A lack of transparency results in distrust and a deep sense of insecurity.” -Dalai Lama

While the Dalai Lama may not be an entrepreneur, he certainly has immense insights into human behaviour. When you consider company as a network of human beings, transparency would be your greatest team building tool.

 It fosters trust among the teams and towards the management. Studies show that employees who trust their management perform better than other employees and stay longer in the company.

Ways to foster business transparency:

1.     Announce to the whole company your decision to be more transparent.

2.     Communicate the company vision and values

3.     Involve employees in decision making

4.     Trust employees to make decisions

5.     Don’t keep responsibilities and job functions a secret

6.     Share all the ups and downs faced by the company

7.     Establish open communication channels

We do business in a culture that is characterized by social transparency.

Social media is a new way to be transparent. People express themselves more openly and in a more public way than ever before. Although some of this transparency is carefully engineered to place us in the best possible light, the reality of transparency is still there.

Even the best workplaces, though, must be mindful of taking transparency too far. Be mindful of what is being shared. Transparency at the cost of privacy is more dangerous and distasteful that a lack of transparency in the first place.

Let common sense prevail!