How Do I Communicate the Big Picture?

My employees seem a bit lost. Is there a right and a wrong way to communicate my company's long-term goals and objectives to them?

If you have a big picture, by all means, share it. If you don't have one — create one, and then share it. This isn't about plaques on the wall; everyone should know where the business is headed, and where his or her place is in that big picture.

Whether you've made an effort to articulate long-term goals, chances are good that a common understanding of the future does exist. Don't be afraid to take a reading to find out where your employees think the business is headed. Is this de facto big picture correct? You might be surprised.

Small companies often make the mistake of torturing themselves over verbiage and semantics. The big picture doesn't have to be a full-blown mission statement or a 10-year corporate manifesto. It should be an active statement that describes the main goal of the business for the foreseeable future, including where you expect to see growth and any major changes in direction. For example: grow from 10 people to 100 in the next two years; build our online business model; or increase the profit margin on our core product over the next six months.

Be consistent about communicating goals and company direction, and monitor how the message gets translated from department to department over time. Meaning tends to change with translation. As the keeper of the big picture, it's your job to reinforce business goals across all levels of your company.