As a manager or business owner, if you haven’t got a happy, motivated team then you’re in trouble. Employees who are content get the work done. They’re more efficient and productive. And the opposite is true for employees who aren’t happy. You’re much less likely to do a good job with an unmotivated team, regardless of the industry you’re in.
The key to having a happy, motivated team is creating a positive work environment. It’s not just about making a small handful of employees happy – you want them all to be on the same page, gelling together and excited to come to work everyday.
In my experience as a business owner, supervisor and employee, there are three key learning points everyone needs to be aware of in order to create a great working environment, and in this article I’m going to be sharing them with you.
Treat People Like People
I realised early on in my career that the better I understand people, the more I can get out of them. This isn’t about being manipulative or using any management techniques per se, it’s about treating people like people.
So often in business, managers and supervisors treat their employees like numbers. They think of them as data – potential profit, percentiles of productivity, and so on. The problem is, if you think about people like numbers, they’re more likely to act like that. This is tantamount to a lack of motivation and enjoyment in their roles, which results in poor work output and low team morale.
The easiest way to treat people like people is just to be yourself. Be mates with your employees. Find out what they do, what their hobbies are. Build a rapport and friendship with them, and that sense of camaraderie will quickly spread throughout your business and your team.
Be the Best Version of Yourself
You can’t lead a team of happy, motivated employees unless you’re leading by example. If you’re unhappy in your role and not pulling your weight, chances are this attitude is going to rub off on your employees.
Personally, I think a lot of this comes down to your own well-being. If you take care of your own health, then you’re more likely to be energetic and motivated to perform your own role. And when your role is leading a team by example, you need to be on top form.
Culture
The top two tips are great, but they’re only effective if your management and supervising team are on the same wavelength as you are. Otherwise, your efforts will be wasted. This is why it’s so important to create an effective team culture.
I concentrate 80% of my time on creating a good team culture that I believe in. But even still, I can’t create the perfect team environment without people around me to help. That’s why I make sure that the people who I put in control – whether they’re supervisors or project managers – live and breathe the same cultural ideas that I do. I have to know that they’re going to treat people like people and be the best version of themselves.
Everyone in a business or organisation has a role to play. As the boss, it’s your responsibility to make sure that everyone knows what that role is, and that they’re happy performing it. Because if you do that successfully, you’ll create a great environment that’s productive and efficient; and if you don’t, the results won’t be quite so good. So ask yourself, are you treating people like people, being the best version of yourself, and creating an awesome team culture? If not, it may be time to change… before it’s too late.
Action items
What makes you happy? What’s your motivation? Once you figure this out, you can start to figure out and appreciate how to motivate the team?
Figure out the why of your team
Enjoy what you do. If not, take action to make changes
