Teamwork is the key to successful business.....

......and communication is the key to successful teamwork. Within any organisation in a modern business setting it is pretty much impossible for one person to do everything. As the business grows and succeeds and becomes busier the ability to delegate and to allocate tasks becomes increasingly crucial. This leads to a potential issue. People have certain ways of doing things, and certain ways that they like things to be done. This can be expressed in timescales, work ordering, aesthetics, designs all sorts of ways, but if tasks are allocated and not done in that same way, or are not done to the same timescales this can cause friction. As with so much else in life there is a requirement for understanding and compromise, but more than this there is a requirement for communication. If the message of what jobs need doing, in what order, and to what timescales is correctly conveyed, and vice versa if any reasons why these cannot be accomplished are also conveyed back up the chain of command, then things tend to run more smoothly.

This sounds like fairly simple common sense, but you may be surprised at how difficult it can be to effectively convey information. Ask anyone who has stood in front of a class of schoolchildren giving a talk but who isn't a teacher. Ask someone from a business background who occasionally gives lectures to University students. There is a reason that it is considered that an ability to teach is a talent. It is because teaching is all about conveying information in a way that is understandable. The same is true in the business world when disseminating information or tasks. Let me give you an example. If I ask you, dear reader, to upload a website onto my company hosting using my ftp account login you may or may not know how to do that. If I assume that you do, I am making a mistake. Do you have the necessary login details and passwords? Do you have the necessary technical skills? Do you have access to the files you need? You may, but you may not. If I don't clarify exactly what I need you to do, how I want you to do it, and give you the tools you need to do it, I am in trouble.

Being able to communicate effectively is a skill that everyone should learn. It should be fundamental to our education system, both verbally and in writing. It is at the core of successful relationships, both personal and professional, and it is what keeps us, as a society moving forward with some kind of goal or dream in mind....