Communication Chronicles

 

When I have meetings with employees from all the different departments, the common struggle is communication.  How do we make communication better?  

Are the sales and customer service reps making enough notes?  Are the designers putting enough details in the proofs?  Is the production team even looking at rush jobs?

I think when you have a smaller space and fewer employees, they rely on walking to each other and tapping someone on the shoulder.  Which is easy to do but a big interrupter of work flow.  When you have a bigger space and a lot of employees, walking to each other is less ideal.  So you rely on calling their phone if they have one or emailing and texting.

We have some employees who like digital communication, including email and shared docs or POS systems on a computer monitor or TV screen.  We have employees who would rather look at a printout on paper or dry erase board.  Or maybe even snail mail!  Lol

In our industry the sense of urgency changes all the preparation we do with notes and docs to communicate with all members of the team.  Rush orders or rescheduling installations can change your priority in a matter of a few minutes.  So how do we communicate when that happens??  I see most people walking really fast back to the designers or production to alert them.  If you have a big space you will definitely get your steps in!  We can make an order priority in our POS system but if production is busy on the table they won't see that, or an email or a text.

Will a project manager fill the gap?  Maybe so.  I think each business is unique in what works best for them but I recommend asking your team for what they suggest and what works best for them.  That will be your answer.

Communication is Key!