Even PornHub is doing it: bring transparency into your business
When I was growing up, transparency was the word that was never used in either business or daily life. The recipe of a delicious apple pie that your aunt always cooked when you and your family visited her was safely kept in her scrapbook. My parents had no idea where the goods in the local grocery store were coming from. And naturally nobody knew how our neighbour John’s business was doing.
These days everything is different. Today, transparency is seen as an advantage because it builds trust, helps businesses grow and stimulates innovation. It requires business to select both great technology and establish a company culture that encourages openness.
You could easily schedule a tour at Zappos headquarters or check GitLab metrics because this company is being operated publicly. Or take, for instance, PornHub, probably not the most ethic but sure enough successful business, that has recently published its transparency report on how they tackle illegal content.
Nobody could give you an exhaustive instruction on how to drive your business in this new normal post-Covid world but one is clear — being able to honestly evaluate your as-is state and nurture the culture of increased transparency could take you to the next level of growing your business.
The following mini campaign might be a right place to start:
- Ensure 360 monitoring of your business
It is better to be blind than to see things from only one point of view. But collecting information from different sources is a tedious task. During my first week at a previous workplace, I started by collecting all the necessary information about a project. I ended up having to reference at least 4 tools (a task tracker, corporate document storage, messenger, email and knowledge base) and some of the information was still missing. Keeping everything organized and, preferably, in one space is vital not only for onboarding but also for easy access from anyone on your team right when they need it.
2. Establish open communication channels
My cousin who works in insurance business once told me a story that a while back he automated some of the complex calculations in a spreadsheet. This increased his efficiency up 30%. However, his colleagues were appalled since they had thought he was taking away their job. Automation and operational effectiveness can, though, be a great thing because it leaves time for creativity, professional growth and, thus, results in an overall success of the business. Therefore, open communication is a must so that your employees and partners feel more secure, more motivated and happier. Modern tools, such as MyDone, could streamline the communication: everyone in the company can now share day-to-day messages and bigger news which is especially valuable in all-remote environment.
3. Encourage your employees to make decisions and take initiative
If company’s goals and high-level decisions are not communicated to employees, chances are they will still find out via rumours. The information will be distorted and they will simply not be able to make proper decisions, let alone take initiative. I always share all the news with my team — good and bad — they can make informed decisions based on that, help ideate on solutions and push business forward.
4. Share results
Strong leaders are always open about their successes and, more importantly, failures. Many think that admitting mistakes publicly will damage their reputation. But wait, read these 3 examples. Today 88% of consumers are less likely to purchase from companies that leave complaints unattended. As this very article says: transparency is the key to being perceived as a mature, respectable company.
5. Hire the right partners
One of the scarce number of advantages of pandemic is that talents from all over the world are now available at one click. Costs and availability are important, but the most successful long-term partnerships are built based on common values. When selecting partners and external talents, it is important that they maintain the same level of transparency as you do. Common toolset may help. At MyDone, we help companies manage their partners and external talent in the same place because, in the end, you all could benefit from being on the same page all the time.
Honesty, openness and transparency are really only the buzzwords until you really decide to implement the plan. Irrespective of what you decide to include in it, stay true to yourself, determine what matters most to you and your employees and make it a reality. The results will come.