In this “Drive Through With Don”, he discusses two different teams and the effect communication had on the success of the businesses.

One team was struggling and frustrated and they communicated very poorly with each other.  Poor communication damaged relationships, created mistrust among the team members and any efforts to turn this around were either blocked or given very little effort.  Once a team becomes ineffective it bleeds over to customers and suppliers and before too long, the problem is overwhelming. As a result, the leadership team left and it has taken over five years to rebuild the business.

The second team was also frustrated and not communicating well.  We realized they were not doing this intentionally; they just needed direction and tools for improvement.  The first step was to have honest and direct discussions.  If communication lines are open(even if it doesn’t go well), the effort is there and improvements will be made.  They discovered that talking through issues actually helped them solve their own problems.  Listening shows kindness and when the team realized they were being heard yelling stopped and true communication and progress occurred.  They began to enjoy each other and their jobs more and over the next year, they were able to grow the business by 40% and doubled the net bottom line.

Great communication will improve the morale in your organization, team members will respect each other more causing honest and clear communication greater productivity and lower turnover.

Some questions to consider:

• Have you taken the time to observe and evaluate the level of communication of your team members?

• Have you assessed the level of job satisfaction on your team?

• Does your team know the value effective communication?

Communication skills are crucial, they are at the top of our hierarchy of needs. To see the Expanded Maslow’s Pyramid and see where communication ranks in terms of importance, contact our expert guides at 800-786-4332 or email DHadley@AppliedVisionWorks.com.  It only takes 30 minutes to get started!