Key to success includes taking a team approach, inspiring trust and unleashing potential.
PR Newswire:
What: Starting and maintaining a small business is not easy. All good entrepreneurs know they are only as strong as their team.
The author of ‘The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness,’ Dr. Stephen Covey (photo), recently offered small-business owners advice on how to take their business to the next level through empowering employees and providing the proper management tools.
The tips, which are part of a free Microsoft(R) Office Live Web Seminar Series, give small-business owners helpful advice and insights on topics critical to success.
Dr. Covey provides the following advice on how to empower employees:
1. Define a purpose. Ensure everyone in an organization understands his or her role and responsibilities. Clearly articulate to employees why their work is important and set expectations ahead of time.
2. Promote teamwork. When employees are given a chance to contribute ideas, better solutions emerge. Teamwork is best recognized in a culture where everyone’s voice is heard.
3. Find and inspire trust in others. By recognizing everyone’s contributions to the team, dividing up tasks becomes simple. Understand that every member of a team brings valuable experience. By harnessing that experience, employees begin to feel ownership.
4. Unleash potential. While policies and procedures are important, following the rules too closely can lead to stifled ideas. Some of the best ideas come from new ways of thinking.
5. Understanding your employee’s needs. To a leader, the growth of a staff is integral to the growth of the business. When a leader understands their dreams and aspirations, employees feel that they are being heard.
6. Provide recognition. As a leader, communicate worth and potential so employees can do their best work. Recognize employees for a job well done.
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