As a business owner you often need to tell people what to do, but sometimes a spoken message is not enough to help your employees remember. In these cases, it’s important to also know how to communicate those messages visually. The more your employees are reminded of the things they need to do, the more ingrained those tasks will become into their habits and behaviors at work.
Use Signs
The first and simplest way to communicate visual messages at work is through signs. Your signage should be easy to read and understand so your employees will be able to take the message to heart. You also want to make sure that you avoid passive aggressiveness in your messaging because that tends to have the opposite of the desired effect. Keep the content on your signs to the point so that each sign can be read quickly, and your employees can return to their work. You can use permanent signage to indicate rules and regulations, while temporary signs are great to keep employees informed about upcoming events.
Use Color Codes
Many employees are very responsive to color codes since they are easy to understand and quickly adapt to. Not only is color coding an effective tool to help you inform your employees of potential dangers, this kind of color coding is also required in many cases. OSHA establishes the use of colors to indicate different levels of danger. Use color wisely and don’t try to use the same color for too many things. When you have a strong color-coding system in place, it will make it easier to communicate with your employees.
Strong Design
Don’t forget about the importance of compelling design. When you have signage and other visual messaging that is well-designed and beautiful, it will be much more compelling to your employees. Get your design team involved in creating great signage so that your message can be presented in an effective way. The way colors, fonts, and sizes that are used in the best design work will greatly impact the overall effect of your visual communication.
Reminders are always helpful, and visual communication can be a great way to add in reminders. Whether you are looking to communicate daily tasks, rules, or upcoming events, adding visual communication can help you to do it more effectively. Then you and your employees will be on the same page and your business will run more smoothly.
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