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Clear communication channels

Make it obvious to team members what your communication channels are. Set clear guidelines as to how sales are to be reported, questions asked and holidays to be booked.

All staff should be encouraged to add events to a company calendar. Preferably one that can be accessed by all computers and will sync when something is added. This is a good way of ensuring deadlines are clear, staff holidays are covered and events are prepared for.

Instant messaging system

An instant messaging system across your computer network will make communication between staff members much quicker than if they were sending emails back and forth.

Keep an eye on this and make sure all messages are monitored to ensure it's not having a negative effect on productivity. If you do suddenly find that one or two members of staff aren't hitting targets, you can check messaging logs to make sure they haven't been idly chatting while pretending to work.

Technology

An upgrade of systems can really help to make the communication between departments much better. An application such as AutoOnTime.com can really streamline the communication between people working on the same project.

For example, it will help to keep communication between sales staff and those working on the cars, simple and up-to-date, which can really help when it comes to getting in contact with customers too.

Face-to-face

In the interests of productivity, meetings should be kept to a minimum but if you need to communicate something that may result in misunderstandings or a lot of questions, a face-to-face meeting would make the communication most effective.

This is good if you want to talk about a customer complaint or new sales tactic as it gives staff the opportunity to ask you a question then and there if there's something they don't understand.

Stay positive

If you and your staff can stay positive in the face of complaint and criticism, you'll be able to learn from mistakes. If the emphasis is placed on the negative, conflict can arise and this leads to misunderstandings.

Paraphrase

If someone has just communicated a lot of information in one go, paraphrase to make sure you understand. For example, if a member of staff is telling you about a lengthy problem with a car just clarify: 'What I hear you saying is...'. This makes sure you're both on the same page.