Human connection is more important than ever before. As a business owner, you must communicate effectively with your employees and your stakeholders and customers.
When communicating, it is critical that you remain transparent and honest. It's something that can be hard for many of us to do, especially when it is bad news. Such as having to conduct redundancies and temporary pay cuts.
Maintaining an open and honest chain of conversation, however, is incredibly important. As the reality is, none of us know how long this pandemic is going to last – so, for example, if you over promise and under deliver an operation to a client, it will more than likely end badly.
Another mistake that many business owners often make is saying nothing at all.
Doing so, can cause your employees to stress about their jobs and livelihoods – something that is, by no means, needed. Providing frequent updates is essential for maintaining employee confidence, and I advise any leader to communicate regularly. Even if you have nothing specific to say, or you are waiting on a piece of information, thoughtful and frequent communication shows that you are on top of the situation. By adjusting your responses accordingly, you will help to give all parties confidence that you are in control and have a handle on everything.
Personally, I speak to my Management Team daily and my wider team via group call once a week. I talk to each member via call or email at least once a week, as well. It's crucial to establish two-way communication during this time as well as to provide a safe space for your employees to express how they feel properly.
Remember the good principles of communication and remember to think about how you would want to be communicated with during this time – this will carry you a long way, I promise.
