If you are in charge of employees know that your ability to communicate is crucial.  Many people don’t exactly know how to communicate with employees, but can communicate with potential customers. Why is this? Well, I’ve decided to use today’s blog to point out the top three ways I feel basic communication between employer and employee can be improved.

#1.  Focus your conversations on one issue.  Having a long meeting to discuss multiple topics sends a message that not a single topic is important enough to warrant its own meeting.  Plus, the key points become confusing. You want to focus solely on one topic per meeting to be clear and communicate better.

#2.  Write a synopsis following the meeting and send it to all who attended the meeting. Not only does this help hold employees accountable, it helps you realize if your meetings are effective.  When you write an email recapping the meeting, and who is in charge of what, it acts as an outline as to what you spoke about and who is in charge of what. You also have a second opportunity to highlight any key points you may have missed during the meeting. You can also add follow-up answers that you may have not had the answer to during the meeting.

#3.  Ask for a follow-up to your follow-up.  At the start of your email (or text) ask the receiving person to reply with a “got it” so you know they have reviewed the email. If forty-eight hours goes by with no “got it” then call or speak in person with the recipient to ensure they not only did get the email, but they reviewed it.

These might seem like a bit of overkill, but these steps truly help you to improve your communication skills with employees and also to define expectations.

Britanie Olvera