Without people there isn’t a business. Developing great relationships; interpersonal ones, customer-based ones, is integral to the long-term health and prospects of your startup. Working on the way you communicate, what you communicate and how, is something that most startup founders find themselves having to hone in on from day one.
As for how you can do it effectively? Bridging the divide between startups and people, working on your message and communication channel, is easier than you think. As these four tips help to show.
Channels
Having the right channels in place to communicate with people in your business is absolutely essential. You want to make access to people quick and easy. Connect them together by making strategic use of network services so that both workers and clients can talk to each other in relative ease and comfort across a number of channels. There might be some further analysis involved if having large number of stakeholders involved across a wide network area. Check this article on how to optimise your wide area network.
Make sure your staff are accessible on the end of a phone or computer and make sure they are able to respond as quickly and accurately to the request as they can.
Know Your People
Wherever you work, whoever you work with; make sure you know who you’re dealing with and the kind of people that occupy that space. Take the time to get to know your coworkers, your customers and anybody else involved in the overall growth of your business. Work out what their motivations are, what they value and any vision they might have.
What you shouldn’t do? Don’t make any assumptions. Don’t expect every person in your business to be interested or motivated by the same things as you are. Any lack of clarity can be dealt with directly by simply asking questions and remaining in touch with the people who matter most.
Share Goals
Obviously it’s going to help your startup if you share the same goals and commitments to solving problems that the people involved in your business care about.
With so many relationships subject to growth and eventual separation, it’s important to stay on the same page with people, seek to always understand them and try your best to interweave their goals with your own. This is especially important when it comes to building products or services likely to make a difference.
Get to know what people want in both the short and long-term. Seek to commit to them and let them know that you’re there to mutually benefit and help each other. Communication in this way is absolutely critical.
Stay Committed
The last piece of the jigsaw? Understanding people, their wants and their needs, isn’t very useful if you aren’t committed to your shared causes. Gain the trust and confidence of people involved in the success of your startup by actively showing your commitment to them.
Talk is cheap but results and actions are where the real development takes place. Strive to get results, solve problems and feedback to people around you. You’ll see the motivation of everybody involved improve and your long term prospects take a turn for the better.