There are lots of reasons for sending those holiday cards. You might want to enhance your current business relationships, attract new customers, remind old clients that you exist or show appreciation to those who have faithfully supported you during year. What is obviously a well-meaning gesture can actually offend people you want to impress when it is not done properly.

The first place to start is with a good quality card to show that you value your clients and colleagues. Skimping on your selection can be interpreted in a number of ways. Your recipients might take it as a sign that business has not been good or that they aren't worth a little extra investment on your part.

Make sure your list is up-to-date with correct names and current addresses. If you do this on a regular basis, it does not become a dreaded holiday chore. As you gain new clients and contacts throughout year, take a few minutes to add them to your database and mark them for your greeting card group. This way you won't overlook anyone or embarrass yourself by sending card to old address.

Sign each card personally. Even if you have preprinted information on card such as your name - which is an impressive detail - you need to add your handwritten signature. The most elegant cards should still have your personal signature and a short handwritten message or greeting. Sound like a lot of trouble? If business or relationship is worth it, so is extra effort. This is your chance to connect on a personal level with your clients and colleagues.

Take time to handwrite address as well. If you are ready to throw up your hands at this point and forget whole project, then have someone else address envelopes for you. Whatever you do, don't use computer-generated labels. They are impersonal and make your holiday wishes look like a mass mailing. You may save time and even money, but lose a client or a business associate in process.

You may mail your greeting to home if you know business person socially. Be sure to include spouse's name in this instance. The card is not sent to both husband and wife at business address unless they both work there.

Whether you are addressing envelope to an individual or a couple, titles should always be used. It's "Mr. John Doe," not "John Doe," or "Mr. and Mrs. John Doe, rather that "John and Mary Doe."

This is a summary of a talk given by Martin Kuhne of Ibis Associates in Bremen to an audience of small business advisors in September 2004.

Background

One of most serious barriers that a growing company faces is to resolve problem of information flow – upwards, downwards, and sideways which is often grandly termed communication. This problem can cut in at a very early stage – Ibis staff have personal experience of dangerously limited communication in an enterprise of six individuals! As effectiveness of communication declines, staff (and other stakeholders) become:

Less clear about what is expected of them; Less sure about exactly what is going on throughout company; More suspicious of motives and less willing to accept change; Poorer quality decision makers; More likely to become departmentally rather than company minded with an emphasis on NIH (Not invented here); More inward looking and more task orientated.

The combination of these factors means that policy implementation and task completion slows – or in worst cases stops, labour turnover, absenteeism, disciplinary problems go up, productivity goes down.

Research suggests that most supervisory staff and management have a clear, but limited view of communication. This is to tell stakeholders what they (that is supervisors/ managers) want them to hear – and not to create a series of functional two way channels which improve reactivity within enterprise, lead to much better decision making, and create enhanced shared values for all stakeholders. There is no single magic component – managers cannot wave a wand and say “let there be communication” - because a business is made up of a complex interaction of individuals both within and outside enterprise, there are many communication channels, and effective communication will comprise their interaction. As with all Ibis suggestions, we see creation of this improved communication system as incremental – companies can steadily introduce more and more components, ensure that they work, and then move on to others.

Some pointers to improved communication

All research shows that stakeholders like to be informed – they may not take in information, but respond with trust to enterprise that is trusting them with information. A useful analogy is with Freedom of Information legislation – think about making communication inclusive rather than exclusive. Individuals are very poor at separating wheat from chaff in information, which leads to information overload for some – unless system is properly planned. Individuals differ in way that they take in information – some require voice (and individual contact), others require image while others prefer print. The broader range of communication channels, better overall information that individuals within enterprise will receive. Libraries have not evolved in way they work by accident. Most of have an idea that relevant information existed and go looking for it. Make sure that information is available in an organised and accessible way – a key feature of an effective management information system. Few individuals take in all information at one presentation. The analogy to advertising messages is also relevant to information – each individual will require a minimum of messages to receive underlying information. Advertising has another lesson for communication – make sure that everything that is communicated is legal, decent and honest. You can sell anything once – to employees and other stakeholders – but once you have done this wrongly – your communication system will never be trusted again. Commitment from top, like all others aspects of company management is essential. Employees will become rapidly aware if senior management words are not linked to their deeds.

Changing from a disorganised to organised communication system

What must be accepted by growing organisation is that informal system of talking to colleagues across table in shared office will no longer work as more and more employees join enterprise and number of external stakeholders increase. Certain researchers refer to this as “platform” - we see it as a steady movement away from resolving structural problems towards operational concerns.

Exactly when this will happen will vary, but it is clear that once organisation passes beyond point where team leaders can maintain informal contact with all individuals on a daily basis, enterprise needs to increasingly rely on a mixture of three different types of channel:

Formal; Formal/ informal; Informal

Let us take one example of each to clarify distinction between three. Strictly formal methods of communication would include a company newsletter which would provide clearly defined information to employees and possibly other stakeholders as well. Formal/ informal methods are those where company establishes a formal framework within which informal communication can occur. A classic example is creation of a company canteen/ coffee area which is designed to provide a relaxing atmosphere – in which discussions are encouraged. Truly informal communication would include techniques such as management by walking about.

It is Ibis experience that majority of emphasis in development of communication policy should concentrate on formal and formal/ informal techniques. It is very difficult to change specific management styles or attitudes – some individuals can naturally handle management by walking about – others cannot – so any attempt to legislate for this will be doomed to failure, and be counter-productive.

Three elements are important to summarise main options for improving communication: what is channel, what can it do to improve communication/ decision making, and how rapidly it should be introduced into growing company. The components are shown in table form below. Many of these elements are either part of or comprise an entire standard operating procedure of 68 that Ibis currently have available.

The need to closely manage many parts of communication mix