Even in a small business communication can be difficult, getting to the bottom of things should be quite easy. Surely it’s just a matter of asking? Call me old fashioned but plain old simple human to human conversation has to be the best way of gauging how things are going.

Instead of getting your people to complete people satisfaction surveys, or have them fill in complicated bench mark stuff…..cut to the chase, get to the core of problem. Just ask your people two questions; what are the things around here that bug them, piss them off, make their life difficult? Then ask them what doesn’t. What things make their job easier? What things are going right? Sometimes an exceptional way of getting people to work in teams….

The important thing is to act on the things that are causing problems. Keep it simple just ask.