Get Your Employees on the Same Page as You

How to Effectively Share Your Business Goals with Your Employees

Communication is a key element in many aspects of the business world and is often crucial to seeing success. While being an effective, clear communicator may sound easy it is one of those aspects of being a business owner that does not come naturally to everyone. With the many different ways we can communicate with our employees these days – email, text messaging, and instant messages – it is possible for them to interpret what is being said much differently than how we meant it.

Choose the Right Communication Platform

As mentioned earlier, there are a number of platforms that can be used to communicate with employees. In order to make sure they are receiving the message correctly, it is important to use the proper platform. Every business is different, so the proper communication platform will vary from one organization to the next. In some cases, email communications – even for important information – is acceptable while smaller organizations may benefit from more face-to-face meetings to communicate.

Make Sure You Are Hearing Your Employees

Just as it is important from them to hear and comprehend your messages, it is also important for business owners to listen to what their employees have to say. Effective communication is a two-way street – when a business owner or manager is doing all the talking, many times employees will begin to tune them out and miss important information. Having an open dialogue makes employees feel empowered and will keep them on board and engaged with the business’s overall goals.

Let Employees See Your Vision

Many employees are happy to do what is asked of them, but to get them truly onboard with what the business is trying to accomplish it is important to make sure they see and understand your vision as a business owner. Make sure to effectively and clearly communicate what the business goals are and how your employees are crucial to meeting these goals and having the vision realized. This type of communication does not stop at employees – it is also important to make sure that investors and customers see and understand the business’s overall vision and goals.

Provide Organization Structure

For those business owners who have a larger operation with more employees, it is vitally important to make sure an organizational or command structure is put into place. This will help employees know who they are reporting to as well as keep the lines of communication open and uncluttered. Managers and team leaders are effective in setting and implementing goals for their specific team, showing how these goals support the business’s mission and being able to cascade relevant communications.

Make Employees Feel Empowered

Studies show that employees who feel empowered and appreciated tend to be harder workers and more dedicated to their place of business. Part of feeling empowered is knowing that your opinion matters and your ideas have the potential to initiate change. Make sure employees know and are comfortable coming to you as a business owner with their concerns or ideas – having this open communication will help to not only empower your employees but also strengthen and grow your business.

Do you need more small or home business tips? Would you like help getting your own business started? Stacy O’Quinn has helped dozens of people earn a six-figure income and you could be next! To learn more about Stacy and to find out how he can help you, click here.

*Photo Courtesy of Nicolas Raymond via Creative Commons License