Are you and your team on the same page or are you not even on the same book?
You assume that they know what the objectives are and you are taking a course of action, assuming the team is following, but when you turn around you find no one there. I hope you know what happens when you assume! The best way to insure team alignment is to be a focused leader who empowers and engages your team. When this happens, they will in turn create loyal customers leading to growth and success. Consider these points.
Focused Leader - You may be the owner, the manager, or CEO but that does not mean you are the leader. You appoint yourself CEO but your team will follow you only if you show you can lead. As manager you can influence the process through which people recognize your leadership. You do this by creating an environment where people will join your team. They see the purpose of their job and share the values and the vision. Today’s fast-moving business environment demands that the effective leader be both, a well-organized administrator and highly adept in understanding people’s basic needs and behavior in the workplace. Be open with your communication. Share your vision, values and goals. Also, share organizational results. A CEO who keeps results secret breeds distrust. The most successful businesses and business leaders conduct “open book” management. This is the way to gain trust and commitment.
Engaged Agents and Employees - Since the business environment is always changing and evolving, the way we do business and communicate must also change with the environment. Some engagement drivers may have shifted. Be aware that today’s workers will only stay with an organization as long as they feel they are doing meaningful work and organization values and social responsibility matches theirs. It is not all about commissions! And, the desire of team members to have the opportunity to do what they do best is still important as is being recognized for a job well done.
There is still so much room for improvement. A study released in October 2012 conducted by MSW Research and Dale Carnegie Training surveyed 1500 employees nationally. Results showed only 29% of employees are fully engaged while 26% are disengaged. Bottom line is that in all these surveys many employees listed similar key drivers for engagement, such as their relationship with their immediate supervisor, belief in senior leadership, and pride in working for the company. That needs to be addressed by business leaders. Disengaged employees do not contribute and worse, they could alienate your customers.
Loyal Customers – They are the key to success now and in the future. Careless unengaged agents can ruin a business by driving away customers. Do you and your team know how to measure loyalty, how to wow customers, and how to deliver on and exceed expectations? The right people need to be placed in the right positions. Jim Collins talks about this when he says, “Get the right people on the bus, the wrong people off the bus, and the right people in the right seats”. Then focus of the vision, the goals, train, develop, and engage.
Focused leaders with an engaged team will result in loyal customers and more business success. For a similar blog post on our web site see HOW TO KEEP YOUR TEAM ALIGNED.
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