Tips to Improve Internal Communications
By: Meredith Flory
When assessing communication and messaging, many companies focus on their presentation to customers and business partners, not the ways in which employees interact with each other. However, making sure that back-and-forth communication is available and in line with the mission of your company can help increase worker productivity and satisfaction. Here are three ways to improve internal communications.
- Respect privacy and boundaries
Many businesses and entrepreneurs are now working from home, whether this was a result of the pandemic or a previous situation due to the nature of your business. This can be a wonderful business perk, especially for people who want to maintain careers while their spouse moves or who need a more flexible schedule as they raise children or serve as caretakers for other family members. However, working from home can also blur the lines of times for rest and privacy, and not all employees may have homes large enough for separate workspaces.
To help prevent burnout and uncomfortable situations, set guidelines that help protect employees’ work/life boundaries ahead of time so that employees are aware of reasonable expectations placed on them, their coworkers, and managers. This communication may include expectations for when video and audio are necessary, what backgrounds are allowed, when the company will provide technology or when the employee should use their own, and what the expected working hours are and if those are firm or flexible.
Due to the pandemic causing children and spouses to be in the same workspaces, teams may need to have conversations about handling sensitive information as well as forgiveness and flexibility for families working in small spaces together. This discussion is particularly helpful for preventing burnout of skilled female employees who statistically have more caretaking burdens. (more…)
It’s Not Just What You Say—It’s When and How You Say It
Business Etiquette and Internal Communications
By: Randi Cairns
Unless you’re a business of one and wearer of all the hats (we’ve been there, done that, and gotten the T-shirt), you’ve got a team of folks you rely on to do the things your business does. The best way to get those things done, and more importantly, to have a team that loves doing them, is to prioritize your company’s internal communications.
We’ve got experts ready to rock that function for your business (and we’re happy to tell you all about that), but you can choose right now to improve your internal communications skills or at least start thinking about what that might look like. (Spoiler alert: When it’s done right, it looks like increased teamwork, productivity, and employee engagement.)
Here are a few tips on business etiquette when it comes to internal communications:
- Value your team’s time.
By being mindful about what and how often you communicate with your team, you demonstrate that you care about how they use their time, and you minimize unnecessary distractions. Nobody wants to work to the relentless alerts of incoming emails, texts, and Slack messages. If there’s a time-sensitive message that needs to be communicated, of course that needs to go out right away. But for the things that aren’t on fire or bleeding, be deliberate about the communications you put out there. Can you send out one email that highlights key information instead of a dozen as they occur to you? Do that instead.
Bonus points: It’s totally okay to use multiple tools to communicate. No one tool is perfect for everything, but you can agree as a team about which platforms are to be used to communicate depending upon urgency and importance (or whatever other criteria you choose). (more…)
Client Profile: Operation: Job Ready Veterans
Powerhouse Services Provided: Nonprofit Retainer Support
“Working with the Powerhouse team has been an invaluable solution for our organization. Throughout their time with us they have provided outstanding customer service, directly impacting our organization’s ability to fulfill our mission. They are a team full of military spouses and veterans who completely understand the needs of our clients. They have shown compassion for our clients and our team, and they have consistently been extremely flexible in this challenging time and period of growth. Working with Powerhouse has been a genuine partnership where they have joined our team and filled critical supporting roles with team-oriented passion and flexibility whenever necessary. This has allowed our small full-time staff to focus on the needs of our clients, increasing our efforts and efficiency. As a growing nonprofit, OJRV, along with our entire remote team, has found Powerhouse to be the perfect solution.”
– Gene Anderson, Executive Director, Operation: Job Ready Veterans (OJRV)
BUSINESS RESOURCES
Internal communications are more important than you might think. For a good overview on what internal communications are and how they can help you, try browsing through this Smarp blog article. It’s lengthy, but worth some time.
To get current on internal communications trends and where they’re headed in 2021, check out this article by Lead Content Strategist Charong Chow from SocialChorus.
As always, Powerhouse has plenty of resources available to help you with both traditional and outside-the-box tips on how to improve internal communications. From team-building exercises to tips on effective communication to just how to incorporate fun in the office, our resources are free and full of great information.
Overwhelmed or unsure of where to start? Powerhouse can help. Contact us today to see how our internal communications services can boost your business.
Ensuring No Child Goes Hungry
By: Meghan Traynor
Ten years ago, Bob Barnes, founder of The Children’s Hunger Project saw an unimaginable need in his Florida community. There were many Brevard County children who relied on their school lunches during the week, but when they went home for the weekend, they didn’t have food to eat. After seeing this food gap and hearing from teachers that students were coming into school hungry on Mondays, Bob Barnes decided to start The Children’s Hunger Project (TCHP).
In 2000, TCHP started feeding 27 kids at one school. Over the years the need has increased. TCHP reports, “In Brevard County, the number of children in the free and reduced-price meal program exceeds 50%. Some elementary schools have 80% or more of their kids on the free and reduced-price meal program with many of them at risk of childhood hunger and malnutrition.” To help achieve their mission, TCHP started spreading the word and creating awareness in their community while also building relationships with the schools and learning the specific need each school had. Through their efforts and community support, The Children’s Hunger Project is now supplying over 2,000 children with weekend food packages at 45 schools.
We recently caught up with TCHP Executive Director Cheryl Cominsky to see how things are going and if the COVID-19 pandemic had any impact on their organization. Thankfully, because TCHP supplies food, they were considered essential and never had to close their doors, though they did have to make some big changes to their business model. Before the pandemic, TCHP would hold weekly food packaging events every Thursday night with 30-50 volunteers packing anywhere from 1,000-2,000 food packages. But when COVID hit, they quickly had to switch gears and break up their food packing events into smaller groups scattered throughout the week, ensuring they were following the most up-to-date guidelines, including performing extra cleaning, wearing masks as well as gloves, and sanitizing between each packing event. (more…)
Spotlight on Powerhouse’s Heather Osborne
It’s hard to be
lieve we’re already one month into 2021, isn’t it? After the interminable year that was 2020, we’ve all been reveling in the promises a new year brings. Which is why we’ve decided to focus this installment of our employee spotlight series on one of our newer Powerhouse superstars: Heather Osborne. Among her many, many talents, Heather lends her executive assistant expertise to our clients as well as her sense of humor and positive outlook to all of us here at Powerhouse. Trust us, 2020 got so much better when Heather joined our team last April!
Heather’s executive assistant talents highlight one of our lesser-known service offerings. (Seriously, if you’re wondering if Powerhouse can help, take a page from that ubiquitous app tagline: there’s a Powerhouse service for that!) Heather provides executive assistance for Living Off Rentals/Green Vet Homes, for whom she does everything from scheduling and preparing newsletters, to researching and finding contractors, managing social media, organizing podcasts, maintaining websites, and preparing the annual business plan documentation. Her talents allow the client to focus on growing the business and making the most of the opportunities that come around.
While Heather has been with Powerhouse for less than a year, she already has some favorite things about it. Namely, how supportive everyone is of each other and how Powerhouse provides flexibility for professional growth. Powerhouse President Jessica Bertsch is adamant about encouraging that growth; she’s a master at bringing out hidden talents her freelancers weren’t even sure they possessed! Just ask Heather about hosting Powerhouse’s virtual “Salute to 2020” Power Hour. She brought festive fun as well as healthy reflection on what has to have been the strangest year we’ve ever known. Which just goes to show that the support she speaks of is something she offers in spades.
Heather is a veteran military spouse. Her husband, John, served for 26 years i
n the United States Marine Corps. She’s the proud mom of three sons, the eldest of whom is currently serving in the Marine Corps; the middle son will graduate from Texas A&M this year with a civil engineering degree; and her “baby” is 14 and already both a second degree black belt and an Eagle Scout. So, Heather knows something about service, as well as how to juggle multiple schedules and cheer on amazing accomplishments. It’s probably why she describes herself as someone who “likes to work” and “enjoys being part of a team.” She understands how to utilize the group dynamic to get things done and thrives on being organized.
When she’s not working, Heather will most likely be found spending time with her family, whether that means watching movies or geocaching, or curling up with a good book. Whatever she’s doing, it’s all family-oriented and designed to bring her a good work/life balance. That commitment to balancing professional and personal health is one of the other things she admires about Powerhouse and why she believes that in five years Powerhouse will still be helping businesses reach their best potential. Finding that balance means being focused and intent on work when it’s work time and “turning it off at the end of the day.” When you’re balanced, you work better and can do more for your clients.
“Schedule everything,” Heather says. Seriously. Put me time, family time, work time, all of it in the schedule. It allows you to see where you’re productive and to find the places you’re not quite in balance. And put family first. Putting family first will ensure that you get work done and done well so you’re not interfering with what is most important in life: spending quality time with those you love.
Because we’re taki
ng some time this year to focus on us, we asked Heather what her favorite services are that Powerhouse offers. She loves them all (we told you she was supportive), but admitted to a particular fascination with graphics and web design. “That creative side of Powerhouse is dynamic!” were her exact words. She added, “There always seems to be a new service that comes up every time I turn my head.” So really, how could she choose just one or two favorites?
Professionally, Heather is happiest when she can take a task off clients’ hands so they can manage the business side of the house. “They are happy, and it makes me happy,” she says. It all goes back to that balance thing. Heather has found that “peace of mind outweighs everything.” When you put faith and family first, everything else naturally tends to balance out. That makes for more successful workers and a happier, better grounded individual. It’s a beautiful circle.
As always, we asked Heather to share something not many might know about her. She answered with the fact that she taught the deaf and hard of hearing for years and is fluent in sign language. We’re not sure about you, but we’re busy trying to figure out how to leverage that skill into another Powerhouse service . . .
