also, if you have a team project list, post it on a white board so that team members are apprised of the work being performed by everyone. Use clear visuals such as colors that show how the project is progressing –red, yellow or green. Be aware, though, that you can go overboard with visual management. Too many charts and graphs with meaningless data are not helpful for ensuring good communication.
Check-ins – Every once in a while, start your team meeting with a “check-in” by going around the room and allowing people to state how they are doing and projects they are working on. Make sure updates are brief and simple pulse-checks that keep everyone informed.
Email updates – Be careful about email updates. They don’t suffice as your one and only method of updating your team. If fact, you can probably wager that not everyone will read your email. If you must use email for updates, it should be to complement other communication methods. And make your email update is easy to read: bullet, highlight and call out particularly important information.
Remember, communication helps empower employees and motivates them to do good work. Tomorrow, we’ll address the challenges of communicating with virtual teams.