As an employee, there are very few things more unsettling than the feeling of being kept out of the loop by colleagues or managers. The more information your employees have about their company, its clients, and colleagues, the more they will feel they’re integral part of the operation. Workers can often feel disconnected within large companies or virtual organizations, as the communications stream is tough to follow.

Sharing projects, priorities and goals with the team will force your employees to stay focused and give them a chance to communicate on a consistent basis. Sharing information helps build trust and intimacy within a group and is key for a well-functioning team.

By encouraging transparency within an office and throughout its numerous locations, you can ensure that employees have all the necessary information they need to succeed — as well as having the ability to continuously track their work and progress.

Companies must find a quick and effective way of sharing information with employees to increase brand knowledge and collaboration amongst everyone. While carbon copying one too many individuals on e-mail threads may seem tedious and unnecessary, too much information is still better than no information!

Follow these simple steps to increase transparency within your organization:

1)   Priority/Goal Tracker: Set up a system or website that allows all employees within an organization to share their priorities, track progress of what they are working towards this week (and next week), and show finished priorities or goals with the team. By sharing your work priorities with your colleagues, you open the door to more feedback, communication and collaboration that would not normally exist. This also helps management quickly determine what new projects a team is able to take on based on current priorities.

2)   Feedback: So you have an elaborate system set up that tracks projects, tasks etc. Think you are done? Think again. The more feedback you can offer an employee, the more they will learn and, hopefully, improve. While you monitor the project tracker, offer feedback as often as possible. When all team members know where they stand on a regular basis, there will not be any surprises when it comes to raises and promotions.

While formal and in-depth feedback is necessary once in a while, it is not the only time you should be offering your opinions regarding a project in the works. A few quick revisions in a Microsoft Word document or a face-to-face chat will go a long way towards assuring an employee knows where they stand regarding their work.

3)   Collaboration: Once your team has established goals and projects, encourage a stream of regular communication. When a team can openly discuss projects often, creative and innovative ideas will automatically flow. Keeping each other apprised of how a particular task or project is going and what problems are arising will allow for better planning. Organization is key — and being able to track progress will assure everyone is well informed and knowledgeable.

4)   Communication: Ever hear the saying ,“Too much information is better than no information?” Well, when it comes to transparency, we couldn’t agree more! There is no reason an employer should not relay as much information as possible to their trusted team, whether it deals with the company, a client or a project. Even if it is information you are not supposed to give until after a certain time, telling trusted employees relays that you have confidence in them.

How transparent is your workplace?