Having effective communication skills is the key to good leadership. When you communicate well with your team, it helps eliminate misunderstandings and can encourage a healthy and peaceful atmosphere towards establishing good relationship within your organization. Efficient communication with your team will also let you do your function effectively as a Team Leader in supporting and training them.
Before we go into the most effective way to communicate with your team one should take consideration the following points:
- SFI is a networking business with millions of affiliates scattered all over the world.
You may have team members coming from Asia, Africa, North/South America, Australia, and Europe etc; therefore there are some cultural differences that should be considered in an effort to optimize communications between you as a Team Leader and your team. An effective communication strategy begins with the understanding of different cultures and backgrounds. A basic understanding of cultural diversity is the key to effective cross-cultural communications.
- You’re communicating with individuals and groups in your team whose first language, does not match your own.
It is therefore important that when you communicate across cultures practicing patience is a must and increasing your knowledge and understanding about the different cultural background of your team will help you in the long run towards establishing good relationship within your organization.
- Be mindful of the time zone
If you’re trying to organize a webinar, be aware of the time zone differences. As a Team Leader, you’ll need to find out the appropriate time for everyone in your team when it is possible for them to participate.
What is the most effective way to communicate with your team?
There are many ways to communicate effectively with your team. Whether you use open meeting, social media like Facebook, Emails, One on One and SFI communication tools such as Team Talk, Stream Posts, PSA/CSA Mailer and Genealogy Group Mailer; this will be dependent on your preference, personality and circumstances. The most effective way for me might be ineffective for you.
Here are a few communications approaches that will help you effectively reach your team members and encourage behaviors that advance your SFI business strategy and improve your results:
- Keep the message simple and clear
The core of your message should establish relevance with your team members in a way that makes them care more about their SFI business and about their role in making their own business successful. It should be at the focus of all of your communications, a simple and inspiring message that is easy to relate to and understand.
- Inspire, Educate and Reinforce
Your messages need to be customized and sequenced based on their purpose. I recommend using an Inspire/Educate/Reinforce strategy to map and deliver your messages.
Inspire your team members by sharing significant accomplishment (E365 Champion, achieving TLs, etc) of your organization or when introducing a new initiative that relates to your marketing strategy. Whether you’re looking to build optimism, change focus, instill curiosity, or prepare your team members for future decisions, you’ll have more impact if you stir some emotion and create a lasting memory.
Educate your team members by sharing your marketing strategy and plans. You can increase their knowledge base by guiding them in applying SFI tools and resources. It is important for these messages to be delivered through dialogues (use SFI Team Talk, Stream Posts, SFI IM, SFI Forum) rather than monologues, where your team members can build to their own conclusions and feel ownership in how to implement.
Reinforce – Explaining the connection between your SFI business purpose and its strategy – and between that strategy and its implementation – once is not sufficient. These reinforcing messages need to come in a variety of tactics, channels, and experiences. Ultimately, they serve to immerse your team members in important content and give them the knowledge to confidently connect to the strategy of your organization. Recognize and reward individuals and teams who come up with smart solutions and positive change.
- Share your Experience
Facts and figures won’t be remembered but telling your stories and experiences will. Make use of storytelling to help your team members understand the relevance of your strategy and real life examples of progress and shortfalls in venturing your SFI business.
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