In a world where negative stories sell newspapers (or attract articles on digital media), it’s easy to feel down about the world. After all, “XYZ celebrity caught cheating on their partner” is always going to attract more clicks than “local builder gives his time for free to help build the new community centre.”
So, the media controls the mood of the nation. But who controls the mood of the teams in your organisation?
Managers will naturally inspire lots of their team, but leadership is about motivating the whole team and there are always some team members who need that extra encouragement. So, here are a few simple pointers to make your environment a happy place.
SMILE:Perhaps not like a Cheshire cat, that just unnerves people! But whatever issues you are facing may not be important in 5 days, months or years so, park it and look for the positives of each day.
SAY THANK YOU: When was the last time you told someone they did a good job? If you say thank you for a good job, it puffs the feathers of the staff member and they will be even more eager to please. It’s a fact that employees value their employer’s approval more than any pay rise.
DISAPPOINTMENT NOT ANNIHILATION: If you’re faced with the difficulty of challenging staff, simply express your disappointment that they didn’t achieve either yours or the company’s aims. Explain the level of production required and ask what support they need to achieve the agreed targets.
BRAIN STORMING DAYS: Employees are rarely oblivious to the problems and in fact, often have solutions.Brainstorming sessions allow everyone to say the issues they have out loud and then contribute towards a solution. Unfortunately, there is never a perfect solution,but staff or stakeholder involvement increases the team’s feeling of being involved in the company’s ethos and aims. In our experience, there’s more knowledge or fresh ideas in your own teams than you even realise.
SHARE YOUR VISION: Most businesses will grow organically from an entrepreneur who is very good at what they do, which then leads to the business growing purely on reputation. The business grows and naturally, more people become employed resulting in a dilution of the original vision. However, communicating your vision regularly,even over a planned social event or team meeting and inviting input, can bring remarkable results. (These often lead to brainstorming sessions and development).
Of course, as managers, we need to put our own feelings aside for the good of the business but there’s a huge set of untapped resources in your team. In coaching terms, it’s almost always true that there’s a shared vision between managers and teams but it is often untapped. For example, a manager finds that a task falls out of their remit or comfort zone, and yet they have a team member with exactly that skill set.
Communicating better with your team works.
To find out more,book one of our 90-minute sessions and we guarantee we will discover at least one thing that will improve your business.
