Communicating with colleagues and staff

So, I’ve explored listening when you are networking, then when building relationships and followed by working with customers. But what about your colleagues and staff – how well do you listen to them? I have encountered many people who are great at networking, marketing, selling, building relationships, making referrals, managing clients ….. and absolutely not great at working with staff and colleagues. They appear to switch off all their skills, when they are not with the external contacts.

Having said that, most people aren’t that extreme – but many do not employ their skills consistently. If you ask them why they behave differently, they don’t always understand what they are doing and why it’s a problem – after all, “the customer is king” and “the customer is always right”.

Yes, we wouldn’t exist in any business or organisation if we didn’t have customers, or (for a public service, there needs to be someone to receive that service), yet there are very few roles which can deliver a service completely in isolation, so we need to work together. If it’s vital to listen and communicate well with customers, surely it is equally vital to listen and communicate well with staff and colleagues AND suppliers?

Find Sue on LinkedIn and at http://www.suecohen.co.uk/
Contact sue@suecohen.co.uk