The Importance of Communicating With Your Team

Communicating with your team is the grease that keeps the wheels of your organisation moving. It’s the fuel that powers forward momentum. Heck, it’s even the essential spice that transforms a boring curry into a mouthwatering masterpiece.

Long story short – communication can make or break your team.

Get it right and you will have a fantastic workplace culture, vibing together like the Spice Girls at their peak. But get it wrong, and you’ll have… well, Spice Girls: The Later Years. No one wants that kind of drama in their life!

But when the world throws you a spanner in the form of a crisis, the potential for drama increases.

Fortunately, effective communication and empathy can help you navigate the choppy waters of a crisis. Here are some pointers to help you in these uncertain times.

The Importance of Communicating With Your Team

Why Good Communication Is Important

Communication is the glue that holds many aspects of your team together when it is business as usual. But it becomes ten times more important when your company is dealing with a crisis.

A crisis often means elevated levels of stress and anxiety that can be felt throughout the entire business. People will generally have an intense focus on the here and now, rather than looking towards the future.

Because no one knows what is around the corner, employees will be looking for clarity and transparency from their manager. Clear and effective communication can help them to feel more at ease and allow them to make sense of the situation and feel more comfortable with how they fit into the workplace.

Your words and actions have the power to put your team at ease, rather than throwing them into a panic. Good, clear communication is especially important in these unsettling times.

Delivery Makes the Difference

No one saw a global pandemic coming. And just a few short months ago, it seemed like a distant issue confined to foreign shores. But, we are now living the situation ourselves. Your communication skills are firmly in the spotlight!

Your team may be fearful for their health, but also for their jobs. The way you are communicating can help calm the situation, even if you don’t have all of the answers yourself.

The key is transparency and empathy. Be upfront with the information that you do have (within confidentiality parameters of course) and deliver it with empathy. Be mindful that every decision that your business makes will impact your people in some way.

In an already stressful time, you need to gauge how things are delivered. Sometimes it will need to be in a formal and professional sense, but at other times, your style can be more friendly and open.

Don’t fall into the trap of discussing rumours and hearsay. Stick to the facts.

The Impact on Staff Morale

In many cases, a crisis situation can build a stronger leader. It can help you to gain even more support and respect from your team. Unfortunately, there is not a definitive handbook on how to handle a period of uncertainty.

But, what you can do is pause, take a deep breath and remain calm. Your energy can impact your staff members, so always keep that in mind. If you generate negative energy, then that will ripple throughout the team. Instead of panicking, try these things:

Give people up to date info as often as you have it available
Use simple, clear communication
Be honest and don’t be afraid to show your own vulnerability – everyone is human!
Encourage good team bonds for a greater support network
Establish a clear collective vision for the future and share it – after all, every crisis will end

How To Be A Good Communicator

Good communication is not just about talking a lot. One of the biggest parts of communication is being able to listen. If you take the time to listen to what your team are saying, and more importantly what they are not saying, then you can learn a lot.

It is also important to read the non-verbal cues that people are giving. Body language, eye contact, hand gestures and tone of voice can provide an insight into how people are really feeling.

When you are communicating with your team, you want to be clear, concise and have a list of points to cover off so that there is no misunderstanding. Remember, that doesn’t mean you have to be super formal all the time. Be kind, speak with confidence and don’t be afraid to be human too!

Empathy and open-mindedness go a long way when communicating information. If you can model them in the workplace, then your team will have a great example to follow.

Communication can be tricky when there is a lot of uncertainty throughout the country. That is where having an independent HR support partner comes in handy. We have plenty of techniques and skills that you can use to encourage good communication at your place.

Get in touch with us today to get the communication flowing in the right way between your team members.

Tackling The Beginning Of An HR Decade In Your Business

Well, a new decade is underway, and you know what that means, right?

Yep; it’s now been nearly 30 years since the Spice Girls hit it big!

How time flies, it feels like just yesterday that we were listening to them (maybe that’s because it was!)

Our favourite 90s girl power band were together for less than half a decade. Poor planning, perhaps? Don’t let their tragic end be the fate of your business.

The dawning of a new decade is the perfect time to start with a clean slate, plan some long-term HR objectives, and get to work on powering towards your goals.

Begin With The End In Mind

Someone once said that every minute spent organising is an hour earned, and we couldn’t agree more. Every successful business works from a plan, and yours should be no exception.

When you and your team are clear about the priorities for the months and years ahead, you have structure, direction, and a shared vision that just makes everything flow.

Review your company’s vision, mission, and strategy, come up with SMART objectives, review past successes and failures, and you can start charting your course to success.

Ten-Year Planning

Granted, it can be daunting for any business to try and come up with a ten-year plan. In most industries, it is impossible to predict global trends or events that might impact how things go.

Staying on top of the latest research helps, but a ten-year plan will need to be flexible and adaptable.

However, when it comes to HR, it is a little more manageable to come up with a plan for the next decade. You may already have a general idea of which key employees may retire or move on. That means you can develop a succession plan complete with training and incentives to retain and attract high-performers to keep things running smoothly.

Snack-Size Your HR Objectives

“Plan in decades. Think in years. Work in months. Live in days.” We love this quote from Nic Haralambous. It perfectly sums up how you should approach your long-term business goals.

While it’s hard to imagine what the world will look like in ten years (let alone your life), it is relatively simple to predict the next 12-24 months.

After all, it’s what you do in the next year or two that will impact that ten-year plan. Take those ten-year goals and chop them up into annual objectives.

From there, divvy those goals up into bite-sized monthly and weekly plans. This is your best way to make 2020 a stepping stone for a successful decade.

Communicate Your Mission, Values, And Objectives

Great, so you’ve done the hard work and know where your ship is sailing to for the next decade. Now it’s time to let the crew in on the plan. After all, your map is nothing if you don’t give it to the people helping you navigate.

Here’s how to effectively communicate your strategy to all employees, both existing and incoming:

Summarise it into easy to digest, bite-sized, consumable snippets of information
Tell a story to create purpose and vision
Make the strategy part of everyday company culture
Clarify every individual’s role in achieving objectives to ensure buy-in
Check-in regularly with your employees to review the mission
Engage employees in the strategic process
Align individual goals with broader business goals
Acknowledge and reward progress
Keep everyone updated on where you stand in relation to your objectives
Walk the walk at all levels

The beginning of a decade is an exciting time. The years stretch out ahead of you and you can take steps to control the outcome of those years now.

Any good business is only as strong as its team members. Ensure the success of your business with the right people culture. Get in touch with the Spice Gals today to help ensure your HR practices are on the right path for future success.

Why Good Communication Is So Important

Communication begins the second we’re born.

We soon discover that making loud noises usually gets us what we want! Hopefully for most of us, our communication skills become much more advanced from then on. Though, you may meet the odd person who seems to still operate on this premise.

In business, as in life, communication is essential for survival. Done effectively, it helps your team be happy, creative, and productive.

Think about all the positive attributes you want your team to possess – trust, loyalty, efficiency, passion for the job (and the business as a whole), and commitment. Good communication is essential in creating each of these factors.

Let’s dive a little deeper into why good communication is essential to your business.

Why Good Communication Is So Important

Creating Buy-In

If an employee doesn’t understand or buy-in to the values and purpose of your organisation, they are unlikely to go the extra mile in any aspect of their role. So basically, you end up with someone who clocks in and out and does the bare minimum.

However, when you are able to effectively communicate your company’s “why,” you start to build a sense of belonging.

When employees understand how their role contributes to the bigger picture, they will take more pride in their work and serve as powerful advocates for your business. The side effects of buy-in include engagement and loyalty.

Increasing Productivity

Productivity is a key component of a successful business. Without being productive, you and your team are just wasting your own time… and company time.

One sure-fire way to increase productivity is to work on communication within your organisation. To do their job well, employees need to understand what is required of them. With the right information, they can do that job faster and more effectively.

Foster A Positive, Happy Workplace Culture

Nothing builds resentment faster than not listening to your employees – which equates to not valuing or respecting them. Communication is not a one-way street that only goes from the top-down. You must allow two-way communication. That means giving employees an avenue to voice their ideas and opinions without fear of being shut down.

It’s incredibly empowering for people to trust that if they bring a concern or idea to a manager, they will be heard. And who better to know how to improve the way things are done within your organisation than the people doing them!?

Building Cohesive Teams

Small issues can quickly develop into major HR issues in a workplace environment. Good communicators know how to listen without overreacting, which is essential in preventing misunderstandings and conflict.

Teams that work well together naturally create good morale, which, of course, is great for productivity!

Inspire Innovation and Creativity

When you encourage everyone in your organisation to openly share ideas, you foster an environment of innovation and creativity. Your employees are your biggest asset. They know the business inside out and potentially have so much to offer.

But if you make them feel as if their voices aren’t important, they’re not going to share these insights with others. Instead, foster an environment of open sharing. You never know what your team might come up with!

Building Trust

Trust is hard to earn and easy to lose. Trust affects engagement, culture, and ultimately, productivity, so you don’t want to lose it. Communicating clearly helps managers to be transparent, which in turn builds trust throughout the entire organisation. Down the line, this translates to transparency and trust among your customers and clients.

Encouraging multi-directional, good communication within your teams shouldn’t be an afterthought. It should be one of the foundations of your business strategy. If this is an area you think needs some work, trust us –it’s well worth the time and effort to improve.

Luckily, the Spice Gals are here to help you develop great communication within your business. Get in touch with us today if you want to discuss the power of communication further.