Efficiently conveying information can significantly improve your startup’s likelihood of success. Information should always be presented in a clear, concise manner, and the method of transmission should be simple and quick; failure to get information across in this manner can result in confusion, delayed reaction and unnecessary arguments.
Contrary to what you may have heard, perfect communication does not mean delivering instructions to staff and associates without getting questions. In fact, the ideal environment for business communications is when employees and managers are not afraid to ask questions or suggest that more details should be provided.
Here’s a look at how the four pillars of startup enterprises can be bolstered with effective communication strategies.
1. Empowerment
Your great startup idea, product or service will only be as great as the team you put together to develop it. To this end, your staff should get a sense of empowerment from every communication they receive.
This means that every email, instant message, web conference, and phone call must have all the information required to accomplish the next task.
Knowing everything there is to know about what should or should not be done is the first step towards empowerment; the second step is motivation and the final step is constructive feedback. You must keep these steps in mind when you are preparing to communicate with your team.
2. Positive corporate culture
If you want your startup staff to be productive, you should first think about employee morale. A positive corporate culture is reflected in the way employees communicate with managers and company principals.
Mutual respect should be practiced at all levels and at all times, and staff relationships should be positive above all other tasks. When communicating with staff, startup leaders should adopt a positive and honest tone even when things are not going their way.
Whenever a task is completed to satisfaction, gratitude and recognition should be shared with all staff; should a task fall short of expectations, constructive feedback should be respectfully offered.
3. Clear course of action
Good communications must always follow the path established by startup principals. Every message or instruction must be issued from the perspective of where the company is at the moment and where it should be in the near future.
If a message instructs the staff to move the company towards a certain point, the message should include clear directions from the principals and managers as to how the company is supposed to get there.
4. Means of communication and modern solutions
Today’s startup entrepreneurs cannot expect to run their companies with dated communications solutions such as email and telephone calls.
Modern companies need flexible and dynamic communication suites that combine elements of web conferencing with project management, instant messaging, file sharing, and online collaboration.
The right business communication solution should allow managers and employees to work from different locations across various platforms.
Here are three of the most popular modern solutions that can be used on desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones for videoconferencing, presenting, sharing files, textual messaging, work planning and assignment communication.
A) Skype (for business)
Ever since Microsoft acquired Skype a few years ago, users have been pleased to see how this app has developed into one of the most powerful, but inexpensive tools for business productivity.
The free version of Skype is good enough for an entrepreneur to get started, but once a startup puts together a larger team with advanced needs, Skype for Business is a must.
Since Skype is part of the Microsoft Office ecosystem, companies can take advantage of ample cloud storage, Outlook corporate email, interactive whiteboards, MS Office document collaboration in real-time, and web conferencing for up to 250 participants.
Skype for Business is familiar looking, but with new options and some of the same old bugs, but with the same easy troubleshooting.
B) Slack
The ultimate business social media platform started as an internal messaging system used by a tech startup that developed a defunct online game.
Slack is a cloud-based messaging app with powerful document sharing features that make it an ideal solution for corporate teams to stay in touch and collaborate from just about any internet-connected device.
One interesting aspect of Slack is that it is one of the few business solutions that have crossed over to personal and mainstream use such as the BlackBerry smartphone.
The free version of Slack includes 5 GB of storage, perfect for small startups. Notable Slack clients include NASA and The Times of London, so it is absolutely worth trying.
C) Asana
Startup companies that wish to get right down to business with goal completion should strongly consider giving Asana a try. With this project management app, startups can begin their enterprise efforts by planning action strategies before they tackle communications.
Asana provides templates that can be as basic as to-do lists or as complex as milestone-based projects to be handled by multiple teams.
Aside from the typical project management tools such as Gantt charts and delegation boxes, Asana also offers integration with Outlook and Slack for comprehensive communication.
This post was written by by John Porter. John is a Southampton-based freelance English-German translator, writer and a tech head, so he enjoys keeping up with tech trends and writing about anything related to modern technology with a special interest in all types of productivity apps.