Mike Clark's Business Bites: Does your company have a chief repeating officer?

Feilding artist Joe McMenamim is a regular of the Manawatū Arts Trail. Hearing the positive impact it has on the region is inspiring. ManawatuNZ.co.nz

OPINION:

Art Trail Manawatū has been running since 2017. The event is well advertised and makes for a great weekend.

This year, my wife, mother and I have the privilege of getting a glimpse of the other side of the trail as we have joined the artists under the banner of our little Gallery Melange and have become one of the destination points.

I have always admired community groups and the positive impact they make on the communities they serve. Think of all the op shops, Lions and Rotary groups, Sallies and Just Zilch food outreach, church programmes, budgeting services, Citizens Advice Bureau, multicultural centre, to name but a few. We are richer as a society for each of these.

There are also lessons to be learnt. When you employ people, there is an obligation to work. When you work with volunteers, they are there because they believe in the mission. They want to make a difference. To motivate them and keep them aligned it is important to keep the mission front and centre and to share the good news stories of the impact being made.

Is your mission as a business owner clearly understood by your team? Do you share positive customer feedback, success stories and case studies with your team? This, of course, requires great communication skills.

Participating in the arts trail has been an exemplar of many of the skills business owners need. From the outset, the communication has been incredible. I plead guilty to not expecting too much knowing Square Edge Community Arts is a small organisation.

However Karen Seccombe and her team have been learning year on year, reviewing, debriefing, tweaking and fine-tuning - and it shows.

When was the last time you took stock and reviewed your business - analysing what went well and what could be improved?

After applying to join, all new participants had an induction session where the story, mission, impact and expectations were shared with time for Q&A. It is exciting to be a part of the event. Hearing the positive impact it has on the region was inspiring. Huge shout out to Palmerston North City Council for its support of this.

Do you have solid induction processes in place for new employees? Poor induction is one of the highest listed reasons for new employees leaving very soon after starting a new job.

In any team training I have done, it is inevitable the topic of communication comes up. If organisations and businesses are engines, then communication is the lubricant that allows them to work well. This is an area where I have been particularly inspired by Karen and her team and led me to write about this - excellent communication encourages collaboration and unifies people.

Communicating clearly and frequently is a lesson many business owners and managers are yet to perfect. It is such a critical area that renowned business author Patrick Lecioni has popularised the concept that the head of any organisation should be the chief repeating officer. They need to continuously share the vision, mission, values and expectations to the whole team.

How well do you communicate with your team? How clear are your expectations? Does your team know when they are winning? Are you approachable? When was the last time you checked with your team to see if your communication was sufficient and effective?

Any gathering of people comes with challenges. Inspiring and leading volunteers adds an interesting dynamic with lots of learning opportunities. If you have never joined a team as a volunteer I encourage you to give it a go - there is much to learn!

This year's arts trail is on October 15 and 16.

• Mike Clark is director and lead trainer and facilitator at Think Right business training company.