Business Owners that have a staff of any size understand the difficulties and complexities that come with managing multiple personalities and egos. This is a delicate practice that will test the patience of any entrepreneur, although it is necessary if your business success it to be realized. When there is discord running rampant throughout an organization, it can be felt by customers. This negative energy can be detrimental to business and threaten the viability of a company.
People management isn’t something that comes naturally to entrepreneurs. Many times, individuals who branch out on their own are usually experts or achieved a certain level of mastery in their field of experience, but oftentimes find themselves learning as they go when it comes to running a company.
A certified business consultant is a great asset to owners working to understand their marketplace, customer base and how to ensure that their organization succeeds. However, when it comes to employing a workforce that is happy, engaged and contributing to the success of the company, it’s important for an owner to foster an environment of collaboration in order to achieve this goal and see to it that his or her business does not fail.
How to encourage staff to collaborate with one another
Getting people to work together in harmony isn’t easy. However, owners who set this expectation on the front end have a much better chance of seeing this kind of environment flourish internally. A recent article from Forbes outlined ways that entrepreneurs can create a collaborative culture:
- Be open: As a leader, the people that you employ look to you for guidance and will follow any cues or leads that are given directly or observed. Being an individual who is open and works closely with staff members will encourage others to take similar actions, many times without being forced or told to do so.
- Celebrate individual accomplishments or achievements: Everyone wants to receive positive acknowledgement from their boss. This could be in relation to exceptional work performance, or something as small as celebrating a birthday or employment anniversary. Both create positive feelings and contribute to an internal environment that is both happy and productive.
- Encourage staff members to engage with one another: Sometimes collaboration happens naturally and other times it must be implemented by organizational leadership. As a business owner, you must make employees understand the value of collaboration. Not only will working together help them achieve professional goals, but it will also contribute to the sustainability of the business.
The value of working relationships
Despite the novelty of collaboration within the workplace, it’s unrealistic to think that as a business owner, everyone that you hire will get along. Obviously, that is the hope, but it’s likely to never happen. Still, that doesn’t mean that people who don’t get along can’t work amicably, side by side.
CEO.com listed some suggestions on how business owners can ensure that staff members who have differences can still work together to achieve common goals.
The first step is to encourage them to keep an open mind and listen to their co-workers. Additionally, it’s important to get them to understand the difference between listening for understanding and listening to give a response. The latter will contribute to discord and have a negative impact on workplace harmony.
It’s also important to get them to understand the value of making themselves available when a colleague needs help. The saying, “we’re all in this together,” applies perfectly to all businesses. If everyone isn’t on the same page and committed to seeing the business grow and thrive, then success will be difficult to achieve and enterprise can easily fail.