Talk the Talk

Creating an effective communications system

By Andrea Hill

A certain number of conversations in every household and business include these sentences:

Why didn’t you tell me that earlier?
I did!
I’m pretty sure you didn’t. I would have remembered that.

One of the most difficult things to get right in business is communications—both within your organization and between your customers and your company. Poor communication often results in conflict and frustration; however, it’s usually not the people who are the problem when it comes to communication—it’s the process. Creating effective communication processes is essential to your success and your serenity.

I like to think about communications in terms of three things: culture, roles and responsibilities, and systems.

Culture

Every business has a culture. If you don’t actively determine what that culture will be and cultivate it, you’ll have the culture of the strongest personality in your business. In general, a culture fill...