As a small business owner and a leader, it’s your responsibility to act as a guiding force to your team. It’s your company and you’ve laid down the rules and the ethics that govern your employees. Naturally, your management style and behavior affects you employees and your company.
When your employees aren’t performing well, you often try to understand why. More often than not, you might try to observe employee interactions and habits. But do you need to take a closer look at your own management style? Consider the following.
1. Doing Everything by Yourself
Entrepreneurs often fall into this trap of taking too much on and trying to do everything by themselves. You might wonder how that affects employee performance, but the answer to that is very simple. It shows that you don’t trust your employees to handle the task. After all, what’s the use of hiring an expert in a particular field when you’re doing their job instead of letting them handle it? This brings us to our second point:
2. Trust
Unlike a few decades ago, today’s work environment is based on communication between you and your employees. Your team wants to feel like they’re a part of the company. They want to affirm that they’re contributing positively to your company and the productiveness. One way to ensure that your employees feel appreciated is by communicating with them regularly. You need to keep them up-to-date with the company news. This would show them that you trust them and they’ll be more productive.
3. Uncertainty and Indecisiveness
No business owner, small or big, can survive in this industry for long if they aren’t decisive and firm. If you don’t have confidence in your decision, your team doesn’t have confidence in your leadership. This can be very bad for your company. If you’re stuck at a crossroads and don’t know in which direction to move, the simple solution is to ask your team. They might be able to help you make the right decision. Indecisiveness will only delay your progress and frustrate your team.
4. Getting Opinions
As we mentioned before, employees today want to contribute productively to the company. The millennials, especially, want their opinions to be heard and with good reason. Even big companies like Google encourage their employees to think and come up with interesting ideas. They also consider the ideas seriously. Your employees are your biggest resource for ideas and solutions. If you give their opinions due consideration, you’ll get more productivity out of them if you do this.
5. Be Clear
Employers who’re very clear and about their expectations from their employees often find that their employees work very well and are more productive. It’s a good idea to always be clear in your communication with your team. For example, if you want your team to prepare a business presentation for your client, you need to tell them precisely what you want and what kind of impression do you want to leave on your client.
If you follow these advices, you might see a drastic increase in your team’s productivity and overall job satisfaction.
