When managing a department or a business, keeping your team stimulated, alert, and willing to work above and beyond to meet a deadline can sometimes be very challenging. And when projects get hectic or deadlines rapidly approach, it may feel almost impossible to maintain your employees’ focus, positive energy, and efficient communication.
So what are some of the proven steps to follow that you can take today to ensure that your employees stay engaged, committed, motivated while delivering discretionary effort and making your business a great place to work?
Here are 5 simple things you can do right now.
- Involve the team
Collaboration not just delegation, is key to ensuring a successful relationship between leaders and the rest of the team. Ask your employees to utilise every aspect of their broad skillset, participating in cross-functional teams or giving each person more authority to make the decisions they need. Encouraging ideas and making staff feel valued for giving their input, and being focused on a common goal will help bond the team together.
- Give constructive feedback
Rather than blindly criticising staff when the going gets tough or things go wrong, constructive feedback is valuable for improving everyone’s work, as long as it’s given in a productive manner. If your team’s performance isn’t up to standard, offer them concrete ways of changing their work to be more efficient. Extra training or support from other key employees or managers can make a difference.
- Build relationships
Treating every single person as a valuable member of the team ensures that people will want to produce work to meet your high standards, even if they have to struggle to do so. Knowing what motivates them, and working on developing their skill set and experience will also make a difference.
- Create a comfortable work environment
Having a space where your people are welcome, where they have positive relationships with their co-workers, and also feel like their suggestions and thoughts are always heard, respected and valued is crucial to fostering an environment conducive to participation and engagement. A “no blame” culture is key to success. If staff are frightened to try something new for fear of blame, they will not extend themselves.
- Keep your word
As a leader, it can be easy to go back on promises since you’re the boss. However, if you lead by example and uphold your responsibilities despite your position of power in the organisation, your team members will follow in form. Vision, motivation and acceptable standards of behaviour have to come from the top.
Brownie Points and its growing international distributor and partner channel are helping forward thinking organisations implement employee recognition programs to help motivate and engage staff, with an easy to use, simple to maintain, cost effective solution that is ideal for today’s business challenges. Brownie Points is proven and low risk.
To learn how Brownie Points could benefit your business, call us today on +61 (0)3 9909 7411 or email us for more information at info@browniepoints.com.au
