By guest blogger Jennifer Scott
[November 25, 2017] Being a manager, a team leader, a supervisor or some other role where you’re in charge is no easy feat. There are so much planning and organisation to be done, and that’s just for the hour by hour running of the team, let alone long-term goals.
This causes stress levels to rise and people’s attention to snap if they’re not already pushing your buttons themselves.
People will want to work for, they’ll be happy to go out of their way to you, and it can make the workplace a lot more productive and sociable.
Share the End Game
Let’s imagine that you’re running a team of graphic designers that create the packaging for a product. Instead of just telling your team to work on projects, involve them in it.
By showing them what all their hard work transformed into, in this case, the complete packaging completed for a client or product, you’re inspiring them in all other projects they complete, ensuring they are proud of what they do.
Give Your Team Purpose
Hand in hand with the consideration above, not all your team are at work to just earn money. Job satisfaction is a huge part of everyday life, and if your team isn’t happy, satisfied or inspired, they’re not going to be productive.
“Don’t just focus on the profits that you’re making, inspire your team to want to achieve the best work they can. You can do this by also helping out your local communities and doing good with your company and your team,” says Marci C. Lane, the HR department manager for Top Canadian Writers.
Get to Know Your Team
You can’t inspire a team without building a relationship with them, and you can’t build a relationship without first getting to know them. Taking the time to get to know your team can be hugely beneficial to the infrastructure of your team.
There are multiple ways you could do this, either by simply spending time with them throughout the day or you could take things to the next level by going out for dinner or lunch, drinks on a Friday night or even sourcing the budget for a team building day by doing something fun.
Respect Their Knowledge
Always remember that the members of your team are the talent in the areas they work and they’re going to hate being told what to do.
“By giving the members of your team the opportunity to shine, the chances are that they will prove themselves and pull out all the stops to be the best. In my department, we always run friendly competitions just for fun, but it always pushes our teams to achieve more,” shares R. Desir, a team leader for Best Australian Writers.
The Key to Success is Trust
As with any relationships that you form throughout your life, the key to that relationship working is trust. You need to trust the people in your team, and if you don’t, you can never progress and grow as a team.
Personally, I like to believe I can trust anyone unless they give me a reason not to. Don’t try and manipulate facts. If you’re honest with your team, they’ll be honest back.
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