Remember the seven dwarves? Man those guys worked hard! They were more effective miners than people twice their size. (Except for Sleepy, who brought down team productivity and Sneezy, who raised everyone's health care premiums). The Dwarves were also completely self-motivated, with only light supervision from Doc. Few productive teams operate with that amount of autonomy, motivation and collaborative effort. As a manager, you are undoubtedly looking for ways to unlock employee performance. Below are seven principles that are guaranteed to have an impact, and a slide-share of our High Performing Teams eBook.
1) Ask Questions
Asking questions sparks self-reflection and drives action. This process allows managers to know where employees are winning and where they are struggling. Here are a couple of great questions to ask your employees:
- What do you need to do to have an incredible Q1? Are you clear what success looks like for your role this quarter?
- Is there something you’d want to do more autonomously or less autonomously? How so?
2) Build Trusting Relationships
According to the
Society for Human Resource Management's Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement Report,
2 of the 5 most critical factors that contributed to employee satisfaction were (1) communication between employees and senior management, and (2) the relationship between employees and their direct supervisors. Trust is the cornerstone of any successful relationship.
3) Coach Your Team
Great managers believe that all people have an innate capacity for learning and growth. That's why they have shifted away from being a controlling bosses to being
supportive coaches. Employees who are given guidance and support become self-motivated, bring higher energy into the office, and are more loyal to the business.
