Effective Communication Tips for Business Partners
Illustration by Rick and Brenda Beerhorst
When you’re in business with someone you’re going to spend a lot of time together. It’s very likely that you’ll become close friends, if you weren’t already. Many business partners are partners in another sense too: I specialise in working with couples and families in business. (Side note: if you’d like to read more about couples in business, take a look at my interview series Committed to the Business and Each Other).
All these things together, it’s often assumed that business partners are great at communicating with each other. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. I’ve worked with many partnerships who struggle with this… even if they’re great friends or spouses outside of the business!
If you’re in a partnership with someone you’re close to, whether it’s a friend, husband, mother or brother, you may find my tips for effective communication helpful.
Set boundaries and stick to them
When you’re in business with someone you have a personal relationship with, all lines can get blurred. You’re probably just as likely to discuss the children while at the office as talk about the yearly accounts at the dinner table. Conversations like these can become an issue as they make it difficult to draw the line between important work communications and family chatter.
To avoid this, try setting some boundaries and sticking to them. You could decide to only discuss non-work topics over coffee breaks and lunch, and to stop the work chat completely when you leave the office.
Accept that you have a work mode and a home mode
Almost all of us act differently when we’re at work and when we’re at home. For most of us this isn’t a problem as we’re surrounded by different people in each scenario. However, those of you who spend time with the same people at work and at home may find the shifts between modes uncomfortable.
If this is an issue for you, try experimenting with seeing each other in different ways. Some close business partnerships benefit from using more formal language with each other at work than at home, or by calling each other by full names rather than nicknames. These techniques may sound silly, but they can help you recognise the difference between work behaviour and home behaviour.
Use your emotional intelligence
If you’re failing to get your message across to someone, it may be because you’re not presenting it to them in a way that tunes in to their preferred communication style. The benefit of working closely with someone you have a personal relationship with is that you know them really well. Use this inside info to ask yourself how they communicate best and adjust your style accordingly.
Be honest
It’s not unusual for business partners to struggle to communicate properly simply because they’re trying to protect each other’s feelings! Though its great to consider whether your partner is likely to have an emotional reaction to certain information, holding things back to avoid upsetting them is rarely healthy.
Instead, try to make honesty your official policy. By all means share critical feedback and bad financial forecasts gently (and please consider an appropriate time and forum!) but don’t hold back important information.
How do you and your business partner keep your communications effective? I’m keen to hear any tricks and techniques you use. Why not share them with me on Twitter?
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