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Communication in a small business may seem like a very simple thing to achieve, but the challenges lie in not just improving communication but establishing a precedent that can continue as your business scales up.

We all know the importance of communication, but when a small business has so many individual components working hard to hit deadlines to make sure the company is ticking over, what do we need to utilise to improve and increase communication?

Use Multiple Tools Where Necessary

Everybody has their own preferred methods of communicating. Some people want nothing more than to just go over to the other person for a quick conversation, but others are insistent on email. The great thing is that these days there’s a variety of tools.

Microsoft Teams is an amazing example that covers a lot of communication-based tools and tactics, and even if you aren’t leveraging every aspect of Teams, you can upgrade Microsoft Teams to be a Teams Phone, commonly known as Voice over Internet Protocol, or VoIP, which can utilise various communication methods.

From email to phone or answer phone messages, it covers a lot, ensuring that people can get in contact with you, and you with them, in the method that suits you both best at that moment in time.

Incorporate an Internal Communication Platform

Technology is in abundance and can improve communication, but when it comes to workload, collaboration is critical. In terms of day-to-day communication, there are a variety of web applications that can facilitate this all-important employee-to-employee communication. Famous tools like Slack have approximately 5 million users every day and cover a wide variety of components relating to communication and sharing documents, and can integrate with other applications.

You don’t need to utilise Slack if necessary, but when you start to think about having the right platform that lets your employees communicate and share important information in a streamlined and collaborative way, you will see the benefits.

Even if you don’t have the finances to create or purchase a tool, a designated inbox might be all you need for communication, as this can help you keep track of everything in one place. The most important thing to remember when it comes to communication is to have one platform that everybody knows how to use. If you’ve already got a system in place, you may wish to audit your internal communications to make sure that everything is as efficient as it could be and, if it isn’t, make the necessary changes that will benefit both you and staff. 

Establish Clear Communication Guidelines

It’s not just about what you communicate but how you communicate it and where you communicate it. Tools are invaluable but you must establish clear guidelines, not just to facilitate communication, but to make sure that productivity does not fall down as a result.

You could benefit from some of the following:

• Setting clear expectations, for example, in relation to frequency and response times.
• Training staff in all aspects of your communication system, as this can increase efficiency.
• Encouraging feedback to help employees let you know if these guidelines are working.

Help Your Team Understand the Foundations of Great Communication

We can look at all of the tools necessary but they are worth nothing if we don’t know the skills associated with great communication. Communication has become a buzzword in relation to what an effective business should be. The problem is that we greatly neglect the basics.

The first step of communication is being a great listener. This is certainly not an easy skill to achieve, not just because of the working environment being greatly dispersed, but because communication may be a transaction between a superior and a deputy, and when you throw into the mix a number of unconscious conflicts or biases, it can be problematic.

It’s important for everyone to down tools and learn how to listen. A great listener can concentrate on what is being said, while also understanding the salient details, and not just wait to respond. It could be essential for you to train your staff in the art of active listening and various other soft skills.

We all love to talk, but we don’t love to listen, and when it comes to listening to your employees, customers, and stakeholders, every single one is important and will boost your business. Learn from them.

Learn 5 Simple Qualities

The 5 Cs can improve your business relations:

• Clear.
• Concise.
• Complete.
• Correct.
• Courteous.

These 5 components will transform every aspect of how you communicate. Thinking about clarity, providing all the necessary information and only including what is necessary and accurate, while also being polite, covers so much ground that every organisation should learn it, whether you are expanding further or just utilising what you have. Communication is constantly touted as an effective tool, and it’s time to start using it properly.

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