Question

If you were in charge of Google what would you do to promote proper communications? How would you ensure proper feedback? How will you ensure your team will successfully prosper?

Answer 1

Effective Communication Strategies that I'd use as an incharge of Google:

• Hold regular strategy meetings for the entire team. This gives everyone an opportunity to be present while project activities and changes are being discussed and creates a level playing field by giving all team members a chance to voice ideas concerns and share status updates.
• All team members should be able to freely communicate their thoughts, opinions and concerns without fear of ridicule or consequence. Great ideas are great ideas, regardless of who they come from. Teams cannot remain strong if they have weak links in the chain of mutual respect.
• Egos need to be checked at the door when team members are communicating with one another.
• Have An Open-Door Policy. It Builds Trust. An open-door policy in place sets the precedent that anyone can ask questions, voice concerns, and pitch ideas at any time.
• Conduct communication trainings and it can be highly effective at improving group communication. It could include presentation skills, instruction on business writing, and managerial skills training.
• Actively encouraging your employees to participate in public speaking groups is another one of the best strategies for effective communication in the workplace. The reason for this is that many millennials lack proper communication skills. It’s theorized that a lot of this is due to the emergence of social media technologies that drastically reduced face to face interactions.
• Make sure your employees understand the difference between active and passive listening. With active listening, you tend to respond with visual cues like nods to show that you agree with something being said. With passive listening, you simply listen and do not offer any type of feedback until the person is done speaking.

To ensure proper feedback:

• To be effective, feedback needs to be clear and detailed. Bonus points if it’s documented publicly (and respectfully) so that everyone else can learn from it as well. And don’t forget to accept feedback, too! No one is perfect, so we all need a little constructive criticism now and again.
• Feedback must be very specific task-focused crystal clear, and to the point.General comments like “Your work needs to be improved” or “I wasn’t very impressed with those reports: you have to do better than that” will leave your employee confused and in the dark as to what aspect of their work needs to be corrected.
• Make it one-on-one. Don’t criticize publicly – ever.A more relaxed, less confrontational setting over a coffee will help create an atmosphere where you and your employee can communicate better with each other, away from the office.
• End on a Positive Note. Helping someone to improve should always be the goal of constructive criticism and going back over past mistakes in your closing comments will leave them with a negative impression of the meeting.

The following six keys to an effective and successful team have been proven to enable teams to achieve high performance status as quickly as possible.

1. Establish clearly defined team goals.
2. Develop a Plan of Action.
3. Identify roles and responsibilities.
4. Measure and monitor progress.
5. Ensure all team members are engaged and committed.
6. Work together with commitment and determination.