Communication is the Key

I’ve said it before and I will continue to say it, “Communication is the best way to have a successful business.”  You need to communicate with your customers, your staff and everyone else you meet…Day 7 – Communicate, Communicate, Communicate

Make your communication infectious.  I don’t mean be a motor mouth, but communicate to encourage.  Communicate in a positive way that will make your staff communicate positively to each other and to the customers.

Another way to communicate is to listen.  Listen to your staff.  They will see things from a different standpoint which means what you think was fun might not have been fun to them.Do a survey of your staff on a regular basis.  This will let your staff state what they see and feel without them having to do it face-to-face with you.

Keep a suggestion box in an area where they are concealed if they want to put something in the box.  Suggestion boxes don’t work, a lot of the time, because people are afraid they are the only one putting something in and someone might see them do that.  So if the box placed in an area that they can drop a note in without being seen by anyone, it might get more use.If you’ve tried the suggestion box and had no success, why do a team building or sorts.  Pick a problem you see and brainstorm with your staff to see if you can come up with a solution.  And then ask if anyone has anything they would like to see changed and see what happens. If they know that you really do care and that you really do want to make things better for them, they will jump in with suggestions.  Don’t give up.

Let your staff know that you want to work with them as a team and that you want to work with them to solve whatever problems they are having.  You will also want to let them know that they will not be punished for any comments, as long as they speak respectfully.

This is meant to be a way of making their working life better, a way to create a better business and a way to have a positive outcome to a problem.