Managing a Branch Office

Communication is the lifeblood of your business. When managing a branch office, whether it is regional, local or overseas, your company will be reliant on the quality of communication.

Few things can damage a company more than communication problems. These problems can be magnified when dealing with communicating between a branch office and HQ. Misunderstandings, inaccuracy and even rifts can be the unfortunate results.

Its common knowledge that 80% of communication is non-verbal. This means that when you’re dealing with distance, you have to try harder to make sure the message is getting across as purely as possible. Unfortunately, with the range of electronic mediums available today, much gets lost in translation. 

You’ve most likely been offended by a short email written in haste that came across as dismissive and short, when this wasn’t intended. Phone calls are not necessarily better, especially when they are screened, or when you seem to spend the whole day playing phone tag. The good news is there are common-sense strategies and techniques which can help your company streamline its communication with branch offices.

Communicate in the medium you were communicated to

Few things are as frustrating and rude as having a phone message replied to via an email. Similarly, if you send a well thought out and detailed email which requires specific answers, a phone call in reply is not appropriate.

This is especially so if the information you require needs to be forwarded to other stakeholders. Of course, this won’t always be appropriate, especially when there are time zone differences between offices. Use your judgement and commonsense when choosing the medium in which to reply. Be sensitive, and take into account your existing relationship and the communication style of the person.

Touch base regularly

It may sound obvious to some, but a regular schedule for phone call `meetings’ will stop a lot of heartache. This is not just for those managing offices in different time zones. A clear agenda will also help improve the efficiency of the communication in the phone call.

Managing Email

Email is a good servant but a bad master. Most managers know how to write, more or less, a business letter. Email is now a hundred times more common, yet basic rules of etiquette and professionalism seem sadly neglected.

Tone and style - Countless misunderstandings have been caused by poorly written emails. To prevent these happening, avoid where possible the following:

• Short one or two word emails;
• Overly direct and `matter-of-fact’ tone. The subject may require it but the result can be brutal;
• Extremely chatty and informal language;
• Over abbreviating - SMS language is best left to that medium. It can trivialise your communication;
• Longwindedness- your audience will probably lose concentration if your email requires too much paging down; and
• Blank subject headers make emails harder to file.

To CC or not to CC - An inbox full of irrelevant emails is time consuming and frustrating. It is similarly annoying to be left out of the communication loop on a certain topic. Before you send an email, make sure you consider its relevance to all recipients.

Avoid instant messenger

It may seem like a cheap and fast way for inter-office communication, but instant messaging over the internet should be used very carefully. It is disruptive, overly casual and is not a reliable recorder of information.