Every business experiences moments of reduced activity when employee output seems lower than normal. But before you start planning emergency performance reviews or consider a restructuring, there may be some other factors at play.
Oftentimes, when organizations start to see their productivity levels dip, it could be a sign that employees aren’t being inspired or motivated by their leadership team as same as before. This could mean there are areas of improvement you could explore to improve the effectiveness of how your teams are managed.
Thankfully, there are some proven strategies you can start implementing to ensure you always get the best performance from your teams.
Establish Trust and Transparency
In both our personal and professional lives, trust is an important part of building strong relationships. For managers and their employees, this all comes down to remaining transparent with one another and creating a safe place to express ideas or concerns.
If a team doesn’t trust their leadership team, they’ll be less likely to go the extra mile for the company they work for. To build up this trust, company leaders should regularly communicate how the company is performing openly while providing honest perspectives on where and how each department can support growth efforts.
Recognize and Reward Achievements
Whether they admit it or not, almost everyone appreciates some form of acknowledge for their hard work. Still, this isn’t something that every company always does with their employees.
While it might seem reasonable to some that receiving a regular paycheck is enough “thanks” employees should need, this can be a fairly short-minded view of how staff members should be treated.
Recognizing individual contributions to company achievements isn’t something that needs to be an expensive undertaking. Simply looking for more opportunities to thank team members for their assistance in coordinating trade show events, achieving important milestones, or simply for the regular efforts they put in on a day-to-day basis can be a great way to boost team morale.
Set Clear Goals and Expectations
If employees aren’t presented with tangible goals to try to achieve, it will inevitably lead to the feeling of being a hamster in a wheel. Not many people can stay motivated when they’re doing the same thing day in and day out without any real gauge as to the benefits of their efforts.
When leading your teams, ask yourself: “If I were to not show up tomorrow, would my employees be capable of managing themselves?” If the answer to this question is “no,” then you may need to reassess how well you communicate and delegate individual responsibilities.
Provide Opportunities for Growth
Giving your employees opportunities isn’t always about sending them to tradeshows or having them host important events. Even just giving your employees an opportunity to lead a team meeting or learn a new skill can be a great way to show that you value your employees’ need to shape their career path.
Although not everyone may have the desire to move outside of their own comfort zone, you should still regularly encourage your staff to think about ways they can continue to develop their skills. This can be an important way to help them prepare for taking on more senior-level responsibilities and potentially groom them for higher-paying positions in the company.
By showing your employees they’re more than just another number and giving them the support and resources they need to grow, you’ll continue to build a positive working culture that they’ll enjoy being a part of.
Encourage Team Collaboration
With how common remote or hybrid working environments are today, many businesses have come accustomed to departments working in silos. However, this often leads to a number of issues, such as ineffective communication and the overall lack of cohesiveness.
When teams are used to working alone, it can be difficult to get them to work together towards one common goal. This leads to employees prioritizing their own needs without thinking too deeply about how it might affect others.
If left unchecked, this atmosphere can quickly become toxic, with employees refusing to share their ideas or play a supporting role in the success of each department. It’s important that team leaders look for opportunities to have their teams collaborate with each other and various other departments. This helps to reinforce taking shared responsibility when working towards achieving company goals.
Lead By Example
It’s important that employees never feel like the company they work for operates with double standards. Respect is something that’s earned, not automatically given, and businesses need to actively work toward leading their teams by example.
When employees see that managers and executives apply the same guiding principles that are enforced across the company, this helps to build more respect in their role. When this respect is in place, it makes it much easier to drive the business forward and helps employees remain flexible when larger changes occur.
Get the Best Out of Your Teams
Productivity levels will always rise and fall in a business. However, by following the strategies mentioned, you’ll ensure that you’re building a strong foundation for your business built on mutual respect and support that will lead to better opportunities for sustainable growth.
Cameron Magee, the owner of avad3 Event Production, is a passionate and dedicated professional who began his journey in event production as a curious 12-year-old at his childhood church. Today, he leads a team of hard-working production professionals, having built avad3 from his college dorm room into a national production company, committed to both client success and the well-being of his team.