What are effective ways to keep everyone on your team informed of progress and goals?

1 Set clear and SMART goals

One of the first steps to keep your team informed of progress and goals is to set clear and SMART goals. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. These criteria help you define what you want to accomplish, how you will measure success, whether it is realistic, how it relates to your vision and mission, and when you expect to complete it. By setting SMART goals, you can communicate your expectations and priorities to your team, and provide them with a roadmap for their work.

3 Hold regular meetings and check-ins

A third way to keep your team informed of progress and goals is to hold regular meetings and check-ins with your team members. Meetings and check-ins can help you communicate your vision and strategy, review your goals and progress, address challenges and concerns, and celebrate achievements and learnings. They can also help you build rapport and trust with your team, and create a space for feedback and input. Depending on the size and nature of your team, you can hold daily or weekly stand-ups, biweekly or monthly reviews, or quarterly or annual retrospectives.

5 Adapt to your team's diversity and inclusion

A fifth way to keep your team informed of progress and goals is to adapt to your team's diversity and inclusion. Diversity and inclusion refer to the respect and appreciation of different identities, backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences in your team. To adapt to your team's diversity and inclusion, you need to be aware of your own biases and assumptions, and avoid stereotypes and generalizations. You also need to be respectful and supportive of your team's preferences and needs, and use inclusive language and communication styles. For example, you can use plain and simple language, avoid jargon and acronyms, provide captions and transcripts, and use multiple channels and formats to communicate your progress and goals.

6 Solicit feedback and suggestions

A sixth way to keep your team informed of progress and goals is to solicit feedback and suggestions from your team. Feedback and suggestions can help you improve your communication, identify gaps and opportunities, and involve your team in decision-making and problem-solving. They can also help you foster a culture of learning and innovation, and increase your team's motivation and ownership. You can solicit feedback and suggestions from your team by asking open-ended questions, conducting surveys and polls, creating suggestion boxes, and encouraging brainstorming and ideation.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?