When you become the boss at your workplace, you realize that there was so much more to running a business than you assumed when you were an employee. Now, you’ve got to handle your workload and manage your employees at the same time.
Being a good boss or manager goes beyond ensuring that your team meets key targets. It’s also about being a leader who inspires your team to embrace their talents and form real connections with their colleagues. You don’t want to be too strict. But you need to establish specific standards that will help your team achieve success.
Helping your employees take responsibility for their work, and their results, is an essential part of that. Here’s how to get your team to step up to the plate and take ownership.
Shared Vision
Do you want your employees to put their best foot forward for the benefit of the whole team? They need to feel like they are part of something bigger than themselves. Most importantly, they need to see how their contributions help boost the team’s performance, and exactly why they are a valued employee.
Your team needs an overarching goal to work toward. Above all, everyone needs to feel like they play an integral role in achieving said goal.
Minimize “Busy Work”
No one likes busy work. Yes, sometimes it must be done—it’s unavoidable. However, employees who continuously find themselves bogged down in busy work are more likely to phone it in. If they don’t feel like their work has real meaning, they’re not going to give it their all.
Instead, they’ll be tempted to do the bare minimum. It’s all about ensuring that even entry-level employees and interns get to work on some more critical tasks. Otherwise, they will feel like they can skate by with little effort.
Grant More Authority
Over time, you should be open to granting employees who have proven trustworthy with more and more authority in the workplace. And yes, this should come with raises and promotions when appropriate!
Employees need to know that they are making progress and earning trust. They will feel more comfortable taking responsibility for their performance and productivity in the workplace, even when they have made mistakes.
Give Constructive Feedback
Employees need to know that they can talk to you when they are confused about a particular task. If they don’t feel comfortable meeting with higher-ups when they have questions, they will put their heads down and try to work out the problem on their own. This approach could potentially result in costly mistakes for your company.
Instead, make it very clear from day one that there is no shame in asking for help, and make time for employees who need your assistance. Give constructive, helpful feedback when an employee comes to you for help.
Establish Standards
Your employees should enjoy some flexibility in the workplace when possible. For example, allowing people to work from home or giving them more freedom as far as how they complete their work goes is standard nowadays.
However, if you allow employees too much flexibility in terms of deadlines and targets, some will learn that they can push the boundaries of what they can get away with. You don’t have to be the world’s strictest boss. But you need to make it clear that procrastination will not be tolerated.
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Are you adjusting to your new role as a leader in your workplace? Are you seeking strategies to help inspire and motivate your employees? Counseling can help. Contact Integrative Psychotherapy Group today to see how we can help you grow as a leader in your business.
