One of the key attributes of a great leader is knowing how to react to the successes and failures of the company on a daily basis. Keeping your team working hard, happy, and productive is the way to success.
If you manage all of your successes properly, you can achieve a lot of great things. Here’s why you should celebrate even the small wins with your team.
Boost Morale
One of the main problems with long-term or ongoing projects is that they can start to drag. The team begins to feel that they are working hard but getting nowhere. The end is not in sight, and they still have to get up tomorrow and do it all again. Remove that feeling of monotony and boost their morale with a celebration. Any milestone can be considered a win. Give them a reason to feel good about their work – this is something that everyone wants. You can also give them a chance to burn off stress, which is another big morale booster. With good morale in the office, you can be sure that your team will be working hard.
Create Added Goals
When a team is working towards a goal that benefits the company, they might have a good source of motivation. But when that goal will also benefit them, it will be something that they are even more motivated to achieve. Get into the habit of rewarding those who achieve their goals, both on a team basis and an individual basis. You can organise office outings, give out gifts, and even have employee of the month competitions with payroll boosts as prizes. When they have this added goal to work towards, their motivation will be higher than ever. Setting the precedent creates expectation even if you don’t enact a written policy, so you can mix it up as often as you like.
Increase Productivity
Goal-setting is an important factor in productivity. You set a goal and you work towards it, hopefully even surpassing it, every day. A workforce which follows this rule is likely to be much more productive than one that does not. So how do you encourage a focus on goal-setting and achievement? By giving out rewards when larger goals are met, of course. Make goals a big part of your company culture and you will see great results. Productivity will shoot through the roof as the whole of your team gets on board.
Be One of Them
There’s nothing worse for morale than a boss who is aloof and absent. A manager who only emerges from their office when something has gone wrong. You need to show that you are one of the team, and that your achievements are also their achievements. This is why you should be sure to celebrate with your team. Don’t just send them all to a nearby bar with a kitty paid for by the company after work. Go with them! You have to offer personal encouragement in order to be an effective leader. You can also celebrate your own achievements with them. If you personally manage to swing a big new client, don’t celebrate just at home or on your own. Bring the whole team along for the ride. This allows them to see your leadership in action, and will reinforce your position as well as their loyalty towards you.
Improve the Environment
When your team are happy with their jobs, the workplace environment will be a much calmer and happier one. In turn, this allows your team to be much more comfortable and happy with their jobs. It’s a cycle which can only begin if you are taking steps to ensure that their environment is a good one. Positive reinforcement is always to be favoured, and it is much better to reward success than to punish failure. Take this policy, and you will start to see more successes and less failures. People love to feel that they are good at their jobs, and it’s your task as a leader to help them get there. A good leader knows their team well enough to provide rewards which are appreciated fully. This added boost will make your celebrations even more effective.
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Simone Cormack is a passionate Communications Specialist, currently supporting eFax – Australia’s leading fax services provider. Simone is deeply interested in all strategies that improve the dialogue between the company and its customers or between the employees themselves.