Nothing is better than knowing you have a productive team of employees that is dependable and motivated. We are all looking for ways to keep our teams excited and productive. Here’s a list of 7 simple ways to keep your team on track!
IMAGE by Andy Welsher
- Set Clear Goals
- Let your employees know what needs to be accomplished! Set clear, attainable goals so your employees know what is expected of them. These goals can be as simple as completing thorough inspections to getting more customers in the door! Just let your employees know what needs to be done and don’t leave room for confusion.
- Get Your Employees Excited About Your Mission
- Sell your mission rather than your services. An article entitled How to Create a Highly Motivated Service Team (published in the June 2013 issue of Auto Inc.) explains how employees who are paid hourly may not wish to take on more work. Instead of having your employees focus on selling services like oil changes, refocus their motivation on providing safety and reliability. They are able to make people feel safe. What a great commodity to be able to offer to your customers!
- Keep Employees Accountable
- You’ve already decided to set clear goals, now you need to monitor the progress! Take note when goals aren’t reached as well as when they are reached. Give feedback to your employees, making sure to comment on specifics. This lets your employees know that you are paying attention to what they are accomplishing.
- Celebrate Achievements
- A little bit of positive reinforcement can go a long way! When one of your employees accomplishes something, shoot them an email telling them you appreciate their hard work. You could even treat your whole team to a pizza party or perhaps a trip to the movies? Just let your employees know that you appreciate them and are taking note of all of their hard work!
- Ask Your Employees For Advice
- Give your employees a voice by asking them for suggestions and ideas on how to take your business to the next level. By asking employees for ideas and advice it makes them feel valued and also gets them thinking about the company and gives them more reasons to be excited about what they’re doing!
- Keep Your Workplace Positive
- It has been proven countless times that a positive workplace breeds success. Just look at books like “The Happiness Advantage” by Shawn Achor. One way to keep employees attitudes positive is by setting the example yourself! Nothing is worse than a grumpy boss! Instead, come to work excited about the day and the opportunity you have to help someone! This simple action can help inspire your employees to be excited and happy about work!
- Build Trust in Your Team
- Although many may dread things like icebreakers or team building exercises, these are activities that can really help bring your team together! Instead of doing some of the more dreaded activities like the Trust Fall, try doing something your employees will enjoy. There is a great article at the Daily Muse that has great suggestions such as taking a field trip or volunteering with a local non-profit organization. No matter what you choose to do, know that nothing is better than working with a team of people that you trust!