The painful challenge:
Have you ever experienced the “meeting after the meeting?”
I remember a specific time a number of years ago where I was working on a project with a team.
Following the meeting, one by one, each of my team members came to my office to share why they were opposed to a decision or two that was made in the meeting.
We had what we deemed a “successful” meeting, created our action items, and the meeting adjourned.
Their opposition would hinder them from completing their tasks successfully…
…and in fact, a few team members were refusing to get to work on their tasks all together.
How toxic is that?! 🙁
Have you ever had what you thought was a successful meeting with your coworkers and then noticed the project failed to move along as planned?
Or even worse, have you ever sat back in a meeting without sharing honest feedback?
A step in the right direction:
Creating an environment that is authentic, transparent, and honest can be a challenge for some companies.
How do you begin to develop honest relationships, all while maintaining a professional standard?
There are many benefits to fostering a culture that is transparent, real, and genuine. It builds trust, true relationships, increased productivity, and prepares your employees to know exactly what your company is all about.
Here are a few tips on how to build a transparent environment for you and your company:
- Provide feedback often
- Everyone wants to be heard and seen. If you provide feedback honestly, and on a frequent basis, your team will be more likely to tell you how they are feeling, thus allowing them to voice their opinions.
- Share business performance
- One of the best companies I have ever worked for, held a quarterly meeting with all of the staff – full-time and part-time. They discussed every number from where we were excelling and where we were falling behind. This tactic created an excitement among everyone and helped us see the true goal that we were all working to achieve. When you hide information from your team, it segreates your team from feeling like you are one whole.
- Ask questions
- We all know that we all don’t know it all. Letting go of the fear of asking questions, and creating a space where questions are always welcome, allows your team to feel okay with not having every answer.
- Stay consistent
- Consistency is key in everything we do. Every employee seeks consistency in words, actions, and ideas from leaders. When a leader or an employee isn’t consistent, it comes across as careless. Stay consistent in what you say you are going to do. It will create trust between you and everyone you work with.
Transparency reduces burnout:
When an employee is feeling burnt out, it can either be very obvious through their decrease in productivity, or it can be very hard for leaders to see.
When there is an authentic and transparent environment, it allows employees to be honest about how they are feeling.
No one benefits from people holding in their thoughts. Talk to someone if you are feeling as though you are heading towards burnout.
…See what steps you can take to bring fulfillment back into your role.
Don’t let your company or your team be like your middle school friends. Stay open, real, and share how you are feeling.
Transparency is key to an authentic culture that everyone will want to be a part of.
What does God say about this?
Without a willingness to be transparent, we cannot bear each other’s burdens (Galatians 6:2)
We are called to help others through issues, stand by them, and guide them.
If we aren’t transparent and open with them, there is no trust, no real connection, and no truth.