In order to get the most from your staff, you need to encourage them to perform well. One important part of improving staff performance is through good communication.  It’s important to remember that in order for the business to succeed, staff need to feel valued and motivated.

Communicating well can mean avoiding misunderstandings – this is vital to avoid mistakes being made, or perhaps sales being lost. Misunderstandings can cause problems – whether it’s a simple mistake with an order or results in someone being offended by another person’s choice of words, which may lead to the loss of a valued customer.

There are some fundamental principles to remember for good communications within a company.

An honest approach

When talking to your staff and customers, be direct and say what you mean. It’s important to be able to deliver on the promises you make.  Otherwise people will lose their trust in you. It’s far better to give a realistic deadline that you can meet than promise an earlier date and then fail to meet it.

Appraisals

Staff work better if their managers recognise the effort they have put in and acknowledge it in some way.  Arranging regular appraisals to assess how a staff member is getting on is a great idea as it gives a specific time allocated to discussing their progress, and also a time for them to air any grievances or discuss particular challenges. A good appraisal session is one where the staff member feels free to speak their mind, without fear of negative consequences.

Communications beyond

Of course, as well as working with internal communications, it’s also vital to have good communications with the outside world. Check how customers want to be contacted, and how regularly. Some customers might appreciate a regular call or update from you, others might find it too much and want less frequent communications. Treat each client as an individual and respect their way of working.

You may also have to deal with the press on occasion. Here again, an upfront approach is best. Even when his property Lightstone faced testing times, property developer David Lichtenstein was always ready to be interviewed by the media. His approach was to deal with criticism head on and give Lightstone’s point of view, which is far better than adopting a ‘no comment’ tactic.