We depend on those around us to produce at a higher level. If you manage a
sales team, your success is the cumulative success of your team. If you are in
an office setting, then the productivity of others in your office will support
your goals and eventual success.
If you can effectively help those around you to produce at a higher level, then
you will enjoy a greater success also. Here are three secrets to boosting the
performance of those on your team.
1. Forget Their Weakness
All too often I see sales managers and business owners try to eliminate a team
member’s weaknesses. The manager literally itemizes all of a persons weak
spots and then sets out to exorcise them like they were demons. The truth is
that we all have strengths and weaknesses. A person’s weak points are slow to
change. Many times someone is deficient at something because they don’t enjoy
doing it. Either way you are sure to push a good team member away when you
only focus on the areas that they don’t enjoy and are weak at.
Here’s the secret. Focus on someone’s strengths. Whatever someone does well
will make a positive impact on your business. Reinforce those skills. Let
that person do more in the areas they are great at. They will have more fun,
produce better results, and be a happier and more committed team member.
Another tip is to find another qualified person to handle that part of the
workload that someone else is weak at. Now both people are happy.
2. Help Them See the Vision
We all have good and bad days. That is a part of life. It is easy to work
hard on a good day. We feel great and we want to get lots done. On the tough
days, when things aren’t going well, we tend to want to mope around. We are
not focused, and our productivity plummets.
If we are focused on the emotion of the moment it is very easy to get caught up
in it, and let the negative issues affect our performance.
As an entrepreneur or business manager, we should have a clear grasp of our
vision, or, of our organizations vision. We use that knowledge and information
to drive our actions and therefore produce our results.
Here’s the secret. Make sure that everyone on your team clearly sees and
understands your vision. Use it as a driving force. Keep your team members
focused on the vision, not on the emotion of the day. Success should be
measured as small steps toward the realization of your vision.
3. Catch and Reward Their Successes
Your workload today is greater then it has ever been. You have deadlines to
meet, goals to achieve, and bills to pay. It is so easy to get overwhelmed in
your workload that you don’t take the time to participate in your team member’s
daily activities.
Employees are most loyal to an organization when they feel appreciated by that
organization and the people who comprise it. Team members look for a new
environment (read: your competitor) when they feel that their efforts are going
unnoticed and unappreciated.
Here’s the secret.: take the time to observe what is going on around you. Know
what your team member’s goals are. Know their trials and tribulations. Know
what gets them excited. Learn about what is happening in their personal lives.
Any time someone makes a positive step forward, let them know that you’ve
noticed, and that you appreciate what they are doing. Reward results, and
reward effort.
Use these three productivity secrets to increase the results your team is
achieving, and you will be on the road to Building a Better Biz!
