Inspiring others to be the best versions of themselves can be a real challenge. When you do it well, all your employees are more productive and efficient. This is because they’re happier with their jobs. However, as a manager, you must balance this leadership mindset while also getting your own work done. This is an art form that it takes time to learn.
There aren’t any guaranteed methods that work here. Instead, you need to take note of the actionable things you can do to make sure your employees are constantly headed in the right direction. With this in mind, here are some things you can do to help your employees be more productive.
Be yourself
The entrepreneur says there’s no replacement for authenticity. People can sense fakeness and start to no longer trust you. When this happens, work becomes less enjoyable for you. It’s important to understand that you don’t need to overcompensate or operate in a way that’s outside your comfort zone. In fact, by being consistent with your beliefs and values you’ll have more energy and your employees will be more optimistic too.
Create a culture of transparency and feedback
Many managers are afraid to do operate like this but admitting when you’re wrong is crucial in building a culture where everyone feels free to do their best. This is something that must start at the highest level of your company – with your CEO learning to admit when they’re wrong instead of thinking they have to always be in control and right. Of course, you’ll need to be courageous here, but it helps establish transparency and a culture of learning.
Appreciate good work
You must be attentive to the effort, growth and output of your employees. It’s also important to give the proper recognition here. This will keep motivation levels high. All it takes is simply saying, “good job” to some people and you’ll see the difference between happy, productive employees and those who look for work elsewhere.
Get to know each employee
It’s hard to remember what your employees are doing but by following up on the little things each week you’ll demonstrate that you genuinely care about them. Checking on how your employees are doing also helps build a stronger connection with them.
This connection gives you an opportunity to understand what motivates them, what they like to do, and what their goals are. Employees who know that you care about their success are motivated to work harder for you. This also makes it easier when you need to offer them some constructive feedback because they’ll know you have their best interests at heart.
Empower your employees by giving them great technology
Sometimes people find themselves spending hours on tasks that can be automated or highly sped up with technology. Surprisingly you’ll find that paying for things like calendar automation instead of manually scheduling meetings is cheaper. Of course, this is only one of the many solutions that are available for use today. Look at what tasks your employees are doing, especially the monotonous ones, and spend a little time to find solutions for automating or speeding these tasks up will make your employees more productive and happier.
Encourage risk taking
When employees are scared that failure will result in them being harshly criticized or fired, then they’ll be too scared to take risks even when these risks could benefit your company. Decisions like these are faced by your employees daily. By encouraging them to take a risk they’ll grow more confident and autonomous, which will result in better productivity.
Get everyone behind your mission then keep them there
One of the biggest challenges for growing companies is keeping employees excited about their work. However, when this happens employees are much more productive. When they feel passionate about their work, they’re energized to give it their all.
Offer freedom and autonomy
Letting people do their work in a way that makes them happy, wear what makes them feel comfortable, and simply be themselves makes them happier and more productive. This is why it’s important to encourage your employees to take a goal or idea and run with it. You should also let them create a work/life balance that leaves them feeling refreshed as long as your work is accomplished properly – something that will definitely happen because this will motivate them to be more productive.
Push people to accomplish what they think is “impossible”
Autonomy needs to be balanced with guidance, so people don’t spend a lot of time trying to decide what they should be doing .This is why you should check in with your employees and challenge them by asking questions like, “Why are you working on that? What else should you be working on? Is this what’s the best use of your time? Could this be handled more efficiently?” These questions will help accelerate their learning and productivity.
Organize a motivational seminar
A motivational speaker can impact your business and improve your employees’ productivity. They can deliver a powerful, personalized message that impacts your employees’ thought process regarding their daily activities. By offering a different perspective from someone your employees can relate to, you’ll be able to effectively inspire them in new and exciting ways.
The right motivational speaker is someone who can motivate, entertain, and encourage your team. They’ll leave a big impact on your employees by giving them some very beneficial life tools. This is done by offering personal stories, great facts and overall impactful messages that your employees can relate to. These will help your employees their own strengths in a new way.
Hire the best people
It’s ideal to hire people who are very passionate about the work they’re doing, understand what the best way to deal with ambiguity is, and know how to push themselves. However, not everyone you hire will be this way. With these people, it’s up to you to bring out their superstar qualities. Of course, it’s also important to know when it’s time to cut ties.
