How would you rate your workplace climate? Warm and engaging or icy and cutthroat? If you’re concerned about the state of your office and your employees’ satisfaction with their jobs, then implementing more positive communication strategies could be your ticket to creating a much more comfortable and dedicated team of employees. Here are 3 ways you can accomplish this:
Recognize the Achievements of Others
Do you have any “Employee of the Month” awards in your office? Do you ever email or speak with an employee simply to tell them what an awesome job they’re doing? If not, then you should consider creating new opportunities for outstanding employees to be recognized for their efforts. They’ll never directly tell you that they want recognition, but humans are psychologically driven to desire recognition and the approval of others, so this is an excellent first step toward establishing more positive channels of communication in your workplace.
Open Yourself to Constructive Criticism
One of the biggest obstacles to greater positive communication between employees and employers is the lack of genuine opportunities for criticism of the boss. In other words, a manager who is quick to lash out against anyone who dares to critique something they say or do probably won’t inspire their employees to be honest if they perceive that you’ll interpret their messages the wrong way.
As an alternative, explicitly remind your employees that they can be open and honest with you, even when the matter involves something you are doing. You may be their superior, but that doesn’t make you 100% infallible, either. Keep this in mind and your employees will feel more empowered by a form of leadership that willingly acknowledges the capacity to make mistakes.
Aim for Consensus, Not Control
As a manager, one of your central tasks is ensuring that your subordinates are performing to the highest possible standards. However, a control-oriented approach to management can put a real damper on your employees’ enthusiasm to come to work and get the job done. In fact, micromanagement is one of the top complaints among employees, which can lead to disastrous consequences like high employee turnover rates and low office morale.
Rather than trying to control everything your team does, generate more feelings of consensus by giving them more active roles in the decision-making process. If they think that every decision is solely based on your own opinions, then they’ll be less likely to contribute potentially revolutionary ideas in team meetings because feeling ignored can be extremely demotivating for anyone!