Transparency is the little-known ingredient to business success. Although there is no exact formula to achieve success, transparency certainly helps keep you on the path to the goal. Growing up, you may have heard a parent or teacher tell you “honesty is the best policy,” or “do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” and these sayings are true. They are true in life, true in business, and true at EMPIST.
Transparency starts in the workplace among colleagues and, as a regular practice in the office, transparency will (and should) naturally extend to your customer relationships as well. When it comes to the relationships involved with your business, your customers will want to know that they will get transparency from you. Likewise, employees appreciate it when there is not a lot of guesswork involved in their day-to-day lives.
“Transparency, honesty, kindness, good stewardship, even humor, work in businesses at all times.” -John Gerzema, TED speaker, and American CEO
John Gerzema had it right. The chances of success in business are increased when everyone from coworkers to customers are all transparent with each other. Lack of communication or misinformation can lead to disgruntled employees and customers who abandon ship. So how do you define transparency in a professional environment? Glassdoor calls it “operating in a way that creates openness between managers and employees.” This is how EMPIST operates both in our business with clients and especially with the people in our office. Here’s why it’s important.
Transparency in the Office
If you were putting together a piece of furniture, and someone helping you had an extra bolt or kept the instructions in their pocket, the end result would not be as good. A lack of transparency in the office yields the same negative results. Without full collaboration within an office, projects are not completed as efficiently or with the same quality as they could be with open communication. One of the ways this is accomplished at EMPIST is our open office layout. The lack of individual offices or cubicles allows for total open communication.
However, transparency is not just about sharing the physical office, but rather about sharing everything. Everyone in your office has to be willing to talk over the good and the bad, wins and constructive criticisms. A project, and by extension a client, will suffer if there is an issue along the way and no one speaks up honestly about what it is and how to resolve it. With a completely open communication system, employees are not left with questions or wonderings about the goings-on in their office. Open communications lead to happier and more collaborative employees.
The Bottom Line on Transparency
When an office is transparent, everyone is on the same page. Open communication employee-to-employee will help to forge better relationships, make everyday work life pleasant, resolve disputes easier and show a positive impact on your business success. If there are areas that need improvement, you can work together as a team to solve them faster by being as transparent as possible.
No one achieves anything alone, and when it comes to business success, it is a fact. If you’re having issues establishing true transparency in your office, take a step back and look at the whole big picture. Talk to your employees and make sure that everyone has a solid grasp on what the company vision and goals are, and look where improvements may be needed. Without transparency in your workplace, the path to business success will be murky, take longer and be much more difficult. Be open and be honest and collaborate on taking your business success to the highest level.
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