Lean Tip
#3286 – Reward Employees For Their Hard Work
Creating
a well-rounded recognition program will take time and energy, but the payoff can
mean the difference between stressed and burnt-out employees or a company
culture built around engaged employees who feel appreciated beyond their
paycheck.
From spot
bonuses to anniversary gifts and beyond, these reward opportunities fuel a
healthy team dynamic. Rewards offer your employees a chance to rejuvenate
outside the office by indulging in a passion, trying something new, or
challenging their comfort zones.
Lean Tip
#3287 – Greet Your Team
A little
hello goes a long way in the workplace. Your team members want to feel and be
happy, so give them a little nudge in the morning with a big old smile that
says, “I’m happy you are here and I want you to love your job.”
Pop
around the office periodically and see how everyone is doing. Ask your team how
their weekend was, and check in to see if anyone needs assistance with ongoing
projects.
Something
as simple as a smile, a token of your appreciation, or a “Good morning!” can be
enough to turn anyone’s bad day right around. Being upbeat and genuine in your
approach boosts your team’s self-esteem, causing them to be more motivated and
reminds them that working with you is pretty great.
Lean Tip
#3288 – Make Work Fulfilling
Everyone
wants to feel like what they’re doing at work matters.
In order
for team members to feel good about the work they are producing, they need to
fully understand the company’s mission and purpose. So, it’s your job to make
sure they know what that looks like.
Give a
rundown of what each department does and why they do it. When employees see the
inner-workings of the organization from all angles and perspectives, they feel
better connected to the business and therefore more committed to making it a
success.
Lean Tip
#3289 – Refrain from Micromanaging
Employees
who feel trusted and supported, without being hovered over, are statistically
more relaxed and confident in the job they do.
I think
it’s safe to say that not one working person likes to be micromanaged. If
employees feel like they are constantly on their boss’s radar, they are not
going to perform the way they normally would, and they will begin to resent
their job.
It
doesn’t help anyone if half the day is spent recording and reporting what tasks
were checked off and which ones weren’t, so, give your team the trust and
creative freedom that they deserve by setting clear expectations and fair
boundaries.
You are
the one who hired your irreplaceable team members. Remember why you hired them
and trust that they will make the right decisions without your hovering. Doing
so will keep their confidence high, further contributing to the success of your
business.
Let a
team member lead the next marketing meeting, and give team members the go-ahead
to make executive decisions when you aren’t around.
Lean Tip
#3290 – Deliver Praise and Recognition Often
Were you
aware that feeling underappreciated at work is the #1 reason Americans leave
their jobs? Number one! Beating out low salary, limited vacation days and not
enough flexibility for life outside of work.
A
statistic as powerful as that one needs to be front of mind for managers and
leaders.
By
offering consistent praise and recognition, your team will be excited and eager
to contribute to company-wide initiatives.
Ask team
members how they want to be recognized for a job well done. Send out a quick
email or commence a team huddle to get their feedback on how they prefer to be
recognized or complimented when and where credit is due. For some, it may be a
quick “You did it!” shout-out during a meeting. For others, it might be a
one-on-one positive feedback session.
The key
is to be consistent. If a team member deserves to be recognized for outstanding
work, tell them right away: Don’t wait for their “review.” The days of annual
reviews are ancient history.
Lean Tip
#3291 – Allow for Employee Autonomy
By giving
employees autonomy to do their job, you are letting them know that you trust
and value them. When your employees enter the workplace, it's to do a job. So,
let them do it. You don't need to micromanage people. A recent
study found that the higher levels of autonomy a worker experienced, the
higher their sense of job satisfaction and well being. The more you allow them
to be autonomous, the more productive they become. If an employee is regularly
required to get permission to complete tasks or finalize jobs, they won't learn
to make important decisions on their own.
Lean Tip
#3292 – Assist Your Team Members in Reaching Goals
Setting
goals is a good way to hold yourself accountable. Not everyone is adept at
setting goals, however. Make sure that you are encouraging your team members to
not only set realistic, obtainable goals but also to be specific with those
goals. What you don't want are vague goals like " I want to increase
sales." Instead, try something like "I want to increase sales by 25%
in the next three months." You want to ensure that employees are setting
realistic timelines for meeting their goals.
If they
don't give themselves enough time, it could cause increased stress, resulting
in decreased productivity. On the other hand, offering too much time to reach a
goal will not create the momentum needed to increase productivity and success.
If team members reach their goals early or better yet exceed their goals, you
could celebrate by doing something special for them. Once goals have been
reached, it's time to set new ones and start all over again.
Lean Tip
#3293 – Encourage Relationships Among Coworkers
When you
establish comradery within the office, you'll have fewer employees missing
work, and the environment will be pleasant for everyone. If you have certain
employees that just don't mesh well together, it's not a bad thing to allow
them to work in different departments or areas of the office. You want to make
coming in to work enjoyable, and if people are working with their friends, they
will feel better about showing up each day.
Even the
boss or supervisor should have a good relationship with their employees. You
don't want them to hear dead silence the minute they walk into the room.
Encourage them to talk with employees about their personal lives, ask them
questions about their family, and incorporate laughter or humor in some way.
These are great ways to help people feel comfortable talking to their boss.
Lean Tip
#3294 – Develop a Routine that Works for You
Workplace
efficiency doesn’t just exist in the office – your daily routine can have a
huge impact on how you work. Remote workers, hybrid workers and office devotees
should all have a good daily routine that inspires productivity. One way of
encouraging this is by introducing a flexible workplace so your employees can
strike the right balance between themselves and their work.
Your
morning routine isn’t just about the basics of grabbing your coffee, brushing
your teeth and flying out the door: it’s about creating sustainable habits that
set you up for the day. So you’re not a morning person? Lay out your things the
night before so you can enjoy an extra 5 minutes in bed before diving into a
productive day. Maybe you like to start your morning with a bang – a quick run
before your morning shower, an early-morning gym session or some energizing
yoga can nourish your mind-body connection before you head to the office.
Embrace
your lunchtime stroll, your mid-afternoon coffee break and your go-to commute
podcast – all of these things can bring you joy in your personal life, leading
to efficiency in the workplace.
Lean Tip
#3295 – Strive for Progress Over Perfection
Everyone
seeks perfection—but no one ever attains it. One of the most important things
to remember when trying to improve efficiency and productivity in the workplace
is that nothing can ever be perfect. Holding yourself and your employees to
unattainable standards is demoralizing, stress-inducing and impractical.
Part of
the working world is embracing setbacks and challenges without letting them
overwhelm you. If employees are constantly striving for perfection, they will
never have a healthy understanding of success and will, therefore, struggle
with their work efficiency.
Progress
is far more important than perfection – embrace feedback from your colleagues
and help them to do the same. Without the weight of perfectionism around our
necks, we are much less likely to procrastinate and far more likely to achieve
something great.
Lean Tip
#3296 – Set Benchmarks and Goals
The best
way to set your company up to prosper, continually grow, and exceed customers’
expectations is to set benchmarks, targets for teams to achieve until the
ultimate goal is met. Part of the business planning process is breaking down
big, major goals into smaller projects and tasks so they can be completed in a
timely manner. Remember, responsible business process management is always
mindful of all the key players. So, when setting goals and yardsticks for your
team, be sure to involve them. Be sure that everything you’re setting for them
is doable and realistic.
Lean Tip
#3297 – Plan for Success
To
maximize your opportunities for business process optimization, create a review
team assembled of people from various departments in the company. Their
invaluable input will help shape your new processes into plans that will map
out the road to success for your company. The main question the team should be
asking is: “How can we change things to make us work faster, better, and more
effective? Be sure to get input and views from all sides so no team or department
is left out. Whatever new processes you come up with should work for everyone
in the company. That’s the only way to guarantee long-term success.
Lean Tip
#3298 – Target Quality Improvement
The
customer may not always be right but a happy customer means they will always
choose to spend their money on your company. If you want to create loyal
customers and broaden your reach through word of mouth and buyer influence,
make the quality of your team’s output one of your focuses. Make sure that
everyone in the company understands that quality is not the responsibility of a
select few such as the customer-facing teams. Quality is a team effort and this
involves everyone in the company. If one link in the chain is weak or breaks,
for example, a customer follow-up to a supplier is not closed in time, you can
potentially lose repeat business, which means the company, will be at a loss
too.
Lean Tip
#3299 – Carefully Analyze What Needs to Change
Nearly
every process has some form of waste hidden in it, i.e., things that don’t add
value. Your primary objective is to identify and eliminate them within your
processes to save time and produce better outcomes. This can be overproduction,
sitting inventory and defects due to incomplete or inaccurate information.
Consider
the following questions to identify the waste within your processes and build a
thorough process improvement plan:
- Which
issues are creating problems for your customers or team members?
- Which steps are creating bottlenecks?
- Is there any underlying reason behind the
increase in costs or decline in quality?
- Which steps require the most time to complete
or cause the most delays?
Your best
bet is to reach out to people directly affected by the process and ask them
what they think is wrong and the improvements they suggest.
Lean Tip
#3300 – Continuously Monitor Progress
After
implementing a process improvement methodology, be sure to monitor progress
using applicable process improvement metrics or KPIs.
This way,
you can hold staff accountable for the agreed-upon productivity and quality
standards and determine whether the implemented changes are helping improve
outcomes. Daily monitoring also simplifies implementing changes to improve
performance faster as well as fine-tune processes and workflows based on
performance comparison to departmental goals.
