Startup Guides > 3 Ways To Get Your Employees To Share Their Honest Opinions

After you've surrounded yourself with the best talent you can find, creating an environment that stifles open communication can render that investment useless for companies.

Perhaps your employees are afraid to give you honest answers about your business or feel like they need to agree with every idea you have, even the obviously bad ideas. If that's the case, your business could be suffering because you're not getting the value of their expertise, creativity, and insight.

Here are some ways to get your team comfortable with telling you what you need to hear instead of only what they think you want to hear:

1) Don't overreact.

It's never fun to hear bad news or smile while someone is telling you that your latest idea is pretty bad. Pay attention when an employee is speaking to you and refrain from becoming defensive. If you feel like you can't respond favorably or even neutrally, thank the person for speaking up and say you'd like to discuss the matter more later. Taking a break before you respond will give you some time to calm down and be more objective about the feedback. ..