Communication is one of the most important tools to use when it comes to running a business. There are many different channels that you can use to provide this communication, but not all of them are appropriate for every situation.
This article will look at all of the communication methods at your disposal, and when is best to use each one.
Face To Face Meetings
It is always important to get to know your staff on a personal level. A face to face meeting is a good way to meet and get to know your staff, but it can be time consuming. That is why face to face meetings with staff should be used sparingly. Try not to hold companywide meetings too often, and only meet with employees on a one to one basis if the matter is urgent.
There may be situations where you may want to get someone’s advice on a project or praise them for a job well done. A face to face meeting always adds a personal touch to proceedings.
This approach also relates to meeting with business partners. Only hold a face to face meeting if the matter is life or death. Chances are that they too are busy, so keeping using personal meetings sparingly can greatly increase your productivity.
Video-Call
A video call is one step down from a personal meeting. You are still conversing with the person in real time, but using services like Skype or Zoom can really speed up this process.
As mentioned above, face to face meetings can be time consuming. Add to this meeting the time required to travel to a location, and you may find that you are losing half a day just to discuss something minor. Video calls remove the need to leave the office while also giving a personal touch to proceedings. They are less formal than personal meetings but can have the same effect.
What’s more, you can still attend to other office tasks whilst holding an important meeting.
Phone Calls
There isn’t much that you can’t achieve with a phone call. This is a quick way to get someone’s attention, and it is only more useful now that everyone has a mobile phone of some description.
You can’t really go wrong when calling a business partner or employee. However, be careful as it isn’t cheap to hold lengthy conversations over great distances. Also, anything personal or formal should definitely be left out of a phone conversation.
Social Media
There are a number of uses for social media, many which go unused by major business leaders. One way that you can use these platforms is to communicate with your customers.
It has become normal for people to jump onto social media platforms and voice their opinions about certain brands and services. What’s more, these platforms allow the businesses that are tagged in conversations to talk back. You can use social media to thank a customer for a great review, or even promote an upcoming event. Social media lets you reach out to your audience in ways that were once impossible, so make the most of it. Just remember to not engage with any negativity and you’ll be fine.
These social media platforms are also a good tool to have around the office. You can use them to link all of your staff in one online space. From here they can talk about any issues, the progress they have made and even help each other out with problems.
There is a social media platform for everything nowadays, so check them out to see if you can find one to use in your business.
VoIP
The idea of VoIP is a relatively new concept but it works well with how current technology has developed. VoIP stands for voice over internet protocol, which basically means that the service is used to communicate verbally across the internet.
This is similar to holding a video call, only now the device only picks up the persons voice. Furthermore, you can use Voip on any device that connects to the internet. This means that you can make a call on your smartphone, laptop, PC or tablet.
Try to think of VoIP as an internet phone and you will get the idea. OpenPhone is a reliable provider of VoIP technology; therefore, it is worth looking into them for more information about how the process works.
In terms of uses, there is no real downside to VoIP. You can use it for speed, multi-tasking or mobility. Plus, this technology is much cheaper than implementing a companywide phone service. All you need is a reliable broadband service to be able to use and afford VoIP.
Conclusion
The way you choose to communicate can affect how people respond to you as a business. Try to take our advice on the methods of communication and you’ll do fine.
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