Next week the calendar indicates the start of the winter season. For those in the northern part of the country the temperature has dropped, and the anticipation of snow is always on the horizon. For those in the southern part of the country there is also a drop in temperatures, but the sun still appears more regularly to take the chill out of the air and warms our hearts. This season of winter is the start of the renewal of life here on planet earth. Plants and animals take a season to hibernate or withdraw their energy from their leaves. They do this so in the spring they are ready to emerge in full life.
As crazy as it may sound, our businesses need a similar time to pause, reflect and rekindle the energy to grow our businesses. This is not to suggest you send everyone home for a 3-month sleep in their home, but it just might be a good time to engage employees in meaningful conversations about how they can grow to help the best outcomes for the team and customers alike. This time of drawing into the business so that the business can move forward at top speed in the near future is critical to the creative, innovative and people cultivating needs of the organization.
Our typical breakneck speed of moving the business forward sometimes blinds us of the more mundane daily items which need housekeeping. The biggest of these is open communincation with the team members. During the spring, summer and fall our team members tend to be scattered about the workplace and on family vacations. Once the holiday season for Christmas and New Years wrap up, our teams are back into the office or as remote workers re-engaged in the business routine. We are at this same time kicking off a new calendar/fiscal year.
This area of communication has always been a key part in successful businesses but recently the attention to details on productive communication with all team members is on the slide again. During the early phases of the pandemic communincation was very high but maybe was not very clear because many businesses were trying to sort things out while they pivoted. This improved as businesses sorted threw the changes and began to implement any number of strategies for workforce deployment. Now that some staff have returned to the office while others remain remote, this causes communincation to take on an improved format. As business leaders we cannot slip back into the mode of thinking everyone will get the message when they come into the office. Nor can we believe everyone completely reads all of the details in emails they get on a daily basis.
This means that as leaders we need to make sure our communincation portals are best in class to ensure proper communincation is happening with everyone in the organization. We need to be open to other means to interact with the team. Such things as virtual meetings became far more popular during the pandemic, but have they been refined to be timely and productive? Are they engaging to the participants? What protocols are in place to ensure the conveyance of data and appropriate follow up and follow through?
This week it is time to place a high priority emphasis on communication within your business. Understand what needs to be communicated and to who needs to get it. What is the best means to make sure it gets delivered and read.
Need to engage a Promise Guide to assist in your internal communication efforts? Give JKL Associates a call at FL (407) 984-7246 or MI (313) 527-7945
Journey On!
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS – EMAIL US AT PARTNERS@JKLASSOCIATES.COM OR CALL OUR OFFICES – MI AT (313) 527-7945 FL AT (407) 984-7246
Celebrating 30 years of Delivering on “Promises”
