Communicating with Your Team

This is a great time to step back and assess where you are at in the season and how you are progressing toward meeting your goals for the year. Once you have a good gauge on where you are at and have determined what the next steps are to ensure success this year, you need to communicate this to your team. That is the challenge!

Communication within an organization is one of the biggest challenges for a leader – especially as your organization grows. When you are small and you, the leader, is out in the field working alongside your team, it’s relatively easy to communicate your ideas and goals. As the team grows to more than one crew, then to 20 people, and then to 200 people and beyond, clear communication can mean the difference between success and failure.

With the advent of interoffice e-mail, voice mail and other ways of communicating electronically, communication has never been easier. As an owner or high-level manager, you should never forget the power of a handwritten note, though. As you get further from the field and your people, communication on a personal level becomes more difficult. You can maintain a personal connection with your team through handwritten notes.

These notes don't have to be long. They can be as simple as: "I was driving by your job the other day and was very impressed with how the site looked. The work you and your crew are doing there definitely meets our mission of doing the best quality work. Thanks for your efforts!"

This simple note accomplishes several things: 
1. Tells the employee that you are out in the field examining his or her work
2. Shows you care about performance and that you recognize great work
3. Keeps your mission statement in focus

It takes less than 5 minutes to write a note like this. The impact of that note is incredible though. I remember going back to the operations office not too long ago to talk to one of our foremen. In his workspace, he had every note that I had ever written to him tacked to the wall in front of him. When I commented about this, he said he was proud of the number of notes he had received. He went on to say that he liked to keep them in front of him to look at when he would have an especially trying day. He said that the notes made him feel good about himself and his work again.

Don't underestimate the power of recognizing your team members with a note. It has been documented that personal recognition from the owner of a company or direct supervisor has far more impact than a small pay increase ever will. This recognition will motivate and energize your employees to perform at levels you haven't seen before.

The following are specific ideas for systematically communicating within your organization:

1. Regular meetings with focus
2. Annual meeting – team leader presentations
3. Weekly staff meetings – entire staff
4. Weekly meetings – safety, production, financials
5. Safety talks
6. Production meeting
7. Notes/Memo System
8. Message in paychecks/timesheets
9. Owner communication through paychecks within the envelope or on the pay stub. Meeting or notice, Happy Birthday, Mission Statement
10. Owner handing out the paychecks.
11. Letters
12. Bathroom memos
13. Weekly check off for communication
14. Phone/Nextel Radio
15. Phones use of messages to all employees for reminder of upcoming meetings or needed information.
16. 2-way radio/phones to communicate but need to control personal use of phone by docking employee’s pay for time on the phone plus cost of phone use.
17. Regular reviews
18. Knowing the Vision or Company Vision Strategy
19. Cell phones
20. Voicemail/email
21. In-house Newsletter
22. Orientation – New Hire and Annual for Everyone (Preserves your company culture and retention)
23. Handbook
24. Job descriptions
25. Company calendar
26. Bulletin Board
27. Dry erase boards at job site
28. Flip charts
29. Chart and scorekeeping/scorecards
30. Posting goals and mission
31. Recognition Sign
32. Word or phrase of the day
33. Welcome Board – Physical sign and computer message
34. Personal contact with boss
35. Thrival Campaign Process
36. Teambuilding Events
37. Personality Style Testing – MBT, BIST
38. Training Challenge
39. Project review upon completion by peers
40. Tour job sites/Visit with crews
41. Use digital cameras to communicate ideas/concepts
42. Training
43. Open-Book Management (to help staff understand costs of doing business)
44. Feedback surveys
45. Outlook with all features
46. Action/Special Request software
47. Software systems
48. Integrated software
49. Computer screen saver shows company’s calendar of events for month (meetings, training)
50. Internet use of “WOW” messages praising employee in company for job performance when a clients sends a thank you in. Used also for informational tool to workers for training.
51. Bilingual translation sites and books
52. Company mailboxes
53. Leadership Retreat/Pizza
54. Client surveys
55. One on one
56. Satellite office – via fax
57. Management by walking around
58. Employee Evaluations
59. Employee-to-employee training (mentoring)
60. Flowcharts
61. Paperless communication through computer systems is quicker and more efficient than paper trails

The author, Jud Griggs, is director of Green Industry Solutions at JP HORIZONS, Inc. JP HORIZONS’ experience in providing PEOPLE SOLUTIONS through innovative programs has helped landscape firms retain key employees and customers while significantly increasing profitability. Griggs can be reached at Jud@jphorizons.com.