Effective management engages employees around the big-picture goals of a business and includes them in reaching its goals.
Key to achieving a culture of effective management is setting inspiring goals across all departments and among all employees. You’ll need to work with your management team to develop goals for each department that keep the overall company goals in mind. Continuously reviewing the goals with each manager and employee develops a system that inspires people to continue working toward their goals and to always know how their contributions are affecting the future of the business. Companies like Nike and Disney do this well and have received high praise for valuing employees and providing inspiration in the workplace.
But there’s more. Effective management means you’re continuously showing your people how much they are valued.
Here’s how.
1. Regularly ask each team member for his or her opinion on how things are run. And not only ask, but consider what is said in a meaningful way. You’ll show employees they are valued while harvesting valuable feedback. Collect this information regularly.
2. Have fun. Does this sound crazy? Then you’ve got a little work to do. Whatever fun might look like for your team – a company baseball team or the occasional hiking retreat – it’s important to interact on a personal level with your team.
3. Share the big-picture goals of the business and ask people for their input. Your managers should be doing this systematically each month.
4. Don’t be stingy with interesting challenges. Your managers need to be continuously looking for ways to ensure people are challenged in their job. To do this, you need to know what would challenge your people, which means you’ll need to know your people.
5. Share successes. When you land a big client, tell everyone about it. When you reach any sales or production goals, share the news. Sharing is caring. Your people will notice.
6. Praise your people in public. At meetings and perhaps when you are sharing successes, be sure to mention the people who have contributed, by name. We all love acknowledgment.
A committed, inspired team is the basis of a successful business. •
Mark Wardell ([email protected]) is president and founder of Wardell International (www.wardell.biz), an advisory group that helps design and implement growth plans for businesses.
