This Is How Effective Managers Always Get The Best From Their Employees

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Effective Managers|This Is How Effective Managers Always Get The Best From Their EmployeesThere are many resources that a manager must effectively maximize for the success of their business, but by far the most vital and often the most tricky is the resource that is their employees. Fortunately, you can get some insight on how effective managers deal with this aspect of business in the post below.

Behave in a clear and consistent way

Effective managers understand that they need to lead from the front. That means they need to set the tone when it comes to work-appropriate behavior and attitude. Central to this is their ability to act consistently and communicate clearly.

Clear communication is crucial because, without it, employees can become confused as to what is expected of them. Consistent behavior on the other hand is so important because it helps to define the boundaries for the team that is working under you, as well as ensures they feel safe to get on with their tasks to the best of their abilities.

Encourage teamwork

Great managers are adept at encouraging their team to work together and become a sum more than their parts. However, depending on the team you have, such an achievement requires a range of skills and strategies including active listening, being able to tap into the intrinsic motivation of others, as well as being able to step back from a project and allow your employees the agency and responsibility they need to be able to succeed.

Another vital part of encouraging effective teamwork as a manager is being receptive to the input of everyone on your team. Indeed there are so many insights to be revealed from hearing what everyone from your 2nd in command to the front line workers have to say.

Match their solution to the problem at hand

You will find reams of advice online on how managers should deal with any problems that arise. However, what separates a good manager from a great one is that they always consider the unique factors of each issue they come across. This means they never apply a stock or one-size-fits-all patch to an issue, but instead craft one that is specifically designed for the issue in hand.

Of course, there will be a time when they will need the input and advice of others to help them do this. That is why great managers always consult with their team and even seek the advice of business management experts like Colby Wegman from time to time. After all, if you can find someone that has been through a similar situation, they may be able to provide some unique insight that you may not have considered.

Praise in public and criticize in private

Finally, the best managers get so much from their teams because they tend to criticize in private and praise in public. Indeed, public praise can serve to motivate not only the individuals involved but the entire team.

Criticism on the other hand needs to always be constructive. That includes things to work on rather than being personal. Also by going through this process in private managers can help to retain the individual morale and so ensure maximum productivity.

Remote Work Is Here To Stay, Let’s Make The Most Of It

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Remote Work|Remote Work Is Here To Stay, Let's Make The Most Of ItWe need not discuss how the last year has had a massive impact on your business and what measures you likely put in place to secure your survival – you know that story only too well. Of course, it’s true to say that something as increasingly turbulent as the last year will have its effects, some of them bad, and perhaps a few of them good.

For those businesses who have survived, lessons have been learned from the experience. This begs the question of what practices we should keep after life returns to normal, and how we can begin to make use of a market so radically changed by the norms that have shifted.

One of these considerations is of course that of remote work, and its impact on industries far and wide. In fact, understanding this can help us more readily focus on solutions and practices that work from now into the future, what that means, and how we might retain the benefits of these conveniences from now on. Remote work is clearly here to stay in some capacity – let’s try and make the most of it.

Remote Event Planning & Delivery

Remote event planning and delivery is a natural follow up to how events have been scheduled in the past year. That said, using an event registration website, even public events such as press releases, discussions, online keynotes and more can be held and attended. This means that no matter what your strategy is, you always have a remote alternative that can be used either for convenience, to expand your online reach in an online world, or as a backup you may wish to utilize when necessary.

Communication Tools

Communication tools are worth keeping around, as is quite clear, but especially in the hyper-accessible format, we have come to expect. For instance, renewing our consolidation of team communications in apps like Slack, or making sure that remote software is installed to ensure virtual meetings can take place at short notice can really help when trying to get back on your feet, and even when trying to be more productive from now into the future. Other firms will surely not alleviate the conveniences they have been grateful to use over the last year – why should you feel obliged to?

Utilizing Devices

It’s important to consider how investing in our staff can help them be the best employees they can be. Investing in granting them devices with pre-installed security software and workflow utilities can ensure everyone is on the same page, or at least offering a support scheme to help every staff member get up to standard when working from home can prevent issues like poor webcam or microphone quality in group meetings, and so on. Remember, if you’re going to remote work, it’s best to do so in a manner that speaks to the quality and values serving as the backdrop of your staff management.

With this advice, we hope you can make the most of remote work, as it does seem like its here to stay.

5 Ways To Work Efficiently With Your Team

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |Team Work|5 Ways To Work Efficiently With Your TeamTo run a business smoothly, you need to first take care of the well-being of your employees. It is important to create a positive environment for them so that they feel accepted, encouraged, and happy to be a part of your organization.

Leading a team that has people from diverse backgrounds can often be difficult. People with different temperaments come with diverse opinions which can often lead to miscommunication and clashes within the team. These roadblocks can create a negative impact on the productivity of the team and business.

Team efficiency depends largely on the bonding among the teammates as that makes the work process smooth and easy to handle. Creating efficiency in the team by removing any workplace friction can help you in building and encouraging a healthy team that can provide amazing work performance.

Top 5 Ways to Enhance Work Efficiency Within Your Team

A recent survey by Anatomy of Work mentions that corporate employees spend most of their work time on daily tasks and only 27% of their time in work that requires specific skill sets.

Then how would you drive efficiency within the team so that productivity doesn’t falter? Let’s find out with these top tips on team efficiency enhancement.

1. Design a precise project plan

You must have a clear and precise project plan before starting the task. Each team member must be confident about their role in the project. Finally, coordinate between the various tasks so that the project is completed well within the scheduled time.

What are the essentials of a project plan?

There are several essentials of a good project plan and they are:

  • Common project goals
  • Appropriate success metrics
  • Allocation of stakeholders and their roles
  • Budget of the project
  • Project milestones and the intermittent deliverables
  • Project schedules and timelines
  • Project communication plan

It is important to bring all the projects within one roof for your team. Invest in a real-time planning tool that is accessible by one and all. This will help you in coordinating all the project activities at one go with the help of a tool.

2. Connect with your team members regularly

Make an effort to connect with your team members regularly, as a team as well as individually. This will ensure that you care for your team members. Once you can establish a caring position within the team, the employees will automatically get motivated.

It is always better to communicate to your employees the expectation you have from them and also their roles and priorities in the project. Do explain to them the kind of quality that you are expecting from them. Make sure to also explain to them the result that you are trying to achieve as a team.

Give your employees all the freedom that they need to work in their best manner. Give them a positive environment, keep them happy and they will deliver without you having to worry about a thing.

It is a good idea to send short messages to all the team members once in while mentioning what you like about them and spread some positivity. Talk to your team members individually and find out about their career goals, immediate project interests, and anything else that they would like to share with you.

Remember, 1:1 communication can be one of the best ways to say “you matter” to an employee. They feel that they have a support system at work that will listen to them. It is imperative to say that this will boost the confidence of the employee to a sky-high level.

3. Always acknowledge and appreciate their efforts

Most employees complain that they do not feel appreciated enough. It is a well-known saying that an appreciated employee will walk the extra mile for you. Always show appreciation to your team members no matter how small a task he has accomplished.

Appreciation gives them a sense of purpose and they feel connected to the team and business. At least start with a “thank you for a job well done” line.

When you acknowledge a good job done, make sure that you mean every word that you say. Empty phrases will not please your team members for long. But when you praise the employees with an open heart, they would want to rise to the occasion even more and ensure that they do the job in an even better manner.

a) Pay attention to their ideas

Everyone has some idea about a work project and how to go about it? All the team members come with prior experience and different perspectives about how to handle a project. They might have a completely different approach to working on tasks. Encourage them to share their ideas and best practices and try and implement to see if that works for your team.

While it is rather tempting to stick to a fixed protocol that is tried and tested for success, you never know what could change unless you try new ways of working. The world is changing so fast, there is no point in holding on to a status quo. Instead, listen to your team members about what they could bring to the table. That way they feel valued and motivated to contribute to the success of the team and the organization.

One of the best ways to make use of good ideas from teammates is to design a project plan where everyone can contribute their ideas. You can also conduct retrospectives at the end of each project to understand what went well, what did not work well, and the potential action items.

4. Leverage their strengths

Not all employees are alike in personality or work. Each person comes with a set of strengths and weaknesses. Different people enjoy doing different types of work. For instance, one of your team members might enjoy doing research work related to a project while the other one might enjoy compiling varied data in an excel sheet.

Also, on any given day, an employee might have several small tasks to complete in different projects. Each of these tasks is important in its way and also urgent. They might get confused about where to start and how to prioritize the work?

  • Prioritize work: As a supervisor, it is your responsibility to divide the task according to their priorities. When you have a good plan with set objectives and goals for the project, setting up priority will not be much of a problem. When the employees have a clear vision about the project goals and their timelines, it empowers them to make decisions about the task. When you are setting goals for your team, do not forget to keep the objective attainable. Assigning a large task to be accomplished within a short time can make it overwhelming for the employees. Instead, you can break the large task into smaller chunks and delegate them among the team members according to business priorities and their skill sets.This will enhance the progress of the project and also keep the team members motivated.
  • Streamline projects and tasks: Try and allocate work that a team member excels at. If there isn’t such work within the team, find out ways in which the teammates can spend time on work that they enjoy doing. Take help of a documenting software that makes it easier to document tasks and other project details. Such activity will not only help you in streamlining your project but also enhance team efficiency.

Bring challenges in the work that you do within the team but also don’t forget to reward them when they accomplish a milestone.

5. Incorporate fun at work

Add a fun element to everyday work. It could be through different team building activities. This will add a fun element to work thereby increasing the overall efficiency within the team. Work is only enjoyable when people feel connected with the team. Only when there is open communication, mutual respect, and acceptance within the team, an employee feels comfortable to deliver at their best.

Also when the team members have too much to deliver within a short time, they often suffer from distractions and low motivation. Step in here and cut short on meeting times as they take up a lot of time and go for quick huddles to share feedback and receive updates. When workload management is systematic and well-designed, it can boost happiness at the workplace.

Conclusion

Remember, if you cannot measure how much you have done, you will never be able to improve it. Set up metrics for your team and analyze how it impacts your sales, revenue, or productivity.

Productivity can never be an accident. It is not about simple work proficiency or about perfectly managing your day. There can be several tools and tips to help you in enhancing the team efficiency, but at the end of the day, it is up to you to ensure that employees are excited about coming to work and delivering their best.

As Henry Ford said, “If everyone is moving forward together, success takes care of itself.”
Let us know in the Comments section below if you do anything different to drive efficiency within your team.

Top Automated Tools to Save Your Business Time

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Development Article |Automated Business Tools|Top Automated Tools to Save Your Business TimeAutomation has revolutionized all sorts of industries, from manufacturing to finance. In business, it is used to save time and costs while maintaining efficiency and success. Automation tools are becoming more advanced and high-tech and helping businesses stay on top of several important tasks, thus creating value for both your company and customers.

From marketing to operations, you can use all sorts of tools to save time and money. Each tool will help simplify your business’ workflow and ensure a safer, more secure working environment. As technology continues to advance, automated tools are more and more common. This blog will list several of the top automated tools you can use at work.

Interconnection Applications

Many businesses use third-party apps and so will need application interconnectedness, which will ensure that sharing data between platforms is smooth. Interconnection between applications is key to your digital business success because it gives companies the help they need to streamline data and storage facilities between applications. There are many benefits for using software and services that help with scalability, reliability, and monitoring.

Analytics

Analytic software gives businesses tools for measuring the performance of their data and digital content. Using these types of platforms will allow reports, statistics, and visualizations to be created, which will show you the successes and pitfalls of your business. Using analytics will also allow you to track user behavior and understand which content is performing poorly.

Having access to your data analytics in this way, you can optimize your websites and digital performance; there are several software types to choose from.

File Transfer

File transfer servers are automated systems that help businesses securely move files from one place to another. Software like this can be really useful for ensuring your data is secure and encrypted and that you have total control of where it is going. You can learn about FTP servers at https://www.goanywhere.com/managed-file-transfer/file-server/ftp-server, which offers highly secure file transfer management. Using this type of automated software will save your business time because it simplifies file transfer management and meets all aspects of inbound and outbound data transfers.

E-commerce Customer Service

For businesses that specialize in e-commerce, your digital business spans multiple channels and platforms, known as omnichannel retail if the service is integrated. By offering your customers numerous touchpoints, you are widening your business’ reach; however, the more touchpoints you operate, the more integrated your customer service software needs to be. If you want a seamless buying experience, you should ensure that you have customer service software that meets all your consumers’ needs across multiple platforms.

As the world moves forward digitally, businesses must become more up-to-date with the latest automated software. Taking a step towards new systems and tools that can help with management, customer service, file transfer, and data will upgrade your digital landscape and help you run a seamless and efficient company in step with the advancing market. It’s easier to make incremental advances than leaving it a long time before upgrading. Rather than replacing a whole system, you’ll be making small changes more often.

COVID-19 Vaccines And Job Listings: Ways to Provide Comfort To Potential Employees

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StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |COVID-19|COVID-19 Vaccines And Job Listings: Ways to Provide Comfort To Potential EmployeesDebates about the coronavirus vaccines and workplace mandates have everyone up in arms. As employers try to fill vacancies to enhance productivity and boost their bottom line, they run into serious challenges. Should you aim for herd immunity and mandate that employees and new hires get the COVID-19 vaccine? More importantly, how do you prevent these changes from discouraging ideal candidates from applying?

Encourage Vs. Require

Unless you own a business in the healthcare, warehouse, or retail industry, your best bet is to encourage instead of requiring employees to get the vaccine. Mandates can feel controlling and cause hesitant applicants to look elsewhere for employment. On the other hand, encouraging your employees through informative materials, seminars, training, communication, incentives, and reasonable accommodations lets applicants know they have a choice.

Work With An Expert

There’s a lot of misinformation out there about the COVID-19 vaccines. This type of content often fuels personal fears, prompting employees to remain hesitant about getting vaccinated. Trying to argue these claims on your own isn’t very assuring. If you’re going to make potential employees feel comfortable, the most efficient solution is to work with a few experts.

An attorney, healthcare professional, and human resources expert are better positioned to provide fact-based information. Consult with them to find out how to draft and implement your policy in a way that protects your business and your staff. Make a note of the experts or reputable resources you used to develop your policies to put applicants’ minds at ease.

Make It Plain

Life amid the pandemic is already unpredictable, so don’t make matters worse. If you want to ease the concerns of job seekers, you should state your company policies and requirements plain and clear. When creating posts for job boards, list the need for a job background check and policies or incentives for the COVID-19 vaccine. While this tactic might drive some applicants elsewhere, at the very least, it shows that your company is honest, transparent, and upfront. If they chose to continue with the application process, informing them upfront also allows them to prepare.

Offer Reasonable Accommodations

If an applicant expresses that they have reservations about the COVID-19 vaccine or objects due to religion or disabilities, be prepared to offer reasonable accommodations. You can allow them to work remotely, reduced hours in-house, or a hybrid version of the two options. If you have departments that don’t require a vaccine, you can recommend compatible positions. If they’re financially strapped, you can offer incentives like cash bonuses, transportation discounts, or paid time off to anyone that wants to get the vaccine.

Offering reasonable accommodations when applicants inquire boosts their confidence and lets down their guard. Potential employees will know that you’re interested in what they have to offer and that you’re willing to go the extra mile to accommodate their needs. This could encourage them to accept a job offer.

Highlight Other Health And Safety Measures

If you’re still on the fence about the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, or you’ve decided against it, you can still make job seekers feel comfortable working with your organization. On your company website or in the job description, ensure that you highlight other health and safety measures you’ve implemented. If they know that you require wellness checks, face masks, gloves, social distancing, frequent handwashing, and additional cleaning services, they’ll be less fearful about being in the workplace.

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on businesses in various industries. Business owners had to do what they could to survive while keeping their employees, customers, and the general public safe. Now that the coronavirus vaccines are on the scene, they have helped some sense of normalcy and control. As you begin putting up ads for available positions, remember to prioritize job seekers’ health, safety, and comfort. By applying the strategies above, you can put their minds at ease and increase your chances of attracting top talent despite the madness.