Throwing a Great Party
What is the most important part of throwing a great party? Most people would say the people invited, food and beverage, venue or entertainment. Although these are extremely important, the first step is to give really solid directions so that people can find the party in the first place.
Running a business is like throwing a party and your team is invited. If you give really good directions everyone will have a great time at the party. The directions for running a business is communication. Your communication is your team's map to the party. If you have a great map, you can expect a great party. Here are a few thoughts on what needs to be powerfully communicated in order to have a great party:
1) Share the dream and your story: N o team can work towards building a dream if they don't know what that dream is.
Andy Stanley says, "You will have to share the company vision 21 times before everyone ingests it and starts to believe it."
2) Communicate in times of trouble: When in doubt, over share. Over share and trust that everyone is mature enough to hold this sensitive information. While sharing information publicly, never harm or embarrass someone.
3) Create a Rhythm: Hold regular staff meetings and create a rhythm that fits your business. It doesn't matter what the rhythm is, but it does matter that you have one.
4) Beware of mail: Be aware of the dangers of email and texting when communicating with your team. With body language and tone missing, it is very easy for a message to be misunderstood or taken out of context.
5) Create a weekly report: This is a report that everyone in the company fills out each week by a set time. It should cover what they worked on the previous week, what went well, what didn't go well and what are the goals are for next week.
6) Define Winning: Everyone needs to clearly understand what winning looks like in their role. Whether you find a KPI (Key Performance Indicator) or a KRA (Key Results Area), you need some clear measure for each person that defines winning.
Seth Godin says, "A crowd is a tribe without a leader, without communication." The action item here is to assess each area of communication within your business and determine what areas need attention. If you get communication right, everyone will have a great time at the party.