The nature of communication within businesses has seen great changes in recent years. Through the internet and other digital connections, you can pass information to your employees within seconds. However, fast communication is not a guarantee that your workers will see or respond to the communication. The best way to communicate with your staff depends on your resources, employee location, and privacy concerns.
Consider Cost
Depending on the number of remote employees you have, the least expensive form of communication may be a face-to-face meeting. Many businesses start the day with a daily briefing of different departments or staff groups. These types of meetings can be helpful in ensuring people have received important information for the day. However, once the workday begins, there may be other communication needs. Email is still a low-end expense, but it is often so frequently used that important communication may never be seen. Shortly after your email arrives, it is pushed down by other pressing messages. Saving money does not matter when your messages get lost in employee inboxes. If you want communication that is more direct or more private, you will have to invest more in your systems. A virtual private network can enhance security, but working with one is an added cost. A third-party communication system can help establish message priority, but it is also a financial investment.
Where Are My Employees?
While the daily meeting can still be helpful, it is a product of a different era when employees were all onsite. Nearly 3 billion people worldwide are deskless workers, making communication via email less optimal for disseminating information. Remote workers may need company-issued phones for receiving information through text or instant message. You also need to consider how remote employees can participate in meetings. This could involve a simple remote connection or a virtual meeting room.
How Important is the Information?
Another important consideration is the value of the information that is being sent back and forth. Sending out a set of weekly goals is most likely an operation with low-security needs. However, if sensitive content is routinely part of communications, you need to think about data safety. In this case, you want to create connections that have higher security protocols like password protection and encryption.
Poor communication costs businesses a great deal of money every year in both time and profit. Companies of every size need to have a communication plan in place. When you think intentionally about how to share information, you will improve the performance of your business.
Natural born leaders fall into a role that has others watching their every move. But even natural born leaders face situations that cause them to stress out a bit. Leaders must be vigilant about how they react in all situations, especially stressful ones. Stress has a significant impact on how leaders respond to everyday activities and impromptu scenarios they were unprepared to handle.
Stress Causes You to Make Poor Decisions
Stress is a natural thing, and everyone chooses how to react to such events in life that cause theirs. Our bodies create what has been dubbed the stress hormone, which is called cortisol. While cortisol can have positive effects on our bodies, ultimately, too much of something leads to adverse outcomes. When a significant conflict arises, our brain creates a flight-or-fight scenario that we must respond to almost immediately. Due to the knee-jerk reaction our minds take under a specifically stressful moment, rational thinking takes a back seat to impulse reaction. The inability to control how you react to stress will inevitably lead to making poor decisions and lashing out at others in close vicinity. Leaders must be one step ahead of the impending impact that stress creates.
You Take Your Stress Out on Others
Snappy comments, quick decisions without a rational reason and lashing out at someone unrelated to the situation are a few ways leaders may be taking their stress out on those around them. Being known as the boss who has brash outbursts will create a negative atmosphere and impact the efficiency required to lead a team successfully. These outbursts do not always stay within the office. Road rage is a common side effect of continued stress in the workplace. Quick decisions and blaming other drivers for their choices is the outlet some people use to relieve the anxiety they had to suppress in the office. This is what happens when you experience road rage, which is responsible for numerous car accidents every year. Try a few of the tips listed below to help relieve stress before road rage becomes a part of your drive home.
Take Steps to Destress and React Professionally
There are a few methods a good leader should adopt to control stress before it controls them. Listen to what is said, and break down what needs addressing right away and what can be discussed later. Situational awareness will help you recognize the need to breathe before speaking. Take a timeout, and walk away to collect your thoughts before making an on-the-spot decision. Take a walk or a break if the stress is too much to remain professional. A quick walk around the building before agreeing to something or the commute home can be helpful for reducing stress.
The best thing you can do as a leader to avoid taking out your stress on other people and continuing to lead your team to success is to take a step back and modulate your reaction to the situation at hand. Try not to make any hasty decisions, and take a break if you need to.
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As a leader in your industry, you may often be asked to provide mentorship opportunities for newcomers to your field. Although many professions can benefit from a well-designed mentorship program, here are three specific career paths that emphasize mentorship and experience-based training:
Healthcare
Senior medical professionals are in a unique position to be able to share their clinical research and expertise with rising colleagues. The demands and rigors of a career in healthcare provide a natural fit for a medical mentorship.
In today’s hyper-connected world, where it is easy to find guidance in a variety of professions online, there is still no substitute for a traditional physician mentor-mentee relationship. New employees can stand to gain a lot of knowledge and hands-on training by shadowing an experienced medical professional.
Real Estate
The real estate industry relies heavily on networking. As a leader in the real estate industry, you can do your part to mentor new associates and work to connect them with others in the field. According to Rules of Renovation, providing mentorship along the way can prevent new people from feeling directionless or inexperienced. This mentorship is essential for training. Inviting less experienced employees to your open houses is another ideal way to demonstrate to them how to cultivate their trade.
Many realtor leaders have found that hosting free training events or networking opportunities is an effective way to reach out to new professionals in the field. Not only do you give back to your industry by being proactive about sharing your knowledge, but you also might gain an enthusiastic new employee as a result. Also, better-trained agents bring credibility to the industry as a whole.
Trade Careers
Trade professionals such as plumbers, electricians, and maintenance technicians can benefit tremendously from having an experienced mentor to guide them. A shadowing program is an effective way to teach less experienced technicians the ins and outs of the trade. Because these careers are so hands-on, the best way to get experience is to work under the tutelage of more experienced technicians. A rookie trade professional will make fewer mistakes if they are given the opportunity to learn from some of the best in the field.
By putting yourself out there as a mentor and sharing your knowledge with others, you can give back to your community and continue to be authentic in all of your career pursuits. Effective mentorship leads to continued excellence and superior quality in whatever field you work in.
Getting your employees the training they need should be one of your top priorities. Our assistance can transform your coaching efforts. Sign up for one of Sears Coaching’s premier coaching programs and accelerate your performance today!
