Unknown Speaker 0:03
This is the smooth operator Podcast. I'm Adam Liette, director of operations for a seven figure online business and eight year veteran of Army Special Operations. On this show begin with the tactical, nitty gritty of what it really takes to run a thriving online business. Because at the end of the day, operators, lead the way. Hello, and welcome back to smooth operator, I'm your host, Adam Liette. Looking forward to diving into another aspect of really running a company today with you on the podcast. So what I want to get into today is daily team communication and how you're, you're coordinating and working within your team on a very real time basis. And this is especially true and important for remote teams, we don't have all the structure and the walls that a regular business has. So like we have to be really purposeful about how we're building our communication structure, to enable our team to have the support that they need to be the best in their job. And really, no matter how big your team is, establishing very predictable communications with them is really imperative. It helps to maintain cohesion, helps to build relationships, and ultimately, help your help move forward in your business help not only the business move forward, but your team members within it move forward with the business. And that's not as easy with a remote team as it. So imagine you have a VA or assistant on that's on the other side of the globe is is pretty common in this industry. So what can you do to help establish this are not just a VA but other team members like it's a really kind of the easy way would be through text, you know, either messages through slack, email Voxer, like whatever messaging platform you're using. And that's actually not how humans build their most enduring relationships. Because at the end of the day, humans are very visual creatures, we feed off seeing someone face to face, the emotions that come up through your face, the different ways that you move your eyes, you move, you're all the facial expressions, those nonverbal modes of communication, those are actually the most personal, personal, and they're the most endearing, and they're the ones that really allow your emotion and your humanity to really show through that, that interaction. So what I'm always looking for is ways where I can really embrace that and make the most of that, because face to face communication at the end of the day is critical to getting to the next level in your communication plan. Well, great, Adam, how the heck am I supposed to do this? If my team's geographically dispersed? Look, I get it. My team is geographically dispersed easy as well. And it wasn't always easy. Like my team, or my my CEO lives in London. I have team members all across North America and every single timezone. I even have a team member in New Zealand, like, how was I supposed to do this. And what I ultimately came up with was basically a daily update that I shoot and film every day for my team. So here's how I do this. I use Zoom. Okay, novel concept, Adam, right? No, but I use the zoom cloud. So that way, I'm not trying to constantly upload download, like all that. Those little 10 steps that get in the way, when you're trying to upload videos and stuff. Like I get completely around that by using the zoom cloud. And I'll record a one to three minute long video every single day, link to the link in the cloud. And boom, they have that video that doesn't need to be downloaded or wait to buffer or anything like that, it happens pretty seamlessly. And what I do is I give the teams the four to five things that are critical to that day, if there are changes from the day, sorry, changes from the day prior. That's where I really take the time to walk through those changes. If there are things that are coming up, like example, we have a live call with some of our members, I would give them reminders or team calls that we have coming up. My my whole goal is to provide momentum and revisit the core ethos that our company was built on. And really, at the end of the day, you have to realize this as a performance. And I'm a musician. That's my back. You've heard about my military background, because I was a special operations soldier for a number of years. But before that, and since then I'm actually a musician. That's my actual professional training before I started this whole journey of military and business musician. And so I tend to look at a lot of these things the same way I look as a performance when I was on stage at one of the clubs where I grew up in Ohio. If I was going on a stage, I treated that performance in a certain way. And I treat my daily updates and all those interactions I have with my team Members the same way. So think about like, what would you do? If you knew as a performance for me, it's a reason to shave. It's a reason to put on my uniform. I say that kind of funny. Because in this era of remote work, you'll hear about people, oh, I go to work in my pajamas. Oh, hell, no, that ain't happening. For me, I have a uniform, I have styles of shirts I wear I've really outfitted my life to fit this lifestyle that I'm living in, where my uniform is pretty standard, I have only like one or two different stylish shirts I wear on a rotating basis, because that's my uniform, I feel comfortable in that. And it allows me to maintain a consistent vision and, and like a person to my team members. For me, it's a way to get started in my day, I can come in, look at the company, find out what's going on, and convey what needs to happen on the company. And then I can go about the task that I have within that broader vision. But I start by looking at the big picture and what my entire team has to do. And then from my team, it's a way for them to start their day. They can come in and many of them, I tend to be an early riser. So it's only the European folks, they get me later in the afternoon. But for my North American folks, they're able to start their day with me imagine how powerful it is when you can be very remote. And yet your team members are starting every single day with your voice in their ear. Like that builds that relationship over time. It allows me to quickly make adjustments handout emergency or emerging assignments and communicate things that have happened in the last 24 hours because things do happen fast. And I can remind them of things coming up. So I'm not nagging them on Slack, I'm just giving them a gentle reminder, hey, just so you know, we have that live call coming up. This team members, the one that's responsible for it, and it's so much lighter when you're doing in that way. Because it's it's twofold. A you're giving that that gentle reminder. But then in front of their peers. It's like you're giving them credit for it in advance. And I think that's really powerful. So also, it really helps to establish your presence, and the leader of the day to day operations in the company, you're able to make things happen quickly and coordinate inter departmental projects almost at will because you have this communication platform. And it really helps to be able to do that without team felt team members feeling like you're badgering them. Because you're using a very personal way of reaching out to them using your face using your nonverbal forms of communication, where it's much more friendly, it's much more palatable. And you're even able to do some pretty robust things using just these very short videos. So some helpful tips. do prepare a basic script, I'm talking bullet point level script, I recommend rehearsing several times, record yourself, watch it, be critical of how you appear on camera. Do it several times until you feel comfortable with how you're doing it. Now this is gonna take a while. So don't like wait for perfection. Over time, you're going to find yourself doing even better. I do recommend that you keep it very pithy. Make sure you only keep it to a couple of minutes, because after more than three to four minutes, people are gonna start to tune out. And then what I do when I post the link to the video in Slack is which is the platform we use. I'll also post my bullet point outline. I'll even use what I call curiosity bullets, which if you're familiar with any kind of email marketing or marketing in general, like you'll you'll know what that means. Basically, a curiosity bullet is something where you don't unveil the full story. But you you find a way to word it in a way where people are curious enough to watch the full video to find out what the heck you're talking about. Do maintain consistency, I'm talking every day you're supposed to deliver that daily update, deliver it. And if you can try to keep it to the same time of the day. I'm slipping on that right now with some other initiatives that we have going on. But now that I'm recording this episode, it's a nice reminder, Adam, get your crap together, start being consistent about this. And do encourage feedback. If something's not working, if if there's something you need to add to the daily update, be receptive to what your team members are feeding back to you and go in and make that adjustment and start pushing them what they need to do the best in their job.
Unknown Speaker 9:29
I do believe that this routine in your business life will be a game changer for anyone that works with and for it. It just is it provides structure and consistency into your own life. It will establish regular and open communication that gives you a platform not only for coordination, but helps establish your leadership without without needing to be an authoritarian that's so huge. And in a way that encourages feedback. And like many things I'll talk about over the course of This show like it ends up becoming a habit. Like something you need to start your day with something that you do with the same time every single day. And if you're not doing it, you feel wrong. Everyone knows what I'm talking about. And once it's a habit, my goodness, like you're winning, and brace those habits, at the end of the day, like our business is a reflection of our habits, our work within our business is a reflection of our habits. So why not to create good habits that move us forward, keep our team momentum and keep everyone moving on the same page to where we're moving together. So, so this just one habit, you won't regret starting? Right? So thank you so much for joining us here. I look forward to hearing from you do check me out at Adam liette.com. That's Ada, m li e, TT E, you can also listen to the podcast on at this time, we're just on iTunes, but I'm working on expanding out and getting on further platforms. If there's a platform you want to hear us on. Do let me know it's Adam at Adam liette.com. And I look forward to hearing from you if there's anything you're looking for in your business that you want to tighten up that you want some expert advice on, do reach out we'll get on a zoom call no obligation whatsoever. And we'll see where exactly I can help you with and make a proposal from there. So I do look forward to hearing from you. In the meantime, get up on those daily team communication protocols, whatever you use, I encourage video but whatever works for you. That's what's going to work the best for your company. So get on it. Alright, I'm out. Yeah, real quick. Before we bounce out here. I put together a free training on how you can run your business like a special operator through five simple universal truths. Get started today at www dot Adam liette.com/song That's a d a m li e TT e.com/s o f
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