So for the past 5 weeks, I've been talking about role clarity and onboarding. In case you missed any of my previous newsletters, you can always catch up on @linkedin a week later.
Now that we know who to hire, how to train, and how to communicate our expectations, let's talk about WHERE you communicate and getting everyone in one place. Communication is super important for your team, and it determines whether or not everyone is clear on what to do, who to work with, and how to get in touch with the right people.
Speaking for myself, work texts and calls to my personal phone feel like an invasion of my boundaries. Is it just me, First name / friend? I like to be on when I'm on and off when I'm off. And now that we're all working in this virtual space, when we're "on" may be different than others on our team.
Finding a balance between work and life is so important. With all the notifications and messages we receive these days, it's easy to find ourselves always 'on' and unable to switch off even during personal time. It might be hard for you to understand, but your team needs to have boundaries too, even if you haven't established them for yourself yet.
Bottomline: Communication needs a container and a group text ain't it. You need a centralized place for your team to share updates, correspond, and chat without overloading their personal phones.
There are two necessary containers that you need. This may look different depending on the structure of your team and services, but generally, you need a method for internal and external communication.
Streamline where your team communicates.
The separate text conversations, emails, and phone conversations can make it difficult to streamline and leave room for others to be left out of the conversation and miscommunication.
I once worked with a founder who simply REFUSED to use Slack even though the rest of the team was in there. It created a lot of double work, and they often didn't have insight into real-time updates and questions. It created a bottleneck for us all.
We recommend using software like Slack, Teams, or Zoom Chat to create a communication hub for your team. This gives you a text-like style of communication but also the ability to create designated channels for projects, departments, and general updates.
Develop a communication method and plan for clients.
Having a preferred communication method is so necessary for client services. You must remember that your clients may have their own preferences and work habits that you must be mindful of. Streamline your communication with clients so that the focus can be on the project and not on trying to figure out how to get in contact with someone.
Tip: During onboarding, discuss your communication plan. If there are multiple stakeholders who need to be involved, ask what they use internally and find a middle ground for the project.
Depending on the work you do, sometimes an email thread or shared document is enough. But when you work closely with a client, you probably need a "text-like" communication platform to bring everyone together. Another ick of mine is an email thread that is being used like texts. Cause what is the reason??? LBS
By now, you know I'm not talking about it without bring a solution! Do you need help improving how you use Slack or implementing it? I'm offering setups as a a la carte service for a limited time.
What's your preferred communication method with your team?
Reply to this blog and let me know what you prefer and how it's working for you!
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