In the business world, bad communication can cost you big time. We’re talking about decisions made based on wrong assumptions and dodgy data, which can cost companies over $7,000 a day on average. There are loads of reasons why this can happen, like unclear instructions, poor listening, unreliable data, and lack of teamwork. One of the biggest issues is when teams or departments don’t share information with each other. This can seriously harm a growing business.
So, how can we fix this? Here’s a thought: encourage a ‘single version of truth’ in your business. This means promoting transparency and better sharing of data and information across the whole organization. You can do this with cloud-based solutions that encourage transparency and collaboration.
Sharing information at work can have some great benefits. For starters, having one ‘truth’ can lead to better decisions. This is a concept from computing called ‘single version of truth’ or SVOT. It’s all about using a centralized and synchronized database to keep all relevant data in a standard format. This helps to make sure the data being used is accurate. The same idea applies to information flow in your organization. Accurate and reliable information should be available to everyone in the business, whether it’s good or bad news.
For example, negative reviews might make customer support staff look bad. So, they might be tempted to twist this feedback to avoid blame. But this kind of information asymmetry can lead to poor decision-making later on. You need to stop issues like these before they start. Sharing data and information transparently will make sure everyone is in the loop and aware of any potential problems that can be tackled together.
Transparency also builds trust. Another way to ensure you’re working with accurate information is to consider its source. Ask yourself: where is this information coming from and how is it relevant to me? The problem with hearsay and qualitative information is that it can be skewed by bias or even lies. Some bosses are really paranoid about sharing information with everyone. While some things should be kept confidential, there are things you should share with everyone involved.
For instance, letting people know how your business is doing in terms of metrics and indicators can help everyone see the value of their contribution. But how do you make these numbers understandable for everyone? This is where visualization tools and dashboards come in. A service like Cyfe lets you set up business dashboards simply by adding widgets. It can even integrate with tools you might already use like Google Analytics, PayPal, or even Facebook. If you have large displays in your office, you can hook it up so that everyone can see a real-time snapshot of your business. By making the information visual, some people might even spot trends and opportunities that would otherwise go unnoticed. With a good dashboard, everything is easy to track and monitor, and you’ll save a lot of time.
Efficient collaboration also promotes synergy. Sometimes, friction between departments comes from each one thinking they contribute more and work harder than the others. This is often made worse by the seemingly random way some managers measure performance. Even individual team members might not work as hard if they don’t know whether their work is meaningful, how well they’re doing, or if they’re actually adding value. So it’s important to define what metrics are important to your business.
Different industries will need different metrics. For example, people in creative industries don’t need to count their hours of work to know if they’re doing well. They usually rely on the quality of their work and client satisfaction as better measures of success. This is different from more transactional roles, where the number of orders fulfilled and speed of delivery might be better indicators of productivity.
However, to properly track performance, you should have a consistent way of documenting what work gets done. A solution like WorkflowMax offers consolidated ways to track tasks through your workflow and can even generate performance reports. Having a system like this can help you track organization-wide metrics like revenue per employee and even effectiveness ratios (or the gross profit you generate per workforce expense).
As a leader, it’s important to empower people by showing them how everyone contributes to the bigger picture. One clear example is discouraging the attitude of passing the buck. Transparency in the workflow will help people understand each other’s roles and responsibilities and how they complement their own. Integrated workflows and free flow of information give everyone a better understanding of how other teams and departments are affected by their actions.
This can be done by establishing integrated workflows that everyone can understand. Show how customer value is enhanced and delivered through various department tasks. Use flowcharts. Make it visual. If you’re willing to invest, you could also use enterprise-grade workflow management solutions, which can also be useful for small scale setups. For instance, task management software like Wrike or even a simple Kanban board like Trello can help visually track tasks. What these tools do is allow you to share and collaborate on the same information as work gets passed from one person to the next. It’s hard to mess up facts that everyone can see.
In conclusion, promoting transparency and collaboration takes a lot of effort and willpower. It might take some work to get people to buy into this mindset. Miscommunication and siloes can be avoided if everyone knows how everyone else is contributing and that everyone is looking at and acting on the same quality information. Offer concrete ways to track and measure performance so that people can easily check how well they’re doing. This way, you can ensure that everyone is always acting on the right information and making informed decisions.
