Working at the Office

It’s the end of the school year and after a week of cleaning, moving furniture and cabinets to store everything for the summer, a CPR class, and starting the process of aggregating data, I am enjoying the “slow down” from the frenetic pace of the year.

Now that the pace has slowed down a bit, I’m devoting at least a couple hours a day of my time each day to finishing the first edit of my ghost story novel. I’m psyched: I’m farther than I’ve ever gotten before. I’m determined to publish to Kindle. And then start another.

I’ll write another post this week about that, but for now….

I had the lovely Sandra Hayward contact me for a guest post. She’s a newer writer and I like to help a person out when they’re starting out. She’s written some sound advice that I would tell a first-time manager…like myself! She doesn’t have a website, yet, per se, but writes for Edubirdie.com (link below).

She saw the content on the blog here and asked if she could share some of her expertise. I can say after my first year of managing staff, I hoped I did all the things she mentions below. But still, being a leader of a crew of folks is time-consuming and requires a lot of energy and professionalism.

And now, let me turn the stage over to Sandra.

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Tips for Managers: How to Improve Work at the Office

By Ashrafhage (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Current studies are not as uplifting for the US managers as it may seem at first sight. Their employees consider 40% of them as inefficient and bad bosses.

Whenever you think your relationships with your staff are running smoothly, consider and evaluate several key factors that enable the most efficient communication and feedback.

According to a Gallup Poll “one in two U.S. adults said they left their job to get away from their manager”.

Managers find their backs against the wall when good employees leave. Compensation is not always a good solution to the problem as efficient communication is vital.

Considering the fact that the current marketplace offers comparatively equal salaries in particular segments, other factors appear to be of main priority for the staff. Here are some useful “seeds” to plant, letting managers keep employees to showcase growing productivity and development.

Efficient Retention Strategies

Implementation of efficient retention strategies is useful for both reducing costs and keeping employees engaged, featuring a creative and motivated approach to every responsibility they are assigned.

• Engagement. Managers should provide maximum tools and chances letting employees develop their skills as well as pick up some new abilities that are beneficiary in their work.
• Praise them when necessary. Giving a praise will hardly lead to high costs. At the same time, it will mean a lot to your staff, recognition of a well-done job is obligatory.
• Track the needs. Keep in mind that your every employee comes with changing needs that you need to track and meet; it helps to build a loyal approach letting them know that managers do care. We all call for a piece of stability in our lives, don’t we?
• Let people do their best. The idea is to create an appropriate environment letting employees express their innovative ideas and solutions; don’t limit them in actions and encourage for development.
• Let employees trust you. Your staff will be much happier in case it can fully trust you; it means that you are a reliable leader.
• Get rid of weak employees. Whenever you detect a weak spot in your team you should eliminate it at once; all your co-workers are supposed to be of the same proficiency and expertise level.

Clear Deadlines and Priorities

Establishing clear deadlines is vital unless you want your employees to flounder. They will never know about the priorities on a given project are unless you inform them; these easy tips will let you set accurate deadlines and increase productivity.

• Specify the exact date and time. Try to be as specific as possible because whenever you set a “next week” deadline, do not complain if the task is completed on Friday, not on Tuesday. Indicate the very date and time you need the job done.
• Set the priorities. Your employees must be aware of assignments that are of main priority, so try to steer clear of old-fashioned “ASAP” formulations.
• Always set true terms; avoid establishing false deadlines as it will result in more problems.
• Regularly update the schedule. An updated schedule is vital especially when you deal with long-term projects; always create a clear vision of every process.

Note that every change deals with loss for every employee. Some of them are more likely to resist those changes even if they come with obvious improvements. Managers should make intelligent and accurate decisions letting their staff cope with all new introductions.

The same thing with confrontation poor performance of your team. The latest KEY Group survey revealed that only 31% employees think their managers are consistent with their expectations.

To be sure, efficient workers don’t like working with people who aren’t. An accurate balance is necessary. That will eventually come with eliminating all your weak spots and establishing an efficient team with high productivity potential.

 

Sandra J. Hayward is a Miami Dade college MBA graduate that is interested in academic research and writing but does not want to depend on the rigorous schedule. That is why she has been collaborating with http://edubirdie.com for a while time as a freelance writer and enjoys her flextime.