Successful people are simply those with successful habits.
~Brian Tracy

You will agree with me that while anyone can be placed in a manager’s position, not everyone can lead a team. You may be good at what you do, but managing a team is a whole different story. There are many factors that must be considered. The good news is you don’t have to rely on inborn traits. You can develop qualities that will take your team to the top, and even take management courses if you find this helpful.

Employees rely on a strong leader to pave the way towards success.

A good leader is crucial to unlocking the potential of the entire team, which leads to overall better productivity and efficiency. You can learn more about Becoming a More Inspirational Leader in our helpful article.

Let’s take a look at some of the habits successful managers possess:

1. Lead by example.

The first and most important characteristic of a successful manager is that they walk their talk. You can’t simply talk about core values, habits, and goals that you expect your employees; you must demonstrate those in order to be taken seriously. You shouldn’t expect your employees to change, unless they see that their managers are doing the same thing.

2. Information sharing.

In times past, managers had access to all the information that was necessary to evolve. They would then delegate tasks based on this information and expect employees to act on them, without asking questions. This is no longer the case today; you as a manager can no longer simply accumulate information. Successful managers make sure that their employees can find the information they need at any time to get their job done.

3. Open communication.

It’s important that your team members feel able to talk to you when they feel that they need to. One good example of this is having an “open door policy”, which removes intimidation and reduces communication barriers. It’s your way of telling your staff that they can talk to you whenever they need to. Listening to what your employees feel will clue you in on ideas or obstacles that you may not see.

4. Constructive feedback.

Successful managers have grasped the importance of giving constructive feedback to the team in a way that is helpful. You should base feedback on concrete evidence or observation, and be information-specific. Feedback should be straight to the point and kept professional, away from issues that deal with feelings or emotion. If your employee can improve on something or did something wrong, feedback should be given immediately rather than letting it wait.

5. Ability to remain calm.

Because your team is counting on you, you can’t afford to break down when the pressure builds up. Managers are pillars of their team, which means that you are being relied on especially when the going gets tough. Always have an air of calmness and focus on what needs to get done. Remember that there will always be days that don’t go as planned, but try to keep a positive outlook for the sake of the team.

6. Implement training for the team.

A successful manager is one who’s able to help the team improve their skill set. Training can enhance an individual’s strengths while providing the tools team members need to work on their weaknesses. Training not only helps your team become more efficient, it also boosts employee morale.

7. Mediation.

Disputes within the workplace may sometimes be inevitable, but a good manager is capable of mediating. To be successful as a mediator though, managers should be able to be objective when dealing with issues.

As a manager, it’s never enough to have the intelligence or technical expertise to run your business. The habits just covered are soft skills that managers should also develop to create the conditions for success in the workplace, while keeping employees happy. These factors translate into successful businesses and increased productivity.

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Define what your brand stands for, its core values and tone of voice, and then communicate consistently in those terms.
~Simon Mainwaring

We often relate the term “value” to money. While profits and a company’s overall value are important, managers need to focus more on the values of their business. A business’s values should be created by its owner and top management with the conscious thought that these are building blocks for a company’s success. Good core values should be instilled from the start of an enterprise, as they help influence a company’s people, business systems, and vision.

As a company changes, its core values may change as well.

In the long run, adjusting core values can help fine-tune a company’s path to success, which contributes to its evolution. Clearly communicating your business’s core values to the employees will help them realize what the bigger picture entails, helping them establish an identity and find their place in the work environment. This will contribute to employees having a positive attitude, but there are other ways you can instill this in employees. For more on cultivating a positive attitude among employees, read the helpful article, 5 Keys to a Positive Attitude.

1. Integrity.
Great companies are built on a foundation of integrity, which inspires people to be honest, and to do the right thing, regardless of the circumstances. Employees who understand the importance of integrity know that they must do the right thing, even if it means that they must forego personal gains.

2. Innovation.
Encourage your team to think outside the box in all aspects of the business. While every organization encounters challenges big and small, not all companies have enough innovative spirit to overcome them and become stronger. How can you train your employees to value innovation? You can discuss obstacles with them, recognize best practices that have been developed by employees, and reward them.

3. Respect for the individual.
Employees are the most important asset of any company, and putting them at the focus of your core business values will help you move further. Let employees know that they are important by building a workplace that honors them. Your company manual of ethics should have a section that clearly defines rules to protect each individual—anti-harassment, anti-racism, and anti-bullying policies—and should provide employees with outlets for filing complaints; these are some ways you can instill this core value.

4. Win-win solutions.
Creating win-win solutions for clients and suppliers can easily catapult your business to success. Remember that the best partnerships benefit both parties; they’re not one-way streets. If you possess this core value, your company will be a favored partner, and this will be a major key to growth.

5. Be driven by strategy.
Regularly get everyone involved in planning for the future. There is always room for improvement, and to become successful you need to have a sound strategy in place for how to achieve that improvement. Involving everyone in this process can highlight obstacles or innovative ideas you might otherwise overlook. This will also help you create better systems, to help everyone work better, and to produce a better product or service consistently.

6. Adaptability.
While we can’t always predict everything, it’s best to be prepared. Successful businesses have embraced the value of adaptability, and have trained their teams to think this way. Adaptability is key to sustainability, and it promotes lifelong learning. It will help your team learn to innovate together to triumph over unexpected challenges.

7. Recognition.
Recognizing your employees for their achievements reinforces good employee morale, and in turn will encourage better performance. There are many ways to provide your employees with recognition, especially if you provide regular feedback for each individual during appraisal.

These are some core values to help you get started, and you’ll want to give key personnel input on your company’s core values, but as a leader, you can also define your own that are non-negotiable. Ask yourself what the absolute values are that will help you succeed, and prioritize those. Successful companies build core values around employees, efficiency, and integrity, so these should definitely be among your building blocks for success.

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The joy is in the getting there. The beginning years of starting your business, the camaraderie when you’re in the pit together, are the best years of your life. So rather than being so focused on when you get big and powerful, if you can just get the juice out of that… don’t miss it.

~Barbara Corcoran

There are countless studies that prove social interaction greatly contributes to your health. It helps you deal with stress better, strengthens your immune system, improves cognitive ability, and can even help you live longer. Integrating social interaction into the workplace will yield better results for your business.

The benefits of encouraging camaraderie in the office are significant.

Employees who regularly gather together trust each other more, which contributes to better teamwork. It also makes them more loyal to the business as a whole. Camaraderie strengthens communications within a team, and these all contribute to the bottom line of the organization.

Today, we rely more on electronic communication more than ever before.

This limits face-to-face interaction in offices, which deteriorate communication and thus hurt businesses. We should never underestimate the power of social interaction; you can read more about a key piece of this interaction, becoming a better listener, in the helpful article, Why Not Take the Listening Skills Test. Reducing social communications hinders the flow of innovation and creative ideas as well as preventing people from connecting to the bigger picture.

Here are a few things you can do to improve efficiency through camaraderie in your organization.

1. Plan regular out-of-office activities to help the team unwind and interact.
This will help your team feel more comfortable with each other, especially if you have new members on the team. Getting to know each other outside the workplace will create a better understanding between team members, and can help them work together better back in the office. Out-of-office activities can range from bowling, dinner and drinks, to sports days. Even an office luncheon where no work is discussed will serve.

2. Initiate a schedule for regular staff meetings.
Get everyone involved during meetings, so they can brainstorm and learn problem-solving techniques together while sharing input. You can even have breakout sessions where teams are broken down into smaller groups, reinforcing more intimate discussion. This will help each person bring out their individual strengths and contribute to the discussions.

3. Brief your team about the importance of camaraderie.
Let employees know how important it is to the health of the organization as well as for each individual to work together seamlessly. This means getting along well in and out of the workplace. If one of your team members has conflict with someone in the office, be the mediator and help them resolve matters as amicably as possible.

4. Provide regular training sessions lead by one person in your team periodically.
With any change in a modern organization, there will be one person who has adapted much faster than everyone else. Highlight that individual’s strength by having them train the rest of the team, familiarizing everyone with the business subject better. This will help your team learn to communicate and learn with each other, but be sure everyone gets a chance to train.

5. Stock up on the snack drawer in the kitchenette.
This sounds simple, but it will engage your team in more ways than one. It will encourage conversations at the office when one or more are taking in a quick break. The kitchenette is one of the places your team can gather and have a chat. A snack drawer means that they don’t have to step out of the office if they want to eat and talk.

You may or may not have had experience working in a dysfunctional office environment full of politicking and backstabbing. This is the type of working environment that nobody enjoys, and as a manager or leader it’s your job to prevent it from the outset.

A healthy and happy work environment where employees can interact with one another will result in better work output. Friendly employees will lead to better retention rates, because people will want to stay in their jobs longer. Better retention rates translate to savings for your company, avoiding the high costs involved with hiring and training new employees.

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The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best – Epictetus

No matter what kind of industry you’re in, the link between performance and employee motivation is undeniable.

Each time you delegate tasks to your employees, you probably already expect them to complete it with a level of dedication and commitment to produce quality results. But how can you perform tasks properly if you aren’t motivated? This is the question that managers must strive to work on, and integrate into their company.

Knowing that you already go to work with numerous emails waiting and more projects to perform each day can seem monotonous, but to the motivated employee it’s part of the day’s work and they will complete it as efficiently as possible.

You may not have thought about this before, but the efficiency level of your employees isn’t just bound by their qualifications and ability. There is more to employee efficiency, and for managers to understand this we must look at willingness.

If you’re able to create the ideal balance between your employees’ abilities and their willingness or motivation to work, you will enjoy better productivity and overall improved operations with a lower cost.

Now let’s learn 5 simple ways to motivate your staff:

1. Make sure that your working environment is friendly to everyone

Remember that your staff spends a large amount of their daily lives in the office, so the environment should be as appealing and conducive to work as possible. A good working atmosphere helps people look forward to work each day. Some things you can think about include giving your staff  more space so they don’t feel cramped.

Ensuring that they have enough natural light around will also help them be more productive. The room temperature is also important, maybe you can gather a consensus on what your team feels is the ideal temperature to keep in the office.

2. Food can be a great incentive, as people can be more excited to come to work knowing that there’s free food around.

This also means that they don’t have to step out of the office just to get some coffee or afternoon snacks that will help get them through the day. You don’t need to spend too much money on this; basic coffee and tea as well as occasional donuts and pizza will suffice.

3. Learn how to build ownership among your employees, which will help them feel that they are more responsible for the product or service you provide.

This will also help build their self-esteem, instead of letting them feel that they simply work at your company. Meeting your company’s goals will mean that you will need to have projects in place. One of the best ways is to delegate employees to head projects that can utilise each person’s strength.

4. Keep your employees informed about what’s going on in the business

Top management and business owners know much more about the bigger picture than employees do. It will pay off when you share this information with the team. Make it common knowledge for them to understand new developments in the industry, possible new products in the pipeline, as well as any new challenges that may lie ahead for everyone.

Sharing intelligence will further strengthen your employees’ self-esteem. This will also help them feel that they are an important part of your business.

5. Positive reinforcement by acknowledging the hard work and dedication of your employees is crucial to motivation

Sometimes, we may not realise that we continually try to  motivate employees to do something, but forget to recognise them once they have done it. This may cause your employees to be less motivated the next time you ask them to do something.

As a leader, it is your job to motivate your employees. If your team feels like talking to you will simply drain them of energy rather than inspire them, you are not getting the best out of your team.

Why not leave a comment about what motivates your employes.