They say that your customers will never love your company until your employees do.
They’re right. Your employees are your greatest assets. Without them, daily operations would cease to exist. Without them, your company would not be where it is today.
Finding great talent isn’t a walk in the park. But retaining it is also equally difficult.
When employees lose interest in their work, it’s not just productivity that suffers. It also impacts your brand’s image. It affects the way consumers perceive your brand.
But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do to engage employees. By bridging communication gaps and improving internal communication, you can build a strong team.
Here are a few powerful and effective strategies to use:
1. Observe Your Leadership Skills
Are you a leader or a manager? There’s a significant difference between the two. As the team lead, you need to become aware of your leadership style and skills.
Is your team afraid to bring up concerns with you? Are they afraid to communicate their problems with you? Can they trust you with minor problems?
If your team can’t rely on for minor problems, they may have an issue coming up to you with bigger problems.
This doesn’t mean you should adopt a lax attitude. It just means you should be more open with your team. Let them know they can come to you with any problem.
When listening to your team and their problems, remain calm no matter how angry you are. Conduct face-to-face meetings to come up with solutions. Don’t shift the blame on one person. Make sure everyone knows that it’s a joint effort and encourage everyone to pitch in their ideas and solutions.
2. Get To Know Your Team
How well do you know your team? Knowing their names is not enough. Get to really know your team. This doesn’t mean you need to get to know them personally.
It means you need to learn about their strengths and weaknesses. This way, you can utilize each individual’s strengths.
Remember that great leaders know which buttons need to be pushed and when they should be pushed.
For example: if one of your members has experience with public speaking, you can ask them to conduct seminars and presentations, as opposed to the team member who suffers from social anxiety.
By understanding your team’s needs and embracing their differences, you can create a strong relationship with everyone who’s a part of your team.
3. Give Credit Where It’s Due
While receiving awards and recognition, make sure to highlight your team’s efforts. Take every individual’s name who has been involved in the projects. This way, your team will know that you value and appreciate them.
It’ll show that you recognize their talents and efforts. It’ll show that you consider them a valuable asset to the company.
Sometimes, more than a good salary package, employees want recognition for their hard work.
If an employee does well and you love their ideas, make sure to share them with the entire team. Encourage your team to take the same initiative. But also make sure to recognize each talent, instead of focusing on specific members of the team.
This will create transparency and help your team know that there’s no room for favoritism in the company.
4. Define Roles and Responsibilities
Make sure to define roles and responsibilities. When it comes to complex projects, make sure you’re delegating tasks. Don’t give responsibility to one person.
Utilize your team’s strengths and ensure that everyone gets equal amounts of responsibilities. You can assign more responsibilities if someone is quick on their feet.
But make sure that tasks are delegated according to each member’s abilities.
For example: if one member of the team is liked by clients, and can tactfully deal with finicky clients, place them in charge of handling customer service.
If another member is good at following instructions, is organized, and can manage their time well, assign them big projects that you know they can handle well.
This will also help empower your employees. They will feel like they are a part of something more. They’ll feel like they are valuable to the company.
When employees feel motivated, appreciated, and empowered, they’ll engage in their work. Assigning different responsibilities and delegating tasks also helps get rid of monotonous routines.
Instead of specializing in one task and feeling stuck, your employees will be able to hone their skills and become a valuable resource for the company. In addition, you’ll also learn about additional skills and talents your team possesses.
5. Be Proactive With Feedback
Acknowledge the good work that each individual in your team does. Do you always provide feedback when a client comes back with a negative remark?
This can discourage your employees and de-motivate them. Make sure to offer good feedback when your team handles a tough project successfully.
Celebrate by going for a team lunch or dinner. Send an email acknowledging your teams efforts (make sure to highlight every member’s hard work.)
Remember that every member of your team has his or her own unique skills and talents. Your team is full of dynamic people.
Avoid using a cookie-cutter approach to provide feedback. Not only will this backfire, your employees will feel unappreciated. This will then lead to resentment and de-motivation.
Conclusion
These are just some of the many ways you can create a dynamic team. Remember that the key to creating a great team lies in open communication and trust. When your team feels they can trust you, you’ll be able to establish a strong relationship with everyone.
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With years of experience in the industry, Utpat is dedicated to his clients, helping create clever and effective marketing strategies.
He is also an established author of several digital marketing books and has been featured on TV channels like the NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX.
Feel free to reach out to him and book an appointment today!
