Listen to others.
Listening shows respect… that people and their ideas are important to you. When people know you’re willing to listen, they will share their ideas as well as their frustrations. Listening enables you to build trust, which is essential for creating an elite, high-performance team.
Clarify your expectations.
Meet with individual team members and ask each to describe his or her understanding of your performance expectations (as well as behavior and activity expectations), confirm and clarify, as appropriate, to ensure that you’re “on the same page” with the employee. The more people know what you expect, the better they’ll be able to contribute and help the team succeed … and the fewer de-motivating surprises there will be for both you and your employees down the road.
Hold regular “state of the business” updates.
Try to keep everyone informed onwhat’s happening within the organization (future plans, new productsor services, company results, etc.). Make sure people do NOT feel”kept in the dark” about the organization as a whole.
Create opportunities for team members to socialize after hours.
For example, install a softball (or other sport) league. Even better, choose a community service involvement project with a group like Habitat for Humanity.
Play the “Worst Boss” game.
Invite your team to list the behaviors of their worst (unnamed) bosses. Have them describe what their past bosses did (or didn’t do) that demotivated their teams. Make it clear that if they see you emulating a “bad boss,” they’re free to tactfully let you know.
This is the 1st blog post in our 5 part series focusing on motivating your team through sales management training.
