Getting sick of running your company? Don’t want to be a leader to your team? Here is the easiest way to dismantle any company or team, and you can do it without breaking a sweat – it’s super simple –
Stop communicating with any and everyone at your company. I mean it. Stop talking. Stop emailing. Just stop.
Simple, right?
I’m obviously being sarcastic, but it’s to drill into you, the importance of communication. If you want to be a Producer, a Leader, a Director, a Manager, a President, a CEO, any C-level executive, a General, a Head of Department, etc. – you need to be able to communicate to your team. Otherwise…
3 big things occur when you stop communicating –
- What’s Going On? – Your team doesn’t know what the goals are, resulting in them constantly trying to figure what you or the company might want. Or they don’t bother trying and are thinking about something else in their life. Constant communication with your team keeps them going in the right direction. At the same time, your team needs to communicate with you too. Remember, communication is a two-way street. The road needs to be clear for them to tell you when there are issues or potential issues – that means you need to listen too. If they don’t have ability to talk to you, then you’re left wondering what’s going on. Or even worse, you assume no news from the team means they’re firing on all cylinders, but when the deadline comes, you get a not-so-pleasant surprise.
- Disconnected – The team starts feeling disengaged and disconnected from you and the company. The most successful companies are ones where the company culture is one that encourages communication and engagement with each other. When your employees are connected to each other and the company, they’re working more effectively and efficiently as one unit. Engaged employees are your best advocates and best salesmen, because they’re introducing the new staff to the great company that they just joined. Everyone will be more active in the office, working smarter and harder, because they have a real connection to you and the company.
- What Do You Know? – Employees huddled by the water cooler giggling like they’re in middle school? While it’s true your employees are communicating, that’s not the type of communicating that you want to foster and encourage in the team. The side effect from the employees not working together and communicating will lead to insecurity, jealousy, bickering, gossip, etc. Negativity then spreads across the office, because there’s a sense of distrust amongst your employees. No one’s clear on what’s going on, the goals, the roles, the responsibilities, anything.
The toughest challenge in any of my past startups, companies, or film/tv projects is always having clear communication in all directions. In any given company or project, there are dozens to hundreds to thousands of people who are all supposed to work together towards a common goal. But…how can they possibly do that?
Communication. Constantly Communicate.
With that said, feel free to contact me anytime.
