To get the most out of your employees, you have to create a
positive work environment for the entire
team. When people feel encouraged, accepted and happy, they become more motivated and perform better. Isn’t that a nice formula?
team. When people feel encouraged, accepted and happy, they become more motivated and perform better. Isn’t that a nice formula?
Yes, it takes time out of your day, but the process of
creating a joyous workplace brings a sense of purpose to your work and results
in dedicated performances. Plus, managers are responsible for nurturing their
team, not just producing great project outcomes no matter the cost. All aboard?
Here are five tips to create a positive environment for your
team:
1. Engage in meaningful
(in-person) dialog
When you make the effort to connect with your team members
in person—individually and as a group—you’re establishing a position of caring
that motivates individuals in all sorts of crazy-good ways. It’s easy to send
short messages in emails, and then rely on these small exchanges for most of
your communication. Or, you can focus on what needs to get done next and forget
to take a breath, look around, and get to know your employees. Don’t fall into
this rut. Instead, ask your team members about their immediate goals and
project interests as well as their career objectives.
Also, remember: We’re all human, and most humans respond
well to the real thing—in-person communication that says “you matter.”
2. Show your appreciation
One of the biggest complaints from employees is that they
don’t feel appreciated. The second someone gives us a “nice job” or “you made a
difference on this project,” we feel like we matter in a way that gives
our work a sense of purpose. If you’re not so inclined to give out verbal gold
stars, an easy place to start is with a simple “thank you.”
The next step is to give meaningful appreciation. Thread the
high-fives and “nice jobs” with a more detailed picture behind your
acknowledgment. This way, your employees can understand what they’re doing
well, and do more of it. Also, detailed praise shows you’re paying attention
and not throwing around empty phrases. When people feel like they’re doing good
work, they want to rise to the occasion even more.
3. Listen to everyone’s ideas
Your entire team has great ideas. They’re in the trenches
all day, bringing their own experience and perspectives to the part of the
project they’re focused on. For example, if there’s a way to make spreadsheets
more efficient or cold-calls more productive, the team members know how. It’s
tempting to stick with protocol because you know that works well. But these
days the world moves so fast nobody can afford to stay with a status quo for
too long. So instead, make it a policy to listen to new ideas (you could
structure appropriate time periods for this, too), and this will tell everyone
they’re a valuable part of the team. Give the good ideas a try; you never know
what might happen—other than the team becomes more invested in their work and
the project outcome, for starters.
4. Trust your team members
This is a harder rule to practice for some more than
others. So try to default to the assumption that your team is made up of adult,
responsibility-taking, competent workers that don’t need to be treated like
children. (In the end, people act the way they’re treated.) In action terms,
this means that when you delegate, really let go and let the individual own the
task you gave them. You can also communicate trust by asking team members to
make decisions for their part of the project, like:
Suggesting when and if meetings should happen
Anticipating road blocks and communicate those to the group
Assuming that your team wants the best for the project.
And if you sense the beginnings of some negative juju kicking up, invite
discussions about office policy; see what the majority thinks.
5. Be spontaneous and have a
little fun
Everyone wants to have fun at work—even though everyone
defines “fun” a little differently. Still, if you can keep the previous four
tips in action, then fun—or a
sense of enjoyment and being able to be yourself at work—becomes a more natural
part of everyone’s job. Fun happens when people feel well-connected with
a team where there’s mutual respect, open communication, acceptance of who
people are and everyone’s collaborating and working toward the same goal. When
teams are working well together, it makes it easier to be spontaneous and have
some fun – whether it’s a last-minute Football Friday party after a project
launch, or a brief pause in the afternoon to tell stories and have a few laughs
over topics that have nothing to do about work.
Sometimes we all need a break from the seriousness of
business.
And remember—whether you’re a team leader or team member,
everyone plays a role in contributing to your work environment.
Very formfitting article
By - Tatyana Sussex
Article published in liquidplanner.com - http://www.liquidplanner.com/blog/5-ways-to-create-a-positive-work-environment/
Article published in liquidplanner.com - http://www.liquidplanner.com/blog/5-ways-to-create-a-positive-work-environment/