All small businesses have a problem lurking about somewhere– even if you may not even know it! Sometimes it’s time, finances, your staff or lack thereof, an issue with an outside company, etc etc.. you get the point!
We’ve given you many tips on how you can effectively use your time, and we’ll continue to give you those tips.
However, this blog is to give you tips on other areas of your business that you may be lacking in– specifically, how to create a happier work environment for your staff!
Perhaps your problem is that your team is not happy. Maybe it’s not even that? Maybe it’s that your team just isn’t using their time effectively.
It may also be that they are too busy with their workloads that they can’t keep up, or do not have enough workload. Or perhaps there is no issue, and you’re here simply to find some fun, creative ways to get your staff more engaged.
Regardless of the issue at play, here are a few Task Bullet tips to help you use your team’s time and work ethic effectively!
1. Set Clear Expectations or Goals For Your Team
Imagine you and your team are going on a work hiking trip. But instead of prepping your team in advance about what the trip will consist of, or what the end will look like, you simply tell them to start hiking.
You’re telling them exactly where to step, and when. Step after step. Your team will become confused, tired, and lose motivation- they don’t know where they’re going, why they’re going there, and what the end goal is!
This is exactly what it’s like if you don’t set clear goals or expectations for your team.
As a manager, sometimes you end up handing out task after task, without ever touching on why those tasks are needed and what they are going to accomplish.
If we don’t describe and explain the end goal of any given project to our team, they won’t understand the greater context of their work and why it’s important.
That is when they begin to feel that their work is monotonous or pointless, and they lose their motivation!
But this is a very simple fix, don’t stress yourself too much!
Instead of providing your team with task after task, simply take the time to sit down with your team and give them a specific, measurable end goal. Describe everything that needs to get done in order to meet those goals- drive them towards an ultimate goal.
This will enable them to find a sense of achievement when they reach it!
This leads us to point number two…
2. Be Transparent and Straight Forward With Your Team
Being honest and straightforward with your staff creates a multitude of respect and integrity. Haven’t you heard the term- “secrets don’t make friends”?
Transparency, in a nutshell, means making everything — all information, goals, plans, and challenges — clear-cut to everyone on your team.
When you are straightforward with your team, you are able to gather the full ability and motivation of every member.
Everyone not only knows what they’re doing but also why they’re doing it!
You can set clear-cut goals for your team, have everyone in the loop, and be ready to share their ideas with you.
They now have all the information they need to do their part! This may even give them more inspiration and time to find creative, out-of-the-box ways to contribute to the plan.
Being able to be straightforward and transparent is the essence of effective teamwork.
No confusion, no monotony, and no loss of motivation! Together you and your team can readily tackle any task at hand to the best of your combined abilities!
3. Acknowledging Your Team’s Accomplishments
As we already know, a huge motivational tool in the workplace is recognition. Money is important too… But recognition is also extremely vital!
Being acknowledged for a job well done is the best motivator. It gives you just the right amount of confidence you need to continue to work hard and even inspires you to go above and beyond more often.
If it works for you, it works for your staff!
When you and your teammates can easily congratulate each other on a job well done, there’s no better way to build effective teamwork.
4. Communication is Key
We’ve heard it a hundred times– but it’s still just as true. Communication IS key. Not only should you be more open and straightforward with your team to create inspiration, but communicating often is vital to an effective hardworking team.
This can be in person, by email, online chats, staff meetings, Skype calls, etc — there are boundless ways to communicate.
Lack of communication or broken communication is often a continual block in teamwork effectiveness. Try using fewer emails, and more phone calls or Skype calls.
These are great, fast, on-the-spot ways to communicate directly to your team members, and not have any important details lost in translation!
What Makes Teamwork Effective?
At the end of the day, effective teamwork can be accomplished by following this simple saying: it’s about people, not projects.
When you focus on what motivates, inspires, and encourages people — what drives them, what comes naturally to them, what they find enjoyable — you can gather their full potential!
And that’s what makes Task Bullet so vastly different from every other Virtual Assistant service on the market: we focus on all the real people, virtually assisting you and your business, to get the best results!
