Transparency in your teams: Workplace ethics in digital creation businesses.

Confused Man

In our fast-paced digital world, creators and customers understand now more than ever the value of building meaningful connections built on trust and respect. As digital businesses, it is vital that we create a healthy and communicative workplace for not only our clients but also our team members, as it is the foundation of a successful business. That begins with transparency between you and your team. In this article, I will discuss a few aspects of how I communicate in order to maintain workplace ethics.

One of the things I have always implemented in my work mission is transparency with my team members on our mission goals. One of those goals is how we treat our customers and our fellow team members. Not all work-related meetings need to be about deadlines, although that aspect is equally important. I have found it is also important for us to create a work environment that focuses on bettering ourselves and our work, while also leaving space for discussion on improving our workflow and how we treat fellow team members. Let’s take a look at some examples of how we can improve our work environment.

Listening to your team

One of the most important lessons I have learned is to listen to the opinions and insights of your team members. Years ago, I was a part of various video productions, usually assigned as the team organizer, which would entail great attention to deadlines, details, and schedules for our productions. During this time, I was extremely focused on meeting deadlines and ensuring our projects ran smoothly. At times, this also meant that I had my ideas for how we would accomplish our objectives, and my team had different ideas. It wasn’t until I listened to the opinions of my team that I realized there were different and perhaps more effective ways of accomplishing our goals. When working on a project with a team, consider asking your team the following:

1. What are some pitfalls in my plan?

2. What other ways can we accomplish this?

3. What are some alternative strategies?

Granted, you may not always have time for these questions with every production, but it is important to leave yourself open for constructive feedback. Nobody knows everything, and your future productions may thrive because you were open to learning from others.

Respect Your Team

Another important aspect to keep in mind in all of your communication with your team is respect. Be respectful of their time, opinions, and personalities, no matter how they may differ from your own. This may seem like an elementary element to list, but you would be surprised how fast respect can leave the production when stress occurs (which it always will). Be transparent with your team from day 1 of your productions, and respect must be maintained in all of your business affairs.

Treating Teams the Same as Customers

Using customer care as an example, Christine Alemany, CEO at TBGA, explains that building customer trust is a vital part of any business. I would like to add to this by saying: building team trust is also a vital part of your business. Take a look at your current team, and think about how you can improve your trust and communication with them. Alemany suggests, “Read the room and adjust” with your customers to evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing. I suggest doing the same thing with your team. Consider the following:

•  How do you communicate with each other?

•  Are there certain situations where you struggle with accomplishing goals?

• Where are the weak points in your team’s communication?

• Does everyone feel respected?

• How can you improve?

Maintain Important Relationships

The final point I keep in mind is to remind myself and others to cultivate and maintain our business relationships. Just like any relationship, your relationships with your team members cannot thrive without effort and a common goal. When you put in the work to build meaningful connections with your team, you will find that it becomes easier to communicate and navigate disagreements that arise in production. Think of ways you can improve by asking your team for feedback; you might be surprised by what they have to say.

Topic: 3 ways marketers can earn - and keep - customer trust.