by Ray Blakney, CEO and co-founder of Live Lingua
Whether you run a fully remote business or an enterprise with a hybrid work setup, it is critical that you lead a strong, unified team that is determined to see your company succeed. Your employees are the backbone of your company, and if they are not working to the best of their ability each day, it can cause your business to not reach its full potential in the market. That said, as the company’s leader, you must do everything you can to make sure that your team is as unwavering, determined, and motivated as can be.
Are you having trouble figuring out how you can improve your team’s overall cohesiveness and efficiency? Or, are you looking to take preventative measures to offset any potential turnover in your enterprise? Search no further — here is a quick list of tried-and-true tips that will help you lead a team that is stronger and more unified.
Create Channels for Non-Work Related Conversations
Are your team members currently lagging in the motivation department? Has progress on long-term projects been waning for a while? It is possible that some of your employees are not feeling as engaged in their work and as excited to be a part of your team as they once were. To counteract this, you need to create an inspiring and supportive work culture by encouraging internal communication about non-work related subjects.
You may be thinking, won’t this induce procrastination and impede on overall work output? In contrast, providing channels for staff to have non-work related conversations will help employees connect and work better as a team. By setting up special forums about hobbies, Slack channels, and other communication channels, your employees will become more comfortable around each other. That means they are not just co-workers but also friends who support each other. As a result, the work communication will become much smoother across your company, helping to enhance overall productivity.
Meetings Dedicated Solely to Feedback Are Paramount
You must remember that great team feedback is key to not only the growth of the team, but also the company. In order to give great feedback, the first step is to set up clear and measurable goals and KPI’s for each team member. For example, designate a certain amount of sales calls that every team member must make in a given week. Or, let your team know that they should reach certain milestones in a long-term project on set dates. Then arrange regular meetings — maybe once a month or once a quarter — dedicated exclusively for you to give feedback.
Doing this will help set the expectation of what will happen in the meeting; your team members will know that these meetings are not just for them to provide status reports and then receive feedback from you as an afterthought. On the other hand, these meetings are solely for you to give great feedback, both good and bad as they are earned, in an environment where they are received as they are meant to be. This will help your team members improve on any issues they are having or focus more on what they are excelling at.
Prioritize Your Employees’ Mental Health
Your team members need to know that you truly care about them and their wellbeing, as it will help them feel valued and supported in their positions. You need to prioritize your employees’ mental health, because it will help ensure that their morale stays high and they won’t consider potentially leaving your company. Thus, take note if your team members show signs of stress or like they are burning out from their workload and then see how you can help them.
For example, if your team members have been working really long hours, tell them how much you appreciate their hard work and then give them a gift card to their favorite restaurant as a way to thank them. Or, if one of your employees has seemed down lately, let them know that you are there for them if they want to talk and then give them a pass to a local day spa to help them relax. Also allow your employees to choose what kind of work setup (remote, hybrid, or in-office) they would like, as it will allow them to work in the way that makes them the happiest.
Consider Every Team Member’s Input in Decisions That Affect Them
Every time you need to make a decision that would affect your team, even in a small way, you should ask for every team member’s input. You will create a toxic work environment if you only consult with a few team members and leave others out of a decision. For example, say you are leading a hybrid team — it would create a toxic work environment if you only ask for your in-office employees’ input on project decisions without including the input of remote team members. It would possibly impede on collaboration, lead to confusion, and cause the remote team members to feel like they are not as valued as those working in the office.
As the leader of your team, you should also regularly check in with all of the team members to ask about any pain points regarding projects they are working on, concerns, etc. This will help all of your employees feel like their voices are being heard and like they are valued members of your team. It will inspire them to grow in their positions and help your company reach its goals.
To Wrap it Up
If your team is strong and unified, your business will keep growing and reaching new heights. Therefore, ensure your team is resilient and cohesive by creating channels for non-work conversations and setting up regular meetings solely for feedback. You should also take steps to help offset any mental health struggles your employees may be facing and make sure to include every team member’s input in decisions. These tactics will help you build an unwavering, determined team and enhance the success of your enterprise.
Ray Blakney is the CEO and co-founder of Live Lingua, a renowned online language learning platform. An award-winning, Filipino-American entrepreneur, speaker, and podcaster, Ray builds and helps others build 6- and 7-figure businesses on a bootstrap budget using SEO.
