Helping Your Employees Succeed

Effective managers are in touch with their team members. They speak to their employees constantly. They seek them out at least once a day to see how things are going and to see if there's anything they can do to help them. Ineffective managers usually don't speak to their employees each day. They aren't aware of their struggles, their concerns or their problems. They only talk with their employees in official meetings and capacities. They don't truly know what's going on.

The following tips will help your employees know that you really care about them:

Talk. Spend time talking with your each member of your team daily (if possible). Ask them open-ended questions about all sorts of things, personal and business. Learn to follow their lead. You don’t have to talk business all the time. Remember the goal is to let them know that you care about them.

Ask. Ask each team member how he, or she, is doing. Ask for suggestions to improve their job. Ask what you can do to make their jobs better. Be sure to follow up. If you can't solve the problem, tell them why at a later time. If you tell them “no” immediately, they will think you are just dismissing them.

Thank. Thank your individual team members. Notice positive contributions each member makes and give them positive feedback. People don’t often get thanked for just doing their job. Making your team feel appreciated is important. Productivity and morale will improve. Simply: your team will perform better when you compliment them.

Let go. If something bothers you, like a messy desk, or the way someone laughs, just let it go. See what happens. Many things that bother us are not ultimately important in the big picture of increasing revenue. See what happens – just for a day. If your world doesn’t fall apart, then try letting little things go for a week. (This is something to try in your personal life as well).

Pretend. Experience what your customer experiences. Pretend you are a customer and then share your observations with your team. Use the information to improve your team’s performance. Giving feedback in this way is critically important.

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