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Communication Tips
Effective communication is the name of the game in a family business. Here are some random communication and trust building tips in no specific order -
• Communicate, communicate and communicate some more!
• Do it regularly and in different ways, phone, email, face to face, skype, SMS, formal and informal – be creative and just do it!
• Create a common uniting vision that you will both walk over hot coals to achieve. Focus on that (the big picture)
• People tend to do things for their reasons, not ours. Identify what these are and think about how you can align these with your own. (see common vision above)
• Deal with small, minor, seemingly insignificant issues (molehills) before they grow into mountains
• Agree a code word that you can use as a circuit breakers to defuse hot situations
• Read ‘Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff – and It’s All Small Stuff’ by Richard Carlson – here’s the five word summary – don’t sweat the small stuff
• Plan some strategies – if you find the situation becoming too hot to handle what will you say? What will you do? How will you gracefully create space – a time out? Who will you contact?
• Work on the positives – identify what works well in your relationship
• Check in regularly to make sure that the message being sent is the one being received
• Think DISC – are you communicating in Dan’s language?
• Don’t be afraid to admit when you are wrong
• Remember Stephen Covey’s 5th habit – seek first to understand, then to be understood
• Pause and rewind – put your brain into gear before engaging your mouth. If it’s too late you can learn a lot by replaying difficult situations and discussing how you could deal with it better next time
• Don’t be afraid to deal with the hard issues
• Most importantly recognise when you need help – even though it will be up to the two of you to sort out your issues there may be times when you need some support.
It’s very easy for me to put together these suggestions; the hard part is actually doing it! Is the relationship important enough to both of you to actually put in the hard work?
Stephen M. Covey has written a great book called 'The Speed of Trust' which addresses many of these important issues.
Effective communication is the name of the game in a family business. Here are some random communication and trust building tips in no specific order -
• Communicate, communicate and communicate some more!
• Do it regularly and in different ways, phone, email, face to face, skype, SMS, formal and informal – be creative and just do it!
• Create a common uniting vision that you will both walk over hot coals to achieve. Focus on that (the big picture)
• People tend to do things for their reasons, not ours. Identify what these are and think about how you can align these with your own. (see common vision above)
• Deal with small, minor, seemingly insignificant issues (molehills) before they grow into mountains
• Agree a code word that you can use as a circuit breakers to defuse hot situations
• Read ‘Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff – and It’s All Small Stuff’ by Richard Carlson – here’s the five word summary – don’t sweat the small stuff
• Plan some strategies – if you find the situation becoming too hot to handle what will you say? What will you do? How will you gracefully create space – a time out? Who will you contact?
• Work on the positives – identify what works well in your relationship
• Check in regularly to make sure that the message being sent is the one being received
• Think DISC – are you communicating in Dan’s language?
• Don’t be afraid to admit when you are wrong
• Remember Stephen Covey’s 5th habit – seek first to understand, then to be understood
• Pause and rewind – put your brain into gear before engaging your mouth. If it’s too late you can learn a lot by replaying difficult situations and discussing how you could deal with it better next time
• Don’t be afraid to deal with the hard issues
• Most importantly recognise when you need help – even though it will be up to the two of you to sort out your issues there may be times when you need some support.
It’s very easy for me to put together these suggestions; the hard part is actually doing it! Is the relationship important enough to both of you to actually put in the hard work?
Stephen M. Covey has written a great book called 'The Speed of Trust' which addresses many of these important issues.
Book Review: The Speed of Trust (295 KB)