The experiences of 2020 have certainly pushed us to evaluate every aspect of our organizations. Our perspective has shifted, and we look at everything a bit differently. Whether business has suffered or prospered due to the pandemic, owners have had to cope with a new definition of “normal”. Your management team and their ability to guide and motivate employees to perform at their highest level is critical.
Communication, team building, and safe work environments are all important areas to examine and assess, however, it could be said that the factor most critical to the success of your organization is indeed its leadership. No successful organization would be where it is today without effective leadership. The demands of managing virtual workers, conducting business in an uncertain climate and coping with new obstacles tests one’s leadership abilities to the max. Are your leaders up to the challenge?
Effective leadership is one of the main drivers for growth, achievement and innovation. It is vital to equip your leadership team with the skills and tools needed to continuously drive business and respond to the needs of your employees. Recent surveys have shown that productivity has been minimally or, in some cases, positively impacted by the increase in remote workers. Managing remote teams effectively, however, is different and, in some ways, more difficult. Particularly challenging is the onboarding of new employees and acclimating them to work collaboratively with the rest of the team. Unlike productivity, innovation does seem to be suffering with the increase of remote work. The lack of casual small group gatherings and “watercooler chats” has hindered the opportunity to share ideas in an informal way.
The time is right to prioritize training and development for your leadership team. Dealing with changes in customer behavior and needs, COVID-related restrictions, changing industry demands, and the emotional needs of employees requires strong leadership skills. Development in the areas of emotional intelligence, effective communication, team building, and managing by the numbers will enhance a manager’s ability to keep remote teams engaged and productive.
A deep awareness and responsiveness to the differing needs of your employees is critical. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is defined as the ability to understand, use, and manage your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges and defuse conflict. To create a team in which each member feels empowered to contribute, suggest and innovate is the recipe for success. A leader with higher EQ will be more observant, responsive and empathetic to their employees which will increase engagement and productivity.
Managers are dealing with the challenge of maintaining open pathways of communication between all team members. This difficulty increases with remote teams, and multi-generational teams. Training in this area will help your managers plan for effective communication and a deeper understanding of how to continuously assess the effectiveness and comprehension of communications.
Individuals who have been promoted into a leadership position based on their excellent technical knowledge and performance, may not possess the business acumen to manage their departments by the numbers. Understanding how to conduct a profit and loss analysis, achieve operating expense/revenue ratios consistent with industry standard, and how to positively impact your gross profit margin.
As a business owner, an investment in your leaders will lead to the greatest return. It is critical to take care of those that take care of your customers. Equipping your organization with strong, effective leaders adds value for all.
Schedule a consultations today to learn how leadership training will significantly help your organization reach its financial goals.
Leave a Reply