Streamlining Communication: Best Practices for Small Business Teams

Whatever productivity hack you give into or strategic planning you embrace or process improvement you implement, the success of your team and your business comes down to communication. In the bustling hive of a thriving business, each worker bee contributes to the overall success of the hive. Just as bees use dances to communicate vital information, so too must your team members connect in order to bring that sweet taste of success to your business.

But how do we ensure these dances - these messages and dialogues - are clear, understood, and effective? How can we prevent our communication lines from becoming a tangled web of noise and confusion? The answer lies in establishing robust and efficient communication channels, setting crystal clear expectations, being available and responsive, and fostering an environment of open dialogue.

Defining Communication Channels

In the digital age, our communication tools have multiplied and diversified. Our tech stacks - emails, project management tools like Monday.com, instant messaging platforms like Slack - all serve a purpose and can help us do our jobs  better. But without clear delineation, they can also create confusion. It's important to define what each channel is used for so that your team can easily trace back to important messages, find the information they need, and collaborate effectively. 

Maybe emails are for formal communication, Monday.com for task updates, and Slack for quick questions. In my business, I know anything in my email is from clients or a message from my operations manager that was too long to send via Slack. By setting these guidelines, you streamline communication and avoid messages getting lost in the wrong platform. 

Establishing Clear Expectations 

As Brene Brown would say, “clear is kind.” Communication that lacks clarity can easily be misconstrued and either lead to drama or a project result you weren’t looking for. When you’re communicating assignments and expectations, be clear on your desired end results and other expectations like who should be involved, timelines, and more. Though, this applies beyond individual tasks. When there’s clarity in overall job roles, everyone knows what their responsibilities are and there’s a decreased risk of tasks slipping through the cracks or there being overlap in work (hello, worker bee tension). 

Documenting your Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) can be a great resource for team members to refer to, trimming down unnecessary messages and promoting self-sufficiency. Our team can help you establish clear, efficient SOPs that will take your team's communication and productivity to the next level.

Being Available & Responsive

Managers set the tone for team communication. By prioritizing responsiveness, they show the team that their input is valued. Once, when I was having a performance review with one of our virtual assistants, she gave the following candid feedback: “When my slack messages go unanswered, I feel like the tasks I’ve been assigned don’t matter”. First, kudos to her for being open and honest (see creating open dialogues) and second, take away points on me for not always practicing what I preach! 

Whether it's setting aside a specific time each week to address team queries or making an effort to respond promptly to messages, showing availability fosters a culture of open communication. Remember, it's not about being available 24/7—it's about showing your team that you’re trying and that when they speak, they're heard.

Creating Open Dialogues 

I’m actually hoping this sounds a bit cliche to you because you’ve heard it so much: Effective communication is more about listening than it is about speaking. Now, I’m hoping that you’ve put this into practice with your team. 

There’s a lot you can find out about when you spend more time listening to your team than speaking at them. During regular team meetings, the way certain client challenges are phrased may indicate a bigger client or team member issue than someone is letting on. Or, the way a team member phrases their work could indicate stress that can be impacting their work. For instance, when my operations manager was sharing an update on our client success strategy, she said “I’m really working hard to wrap this up”. Knowing that I hadn’t placed a hard deadline on the project and pairing that with how the rest of the conversation had gone, I knew she felt stressed and a little disappointed in herself with the pace of her progress. I opened the floor to hear more about how she was feeling and to reframe expectations on the project. 

Beyond the little things, you can consider regular feedback sessions as a group or one-on-one with your team. And, if things don’t seem to be getting better, you can consider hiring a trainer for conflict resolution. The goal is to ensure everyone feels heard and understood. 

These steps can help transform your team into a well-choreographed dance of productivity and harmony. After all, a team that communicates effectively is a team that works effectively.