Communication: Often mentioned, rarely done
In most companies effective communication is crucial, yet it’s an ongoing challenge for most teams. Countless email threads, endless meetings, having conflicting KPIs between departments, can lead to ongoing misunderstandings and leave teams not producing optimal results. By prioritising clear communication and creating a sense of unity among departments, businesses can streamline operations and create real world synergies.
Some Key Actions that can improve internal communication:
Break the email chain: If you have an email trail that is 10-15 emails long and contains an ongoing debate - then you have not communicated effectively. Have a micro meeting and summarise the results in an email. People debating over email while sitting in the same office is not conducive to effective communication
Understanding Interdepartmental Dynamics: Understanding what other departments KPI"s is simple yet very important, but in reality, most departments don’t have a clear idea of what other departments really do and how they do it. Having an office meeting where each department presents what they do and what is coming up for them is very valuable. It greatly reduces friction between departments and creates a stronger team mentality.
Ensuring Consistency of Message: Having everyone hear the same message at the same time is very important. You can’t work towards the same goal unless that goal and how to achieve it is understood consistently across the company. I would always insist on holding as many full office meetings as possible so that every person would hear my message at the same time. Even for the retail stores, I would have Zoom calls with all store managers and any staff who were on the morning shift in order to reduce miscommunications on the company's priorities. Both actions take a lot of effort, however this direct communication can reduce the amount of people getting a diluted version of critical information.
Internal Marketing/Communication: By this, I mean having excitement about your brand and product internally before you try and convince customers. Having the Marketing team and Events team help sell the product first to the office and stores was vital in launching new products. Internal marketing is a major gap in many brands, however if done correctly it has a huge impact on results.
Aligning with Future Goals: Most companies don’t articulate future projects and upcoming initiatives, this is vital for staff to feel connected and being part of the company's journey. And when I say company I mean not just the office but the entire organisation.
Get everyone onboard: In a previous role I realised that support functions such as IT, Logistics, Finance and HR were very distant from what we did in terms of product and retail. So we ensured that all these functions would be invited to a morning session at our flagship store where they would be given a full presentation and hospitality as any top customer would. The results were higher engagement and motivation, which smoothed over many tensions that previously existed.
Most of what I have mentioned isn’t new or revolutionary, what is different is the energy, focus and persistent determination to make these things happen.
Simply: Communication needs to be Physicalized!