GETTING YOUR TEAM EMOTIONALLY INVOLVED

 

Managing a team to success requires more than just simply appointing tasks to people. A crucial role in cultivating business growth, is being in charge of team management, these requires a fusion of interpersonal, technical, and of course, organizational skills.You manage people who are paid to do a job. But if it is “just a job” to them, you’ll never get their best.

  If they come to work looking to clock in and clock out and do as little as they can get away with in between, then you’re doomed to failure. On the other hand, if they come to work looking to enjoy themselves, looking to be stretched, challenged, inspired, and get involved, then you have a big chance to get the best out of them.

 Trouble is, the jump from drudge to super team is entirely up to you. It is you that has to inspire them, lead them, motivate them, challenge them, and get them emotionally involved.

 The good news is that getting a team emotionally involved is easy. All you have to do is make them care about what they are doing. You have to get them to see the relevance of what they are doing, how it makes an impact on people’s lives, how they provide for the needs of other human beings, and how they can reach out and touch people by what they do at work. Get them convinced, make them understand that what they do makes a difference, that it contributes to society in some way rather than just lines the owner’s or shareholders” pockets, or that the chief executive gets a big fat pay check.

Get them to care because that’s an easy thing to do. Everyone deep down wants to be valued and to be useful. The cynics will say this is nonsense, but it is true, deep down true. All you have to do is reach down far enough, and you will find care, feeling, concern, responsibility, and involvement.

Bring all that stuff up, and they’ll follow you forever and not even realize why. Just make sure that you’ve convinced yourself first before you try this out on your team. Do you believe that what you do makes a positive difference? If you’re not sure, reach down, deep down, and find a way to care….
 
Here are ten ways to better familiarize your employees with your leadership team and provide them with the higher profile they seek.

1. Give your team members the opportunity to lead company meetings. As a manager, your employees get to hear you all the time. Why not shake it up a bit and hand the responsibility to someone else? Let the meeting leader know the basics of WHAT to cover in the session, but don’t tell them HOW to do it. Give them the flexibility to use their creativity, expertise, and (dare I say) fun, to share information with the rest of the team. Not only does this give you a break, but it may also highlight leadership potential that you did not know existed.
2. Have a “Show and Tell” Day. Remember “back in the day” when you got to share your interests with your schoolmates? Why not bring that concept into the workplace? Set aside a particular time when employees can share their best ideas, tools, and information that they believe will benefit the company. No, you don’t have to act on every concept presented – just make sure to implement some of the new ideas – and make sure to recognize appropriately the people whose ideas you use.
3. Assign a “buddy” to new hires. Starting a new job is a stressful experience. The new employee doesn’t know anyone or anything and may feel uncomfortable. Tenured employees may not take the time to get to know this “unknown” person, as they are busy, and already have their friends in the workplace. By assigning one or a few team members to invite the “newbie” to lunch, it eases the transition and starts to form relationships right off the bat.
4. Start a company newsletter or, if you already have one, make sure to feature “Employee News.” Acknowledge employee wins, successes and personal victories. Don’t just wait for employees to submit their news. Specifically, reach out and ask them, “What’s the best thing that’s happened to you this month.” Publish client “kudos” letters and highlight as many employees as possible each month. Spread the love – make sure to include everyone over time.
5. Hold a monthly “Birthday Breakfast” with the CEO. Invite employees who are celebrating their birthday to a monthly informal get-together to share ideas, ask questions and talk about whatever they want to discuss. It doesn’t take being on an episode of “Undercover Boss” for the CEO to find out what is going on in the trenches. This level of transparency also helps the employees to understand what is happening “behind the scenes.”
6. Show off your people in pictures. Take pictures at company events and share them on bulletin boards or a presentation “loop.” Put pictures of each department in your lobby so your clients can see the faces behind their work. Make a “Pet Picture” wall in the lunch room. Include employee event photos in your company newsletter. Create a photo book for each employee as a gift after a company event.
7. Schedule one-on-one time with your employees. Whether you take a different employee out to lunch each week or schedule a thirty-minute coffee break onsite with your team members, give you and your team the chance to get to know each other. Create a safe environment for them to share what’s going on with them and find out what you can do to help.
8. Randomly assign seating at company meetings, so employees in different departments have the opportunity to sit with each other. Because employees who work together have a tendency to want to hang out only with each other, you’ll be mixing it up and helping people make new connections across departments. Think of how much more productive your employees will be when they get to know and have a better understanding of what other departments do and how they do it.
9. Let your employees make the final decision. When you are your team are working together on a project, let the project leader make the final determination of how to get the job done. In doing so, you show your team that you trust them and their judgement. Buy-in will be higher because your staff has a stake in the successful outcome of the task.

When you give your employees the opportunity to share in the spotlight, they feel important. When they feel important, they work harder. When they work harder, they are more productive. And when they are more productive, your organization is more profitable. Everyone wins – and you’ll keep your top talent from becoming someone else’s.