In companies in all industries, effective communication is of the utmost importance – and it only increases in importance as a business grows. Good communication can increase profits and productivity, and bad communication can be a company’s downfall. With that in mind, here are seven mistakes your accounting team are most likely making when it comes to communication.
1. Spending too much time on email
A simple mistake that many internal accountants make is spending too much of their time reading, sending and checking emails. This time could be much better spent on other, more productive tasks or just on building relationships face to face with others in the business. With the huge range of communication and time management software now available, there’s no excuse for employees to be spending most of their day on emails. Instead, they should use instant or video messaging for important, time-sensitive communications with team members, an intranet platform for lower priority or large tasks, and email for everything else. A software package such as Office 365 can offer all this and more, ensuring less of your employees’ time is wasted sifting through emails.
2. Selling with logic
Accounting and finance teams frequently try to sell a change to other departments by focusing on logic, giving just the cold, hard facts. This can prove ineffective when many people – especially those in marketing and sales roles – are driven more by emotion. Accounting teams need to understand more about what makes a good sales pitch – training can help with this.
3. Giving unnecessary information
With all the data and number-crunching accountancy team members deal with, it’s easy to get lost in an ocean of numbers and share all this information with co-workers in other departments. This is highly ineffective because those co-workers probably lack the time and accounting knowledge to process all the information properly – they may be unable to identify the most relevant parts or pick out trends.
4. Not nurturing personal relationships
It can be all too easy for employees to fall into a pattern of eating at their desks every day, then heading straight home after work; they get to know their own team well through daily exchanges, but communication with colleagues in other departments is minimal. Employees in the finance or accounting departments who don’t form relationships with others within the company miss out on vital benefits (such as opportunities for mutually beneficial cooperation) and they may be less happy in their roles.
5. Not providing useful daily/weekly reports
Regular reporting is, of course, one of the main responsibilities of any accountancy or finance team. But if these reports don’t contain clear information about critical success factors, what use will they be? Those compiling the reports need to ensure they communicate with staff across all areas of the business and know how their reports are going to be utilised.
6. Not asking for help
Your finance or accounting team are expected to know everything about your company’s financial situation, which can make them less likely to ask for help when they need it, for fear of appearing uninformed. Asking for guidance and advice should never be avoided, so it’s essential to nurture open communication within your company culture. Part of this also includes ensuring all the appropriate people are included within communications.
7. Not celebrating successes enough
By not celebrating achievements, your accounting team is effectively saying there’s nothing to celebrate. And apart from helping your employees feel good about their work, celebratory events can help nurture relationships with coworkers and result in a happier, more productive workforce also increasing communication across the board.
If you’d like to attract the best accounting and finance professionals to your company, contact BTG Recruitment in Nottingham today. We’re experts in accountancy and finance recruitment, so we have the knowledge and connections to make sure you get the ideal staff for your business. Call me or one of the expert team on 0115 960 7000.
Written by Matt Finch, Managing Director of BTG Recruitment Nottingham.