Managing a small
team involves a lot of skill, diplomacy and efficiency. Word travels
fast in small organizations and it can lead to a claustrophobic
environment at times. More often than not, small organizations bear
the brunt of attrition, employee dissatisfaction and poaching. Start
ups and small organizations do not have many people on board and the
few employees have several roles and responsibilities. Because of
this, it is tough when employees want to leave now and then.
A manager at a
small organization needs to be extremely efficient in handling
responsibilities, egos, skirmishes and grievances.
Listen to your employees
As a rule, listen
more and talk less. When you call for a meeting, listen to what
everyone says. Encourage the team to talk. There are people who tend
to talk more than others. There are others who shy away and never try
to voice out anything. Seek the mild mannered, calm people and direct
questions at them. Ask them for opinions. Make them come forward with
what they have in mind
If you talk all
the time, your team will lose interest in what you say. So, say what
you have to say in minimal words. And make these words count.
Don’t favor one employee over others
Yes, you are human
and you will have preferences. But a good manager should never make
that evident to others. If you praise one employee all the time, the
rest aren’t going to like it. Keep your mind open. Treat everyone
equally. Praise people in front of them. Voice your grievances with
each employee individually. It is demotivating to work in an
environment that benchmarks one’s achievements with the boss’
favourite all the time.
If you belong to
an organization that has very few employees, word travels fast and
walls are thin. So, prejudice does more damage than you think it
will.
Don’t ignore an
employee’s contribution
It could be a very small contribution.
But that counts. So, when an employee says he has managed to do
something that is significant to him, listen to him and appreciate
him. Unless you do that, he is not going to be motivated enough to do
more. It takes a minute to appreciate an employee’s deeds. And a
minute to ignore him and quell his motivations that would result in
bad performance, dissatisfaction and it would send him straight to a
job seeker’s site!
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