Have you ever asked your employees the question,
"What can I do to help you be more effective?"
If you are going to manage and lead successfully, it's important to know what your people need to be effective. It's such an obvious question, but one that most leaders forget to ask.
You are bound to get a variety of responses. From, "Gee, it's all good." to requests to fix things outside of your control such as an unpopular HR policy.
What you are really looking for by asking "How can I help you be more effective?" is an honest dialogue about how to make things better.
8 Tips for Mining Employee Gold
- Be clear as to your motives.
Resist using the discussion as a way to generate employee compliments about on how great you are. - Be present.
Be ready to receive what is being said - no matter how hard it may be to hear. - Embrace your naysayers.
Every team should have a few contrarians who ask 'why?' Nothing will ever change is you have a bunch of get-along-go-alongs. - Even if they may be wrong, your employees have a right to think as they do.
Remember that a person's perspective is their reality. - Own your mistakes.
The fastest way to create trust is to admit to your employees that you screwed up. - Probe to understand.
Ask open-ended questions (starting with 'who, what, why, where, which, when or how') so you get the full picture. - Be accountable.
If your meeting goes right, you'll have a list of action items. Set a date to get back to them on your commitments. - Repeat the same process once a month.
Your employees will look forward to these sessions and be eager to share their creative ideas about how to make things better.If you regularly engage your employees in this type of constructive dialogue, I guarantee that within a few months you'll have happier employees, happier customers and a more efficient operation.
Make it a great week!