Do you feel like your company’s management doesn’t have a clue what your team does for the business? Does it seem like they are always sending down “commands” that are outside of the scope of your team? How do you deal with it? Is there a way to influence and manage what comes your team’s way?
It’s a fact of life these days that businesses must change quickly to respond to rapidly changing markets. To help your team be a winner instead of a victim of changes, communication should be your top priority. Upward, downward and sideways communication!
It’s really easy for teams to get caught up in their day-to-day work and forget that management must be kept informed. Your team has the responsibility here. Do you have an established procedure for keeping management abreast of what’s happening with your team? If not, it’s easy to set up.
First and foremost, make sure your team is aware of the objectives of the overall business and that the team’s objectives help make the business objectives successful! Each team member should understand how his/her role enables the business to meet those objectives.
Second, establish a regular communication channel with management. This could be accomplished via regular status reports or structured meetings. How do you determine what’s best? Ask your management. Invite a management team member to one of your meetings. Have some ideas ready to present for regular communication “up the line.” Link the communicated information to the objectives of the business. Ask the management team member what his/her preference would be for receiving this information and the communication frequency. Indicate your team’s desire to help the business be successful and identify information that would be helpful for you to have to insure that success.
Having an open communication channel can help your team be the winner. Awareness, by management, of the impact your team makes on the business can help you influence the boundaries of the work you receive. Awareness, on the teams part, of the overall business issues can help your team seize opportunities that can make you even more successful.
Denise O’Berry (aka ‘Team Doc’) provides tools, tips and advice to help organizations build better teams. Find out more at http://www.teambuildingtips.com
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