How to keep communication flowing in the workforce

Communication itself is imperative to understanding each other, it keeps us from isolation and provides us a way outside our own minds, but why is communication within a business so important? This seems obvious, yet many businesses still make the mistake of not listening to co-workers or ideas from employees, the key ingredients to a company is understanding what is going on within that company. It seems as though many businesses are still ignorant to ensuring that information regarding what is happening at the company in every department is valuable knowledge to the entire company. Some might think that this may be a waste of time, when in fact, documenting shared knowledge keeps everyone knowledgeable about the company which helps them feel more confident within their position. It is too easy to segregate departments and hard to differentiate between supplying too much information, so how do you find a happy medium? You need a system. A system that will function easily by filtering out the white noise and informing employees on important information, which can be incorporated into any CRM tool which can then send e-mails out to the entire company or use Google docs/drive as a way to communicate, the tools are there, so why not use them? This may have you wondering what type of information would be ideal to share with the entire company to not only keep them informed but to boost morale. That is a great question to ask when it comes to making sure no one gets bombarded with e-mails or have anything shared that will slow down the efficiency of employees, so here are some ideas to keep the communication flowing and the workplace intact. Create forms or documents that has a work flow in place or a standard operating procedure (SOP) within Google docs/drive so everyone knows their purpose and their place and other team members can easily access the information and keep documentation of the happenings within the company which could serve great purpose if anything goes awry.  Share each Sale When your sales team makes a sale it is great to have it shared with the entire company, therefore everyone is aware of the incoming sale and can prepare as well as have their morale boosted. This can be easily added to automatically go out to your entire team when the data is input into a CRM tool, like Salesforce. Meetings Make Moments Meetings are important for each department to have on a regular basis, remaining informed about what each person is working on and when the set goals are to be complete can help each other understand where everyone is at. It also gives employees the time to speak to one another, even if it is briefly and gathering your employees brings you together as a unit. Team building is as easy as holding a meeting to hear ideas and find solutions (since every business is known for its problems.) Listen, Listen, Listen Many employees will come to you with ideas and many of them will not be approved but you still need to listen. There will be times in which your employee will have a great idea and keeping your mind open is ideal for your business and can help you remain thinking outside the box since it can become all too easy to forget to remain open for changes and expansions. Your employees are your advocates they deserve your ear and a response. Always Respond Days can become swamped with paperwork when you need to remember that you are working with people. When you receive a question or an update, be sure to respond so your employee’s voice is validated. People should always come before paperwork since paperwork won’t get done without people. Acknowledgement is Key Your employees work, day in and out and perhaps even for the weekend. However, when they do a good job, be sure to tell them. Words are encouragement to remain loyal and to keep doing good work on behalf of the name of the company, your company. Money isn’t everything You may think that they get paid and do not need anything more; however, humanizing the way you work within your company can keep people working for you and preferably with you. Remember they are advocates, representatives of your company to your clients, help make the environment they work in be pleasurable and inviting, so they don’t spend most days dreading going to work United we Stand, Divided we Fall Communication should be treated like another employee and valued as if it was alive and breathing. It is essential to keep everyone flowing with information and united by knowledge. Your company cannot survive if no one is talking, if confusion is constantly caused and if more time is spent on figuring problems than creating solutions. You are a team, make it so. Hopefully these tips will help you open your door at the office or make yourself more available to your employees. Perhaps you will be inspired to set dates for meetings and share information between each department so everyone is working together, literally.