Being the boss comes with a lot of responsibility, and not just the additional duties expected of your pay grade. As a boss, you are not only responsible for pushing yourself to achieve goals, but your staff too. It’s important that you inspire and have the trust of your colleagues and your actions and methods as a boss can have a strong effect on how they perceive you. Become the boss you want to be and become a better leader with the following tips.
1. Be a good communicator
Communication is essential in any workplace, and as a leader, you should aim to be open and honest with your employees. There are some great habits you can develop to help you communicate better that will benefit both you and your team. Make an effort to spend some one-on-one time with your employees so that you can encourage regular communication that could identify potential issues and resolve problems before they become severe. One way that you can do this is to schedule regular catch-ups with your staff or keep a window free in your diary each week for drop-in sessions where people can come and talk to you if they please.
It’s difficult to keep secrets in an office, and if something is happening that will affect your employees, it’s important that you keep them in the loop. Trust is very important, and they will respect you a lot more if you’re honest with them.
2. Learn & Support Your Team’s Strengths
An effective manager can identify the strengths of an employee and help them to use them effectively. You should be supportive of others’ development and encourage them to form and reach objectives. Often people focus on the negatives, but by taking the time to celebrate success - you can help keep staff motivated to keep them performing at their best.
By learning and recognizing your employees’ strengths, you can build better working relationships and shape your team to work effectively. Forbes published an excellent article on the ‘things employees want their bosses to know,’ which can provide some food for thought if you’re looking to adapt your management style.
3. Get To Know Your Employees
Your employees are all individuals. Even though they all work for the same cause, they all have different ways of working and communicating. Having an adaptive management approach will help you to communicate with your employees on all levels, but this requires taking the time to get to know them individually.
Finding out what values your employees hold, what their interests are and what motivates them will help you to steer them better and help them see you as a good boss. Knowing how to communicate with each individual will help you to produce better results that will benefit your team and the business.
4. Know When To Get Tough
While a large part of being a boss revolves around getting the best out of your employees, you also need to know when to get tough. There may be times when you need to address poor performance or find yourself dealing with wrongful behavior at work, and it’s important that you don’t shy away from these issues. Your employees need to know that you’re fair and willing to address tricky subjects and you must always show non-preferential treatment when people aren’t playing by the rules.
If you struggle to make tough decisions or you feel that you’re out of your depth, talk to someone you know that has experience in dealing with tough issues for advice. You may need some initial coaching, but you’ll soon adapt to having to manage the positive and negative sides of being a boss.
5. Make Your Workplace Fun
A happy, fun workplace will keep your staff motivated, reduce turnover and ensure an overall better work environment. While there’s the danger of trying too hard and become a Michael Scott-type character, there are some simple things you can do to make your workplace more fun - especially during times when employee morale is low.
On a basic level, providing some opportunities for employees to socialize and enjoy some downtime will help people to work together better and can be an excellent stress reliever from time to time. Celebrating the end of big projects or company successes will give employees something to look forward to and make them feel appreciated for all their efforts.
Becoming Better Bosses
Being a good boss takes time, and you’ll always be learning new ways to improve your management style. Learn from those around you and always strive to be better to be the best boss you can be at your office.
I hope you enjoyed this article about things that will make you a better boss at your workplace.
Interested in more articles about employee management?
Read My Posts:
- 7 Ways To Improve Employee Satisfaction
- How To Boost Employee Morale On A Budget
Published by Michael J Schiemer
Owner of Bootstrap Business
Money - Marketing - Motivation
Digital Marketing | SEO | Social Media
Mike Schiemer Builds Better Business
I hope you enjoyed this article about things that will make you a better boss at your workplace.
Interested in more articles about employee management?
Read My Posts:
- 7 Ways To Improve Employee Satisfaction
- How To Boost Employee Morale On A Budget
Published by Michael J Schiemer
Owner of Bootstrap Business
Money - Marketing - Motivation
Digital Marketing | SEO | Social Media
Mike Schiemer Builds Better Business
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