Most Requested Area For Improvement
How well does your team work?
What percentage of their potential does your team work to?
Which area could you focus on to get the most leveraged improvements?
I start off my training sessions asking people what they want to get from their investment of time in the training. I do this for two reasons. One, because I want to ensure the training is relevant and meets the needs of the attendees, and secondly, because I know that many people will be in training just because they have been told to come. I personally find this quite baffling as companies invest a significant amount when having face-to-face training, both in terms of the upfront cost and the opportunity cost of not having people do their normal work for the day. You would think that with such an investment companies would do all they could to maximise their return on investment. Sadly the busyness that so easily entangles many business owners and managers often sees them telling their staff at the last minute that training will be happening the next day and setting no expectations for what the training is about, why they're going and what the expected outcome is.
This scenario is sadly all too common, as is the most requested area for improvement: Communication
How would you define communication? When I ask this question common replies include 2 way engagement, listening, sharing ideas. I then clarify, asking “If there is 2 way engagement, listening and the sharing of ideas does that mean effective communication has occurred?” People acknowledge that there is more to effective communication. Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw observed, “The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” In my definition effective communication is the understanding between 2 or more people.
When a business owner, manager and their team are caught up in busyness, what is usually sacrificed is effective communication. A fun exercise for you:
Rate your personal communication effectiveness from 0 -10 (10 being high)
Next rate your immediate teams communication effectiveness
Finally rate the businesses communication effectiveness
How did you do? The common trend is for individuals to mark themselves relatively high, in the 7,8’s and 9; then mark their immediate team as being ok, scoring in the 5th 6th and 7’s; and finally to score the company as needing help, generally scoring in the 3,4’s and 5’s. I ask people to discuss and come up with an action that could move the score by one. My favourite is to check in with people to ensure they heard what you think you said. Taking responsibility and asking, “To ensure I have communicated clearly can you please tell me what you heard me say”
What action could you take today that would lift your score by one point across those 3 measurements? What about an immediate action that could lift the score by even half a percent across those scores? What is poor communication costing your business and how quickly could an applied action give you an excellent ROI?
