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One of the oldest (and truest) cliches in business is that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. And a weakness in leadership will get mediocre results from the strongest of teams. The following are three possible (and most likely probable) reasons why your team is not working together as effectively as you’d like.
You haven’t developed a strong company culture
The way your team members think about their work is more important than any plan you can make for them. Your strategy might be solid and well-thought-out, but it’s not worth much if your people don’t buy into it. If you’re trying to get your employees excited about a new product or service, but they’re just not feeling it because they don’t believe in the company’s mission, then you can bet your plan won’t work.
You have to start with the people who will be doing the work and build from there. All this comes down to company culture, which will be one of the biggest factors in determining whether or not you get the most out of your team.
Related: Use Regular Shout Outs to Engaged Your Employee’s Participation
You’re micro-managing
We’ve all had to learn that employees are not your children. When you coddle your team, they won’t be able to work independently. They’ll just be busy doing what you tell them to do instead of doing what they need (or want) to do. This means that not only are they not going to be able to do their best work, but they also won’t be able to help you with your goals. They don’t need you to hold their hands and guide them through every single step of the day.
If you’re micromanaging your employees, it’s time to stop. Instead, try giving them a task and trusting that they can handle it on their own. Once you see how capable they are, you’ll be surprised at how productive they become!
Related: 5 Unicorn Founders On How They Built Stellar Teams
You’re not rewarding
If you don’t reward your employees’ ideas, they’ll stop giving them to you. They have no incentive to keep coming up with innovative ways of doing things. They’ve been doing it for years and haven’t gotten anything out of it. Try incentivizing employees when they come up with something new—even if it’s just a small, incremental change.
You might go in all guns blazing with your new awesome, shared vision for success and how you will get there. But if you don’t start small, set achievable milestones, and hold each other accountable, you’re bound to fail before you even begin.
Related: 5 Obstacles Keeping You from Being an Effective Leader
This article is from Entrepreneur.com
