Art of Drafting a Small Business Communication Plan
Wednesday, May 6, 2020, 6:00 PM | Leave Comment
When you own a small business, you want to see it thrive. However, having amazing employees is not enough.
You need to know how to establish properly communicate with them.
Strong communication increases productivity and revenue while the lack of the same means decreasing efficiency and losing money.
For this reason, here is how you can make your small business communication plan with the help of modern technology and your strong will.
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Software and apps for communication
You should use the newest technology to improve communication with your employees. Luckily, there are many apps and intranet software that you can download that are either free or quite affordable.
With the help of these apps, you will be able to communicate with your employees, share documents, chat, and even do video conferences. This is especially important if your employees are working from home. This way, they can stay in touch with you, receive the latest news and tasks, and similar.
Some of these apps and platforms that can use include Google Hangouts Meet, Skype for Business, Slack, and many others. You can always change your platform and try another one if one app is not suitable for your business and team.
Image source: Unsplash
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Be a great listener
Even apps and software cannot help you if you lack listening skills. For this reason, become a great listener. There is no point in trying to communicate with your employees if you do not listen to them. This means you should pay attention to what your employees are saying, understand their words, and remember information conveyed.
If you get easily distracted, then remove all the distractions from the conversation. You can try by turning off your phone or computer, finding a quiet corner to talk, closing your office door, and similar.
If you have trouble remembering information shared by your employees, then take notes.
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The importance of the Feedback
Listening to your employees is the first step. The second step is using the feedback you receive. By actively listening to your employees, you will receive an abundance of useful information.
Now, you should know how to use that information so you can improve the quality of your services, the atmosphere in your office, and similar problems. You should save the feedback, analyze it, and create a plan for improvement. Then, see how your employees are reacting to new changes. Again, communication is the key to this process.
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Organize effective meetings
It is easy to organize a meeting. However, there is no point in holding a meeting if you cannot accomplish your goal. Therefore, here are a couple of key points to consider when preparing for a meeting.
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Stick to your agenda – it is best to only prepare one topic for your meeting. There will be always one employee that wants to discuss another problem unrelated to the current topic. However, do not jump from one topic to another as you will achieve nothing by doing this. Instead, promise you will discuss their problem at the next meeting.
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Respect the time – do not dwell too much time on one topic while glossing over the others. In addition to this, keep your points short and concessive.
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Engage your employees – do not have a monologue, but rather a dialogue with your employees.
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Choose your words carefully
Image source: Unsplash
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Individual meetings
Team meetings are perfect for informing your employees about new rules and regulations. However, not everyone feels comfortable enough to express their thoughts. For this reason, you should organize an individual meeting. They should be informal and short where you can check on your employees.
Ask all the right questions. This means be relaxed, smile, do not cross your arms, and be open-minded. Listen to your employee’s concerns and ask additional questions. Usually, those questions should help you find out the reason behind their troubles and how to fix them.
Lastly, do not forget to be responsive. Do not ignore disputes and complaints. This is not how you should run a business. Instead, try to find a way to resolve all the issues so your employees can feel comfortable working for you. Remember, a happy employee equals more profit.
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Documents and Information should be accessible
Every company is different. Your company probably has a specific set of rules and regulations. If you want to run your business smoothly, then make important documents and all the information easily accessible. Those documents should include plans, guides, branding documents, tutorials, templates, and anything else you deem important. If your employees can easily find all these documents, they will stay informed.
In addition to this, you can avoid problems caused by miscommunication. Pick one app or software mentioned above and post these documents so your employees can download them on their phones or computers. If you have something urgent to say, just write a message in your group chat.
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Sarah Jessica Smith is a young blogger from Sydney. She is in love with life and all the things that can make her daily routine easier. She loves to write about business, marketing, productivity and workspace décor.
