Being a business owner or manager in charge of a team of employees can be hard, even if they are among some of the brightest people you know. All people, no matter how intelligent and skilled, need a little bit of nudging in the right direction so that they stay on track and continue to progress in their careers.
As a boss, there is a bit of pressure on you to motivate these folks by maintaining a working environment that is nurturing, supportive, constructive, and which encourages individual growth in addition to company success. If you are looking for some ways to stay on top of production in your business, here are five great tips.
Foster a Culture of Clear Communication.
A huge tip if you’re looking to motivate people to increase their efficiency and output is to make sure you foster a culture of clear and honest communication and feedback in your workplace. Being a boss that is open to constructive feedback and who actually implements that feedback is huge for your team’s morale, and will motivate them to do better work for you. While this type of office space is typically attributed to a startup office, you can implement a culture shift no matter where you are in your business’s growth.
Do a Group or Individual Goal Setting Session, and Keep Track.
Having your employees set goals for themselves individually and as a team gives them something clear to work toward, which will guide their work forward. If in recent years you have been feeling that your team is slacking or feels stagnated, getting them to brainstorm some OKRs, or Objectives and Key Results, is a great way to carve a path that is fresh and encourages progression. As always, every positive change like this in your company should be systematized and tracked to make sure it works, which is why Profit creates software to track business activity and progress toward these OKRs.
Prioritize Work/Life Balance.
Your employees have more in their lives than working for you. While it seems obvious, some business owners and managers forget this fact all the time when they are designating workloads. Make sure you have a rich benefits package and offer your employees enough personal time off, sick leave, family sick leave, parental leave, and vacation time. It may also help to implement a work-from-home policy to create a culture of trust and understanding and to allow your team to operate on their personal schedules if something comes up in their home life.
Make Your Space Match the Ideal of Collaboration.
Many business owners taut that they love to collaborate and have their employees brainstorm together to solve problems and tackle projects, but if you are still working in a segmented office with little common space for collaboration, you are not putting your money where your mouth is. Uneebo designs office spaces that match that culture of collaboration for office spaces of all shapes and sizes. Your project manager will thank you if you implement a floor plan that is open and allows for them to easily converse with all members of their teams to work on a new contract or project.
Consistent Check-Ins.
Once you have created company and individual team member goals, it is important that you frequently check in with all members of your staff to make sure that everything is going smoothly. Having frequent chats with staff will also help you deduce what you need to change in order to make it easier for your employees to meet or exceed their goals.
