I am passionate about helping Business owners use their Communication strengths to succeed in business. Business is tough so I believe if there are ways we can harness our strengths to get better results – Let’s do it!
We have spoken many times about the cost of poor communication. It has been shown in research to cost up to 32% of profit. For a business making $500K pa, this is $160K, that's not small change. Money I am sure you would like to remain in your pocket?
So you have a business and there are issues, we have said before that Communication is foundational to our success. Additionally, that Poor Communication destroys business in many ways and today we will look at the relationship between Poor Communication and Low Productivity.
What is Low Productivity“ less than ideal output, below required productivity, low sales and low or no profit.” In terms of staff your team may not be producing enough per paid work hour to ensure they are worth the investment.
You may pay an assistant $100 per day, yet productivity of the business has not increased in line with that investment. What can you do?
In terms of working with people and their strengths there are many things you can do to turn this around. But here is where we need to get curious and start doing some research and asking some questions.
First of all, I always recommend we start by understanding ourselves. What is Your Communication DNA, your needs as a Communicator? As a Business owner the buck stops with you so you need to know this. You need to know what strengths you bring to the table and what may be any potential challenges.
How do you communicate in your business? Does your team know what is required? Do they have a clear idea of your expectations? Do you have a clear idea of theirs?
Are you approachable? Can your team ask your questions? Will they feel silly, embarrassed, stupid? Do you complicate things so they leave even more confused?
Depending on your Leadership style your team will be affected in different ways.
For example the Powerful Leader is great at telling people what to do, loves to delegate and loves control. BUT to others who do not understand them they can come off as Bossy, dictatorial, unreasonable and unapproachable. If this is you, then your team may not feel they can ask you. They may not be brave enough to fess up to any mistakes.
If you have a team member who is also Powerful they may not like you telling them what to do, they may need a little more freedom and control so you may have a silent tussle for control going on.
If you are a Playful Leader, no doubt you are everyone’s friend but they may not take you seriously. Your team may be confused between friend and Boss. Processes and organization is not always a strength of a Playful leader so your team may need processes, direction and organisation in the chaos to ensure they maximize productivity.
If you are a Patient Leader, your team will feel supported but they may lack direction. Patient Leaders can avoid telling people what to do; as they fear it is rude and blunt (they are the opposite to the Powerful), so they say nothing. This leaves your team lacking direction and focus. Sometimes your team may feel like they are running the business and they may resent that.
If you are a Perfectionist Leader, there is no doubt you have high standards and equally high expectations. This may stifle your team as they know, no matter what, they will never measure up. There is nothing like that for a productivity killer.
As you can see, it starts with us as the Leader. We are essential to our business running well and we need to understand the effect we have first on the business.
Once we understand this we can then begin to look deeper into understand your team in the same way. For years I have been helping business understand their Communication DNA so they can see what makes each member of the team tick, what strengths they have, how they work best and how to bring out their strengths.
If you would like to know more you can learn more about Communication DNA with this free video
If you would like to learn what your Communication DNA is you can take our test
If you know you need more support to unravel what is happening in your business we offer Coaching and Training services as well as our very popular online Master Communication in Your Business.
We are here to resource you so that you can create the business of your dreams, kick those goals, create a highly productive team and future-proof your business.
Until next time Care, Connect and be a Courageous Communicator.
Lets grow your business one conversation at a time.