Encouraging great workplace behaviour: it’s not rocket science..!
There’s a great deal of emphasis now on employee engagement and sometimes I wonder if we tend to overthink things in some respect, especially when it comes to strategies to support good workplace citizenship. As a line manager you don’t have to understand rocket science to promote team working and collegiate behaviour. Let’s think through a few of the simpler things that can work well.
Think about how you communicate
Last month I wrote about Effective Communication and thinking through how you communicate; the same goes in terms of encouraging teamwork and organisational citizenship. If you are known for emailing rather than speaking face to face when things have not gone well, then don’t expect others to behave differently. Consider what is appropriate, as well as how best each individual responds to different kinds of communication.
Give out praise to the team
When a job is well done and a number of people contributed to the positive outcome, praise them for their teamwork, not just individual contributions.
Take the blame when necessary
When you recognise that you made a mistake, be seen to acknowledge it. Being a role model for this kind of behaviour will encourage the team to do the same rather than shifting the blame to others. Likewise when something has gone wrong within the team, get them to talk about it together and consider what was learnt from the situation and how they can prevent such a thing happening again in the future.
When the chips are down, don’t be afraid to chip in
There are often times when individuals are overwhelmed by their workload, or an urgent task comes up. When this happens, speak to the person or people involved and find out what help they need. If you can make a difference by providing help then do so. Once the job is done, make sure everyone gets credit for the positive outcome.
Encourage and support social interaction
Informal interaction within a team is one of the best ways to strengthen bonds and promote trust and support. This might be out of hour’s social events, or just taking a lunch break together with social chat.
Give and ask for feedback
Ask team members to offer their thoughts and views on work matters, then make sure you take action on at least some of what you hear. Encourage them to do this as a team as well; you might need to facilitate at first until they get the hang of giving and receiving feedback in a constructive way, but it won’t be long before it comes naturally to them.
When you are giving feedback in return, be sure to let the team know that you are confident they can improve and put right anything that hasn’t gone so well.
cHRysos HR can help your business develop team working and engagement strategies that get the best out of people. If you would like our help, please email us at info@chrysos.org.uk or Tel. 01302 802128.
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