Good communication is the magic mantra for succeeding in most businesses. You need to let people know what you offer, why they want it, and how to get it.
The art of sending and receiving effective information between people needs to involve not only employers and customers, but employees as well. Companies that forget to train their employees, or to thank their employees when they do well, will not thrive in today’s markets.
How many times have you seen an ad for a restaurant or store, and looked in vain to figure out where it was located and how you could get there? What a waste of a great communications opportunity.
How often have you walked into a business and waited around while no one offered to help you? Or what about the rude employee on the phone, when you called a company for more information?
These are all problems that cost a business its potential customers. In our down economy, good communication skills by small business owners or managers of big companies are a necessity for successfully promoting products or services.
One way to improve both internal and external communications is by bringing groups of employees together to participate in gaining a better understanding of the programs and objectives of their workplace, so everyone understands what is expected of them. We need to pay more attention to the message we give to customers, clients, and our own staff. Getting input from the people who work with customers or clients is one key to success.
An example of good communications was demonstrated by a nursing supervisor at a large Eastern adult day care center. She called good communications skills “social engineering.” For her, this means talking to everyone in ways that show that they matter. She worked with her staff so that they would be motivated to engage in team building, at their weekly meetings. That created a better understanding of shared values involved in their jobs. Staff ideas about solving patient care problems got positive results. By listening and feeding back information between the supervisor and the staff, a spirit was developed that promoted trust and a better understanding of not only patient needs, but defined their own job descriptions more clearly.
The nursing staff felt a sense of commitment. Individual staff members were congratulated when they did things correctly. They were told their actions were appreciated. Communications were working in a positive way. Staff benefited. So did patients.
In fact, when a patient at the adult day care center had to go to a hospital emergency room one evening, a staff member stayed with that person in the emergency room for over four hours because of personal concern for that patient’s well being. The staff’s caring attitude for patients really paid off because of the sense of passion learned from those “social engineering” sessions.
In business, steps must be taken to keep communications lines open for reception by both employees and customers alike. Effective communications help business people stay in close contact with their customers to produce positive results. Good communications state a clear vision of objectives, in motivating employees on all levels to do their jobs properly.
In retail stores, good communications training can help personnel make more sales, if they learn how to ask customers good questions, about what they really want to buy. In factories, supervisory and workflow procedures can work more smoothly if there are clear, agreed-upon written or oral communications. The old Suggestion Box system still works for anonymous or shy folks, of course. And another way to communicate is by networking with outside organizations to help get support for your company’s services.
Consider how your communications will motivate listeners. Think about how receptive an audience will be to your presentation. Imagine yourself as a potential customer or listener. What would you want to know? Your presentation should be clear and understandable.
Communications take skill and planning. A good communicator must develop listening and feedback skills to build greater trust and support. Employees need good information about the goals of their jobs, and ways to make suggestions to enhance their effectiveness. Effective communications are tough to develop and need continuous improvement to be successful.
A comedian friend used to say “What did he say?” whenever he didn’t get a good audience response to his jokes.
So how are you communicating?
— Bernard Featherman is a business columnist and past president of the Biddeford-Saco Chamber of Commerce. He can be reached by e-mail: bernard@featherman.com.
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