Managing your team with a personal touch

I could write an entire book on successfully managing a sales team, but I will fit just a few pointers into this one post.

One thing you need to keep in mind is ,that many forget about in business, that the people you work with are like another family.  If you think about it, you give minimally 8 hours of your day to your business.  Some simple math tells us that if you sleep 8 hours a day, work 8 hours a day , and have 8 hours of personal family time each day.....you are spending at least half of your conscious time at work.  This doesn't include personal errands, work calls, and travel.  In the world of retail, 8 hours is not really truth.

We need to really understand our teams and be able to motivate them to use their time wisely each day.  You need to almost play the Father/Mother role if you are on the leadership team.  While everyone in the world would like to think employees just punch in and do every task perfectly without interruption , your crazy . Its the management teams job to balance the business, make sure the tasks done, and also make sure that personally your team is fulfilled.

After operating retail locations for many years, I have come into my own management style and it works well for me.  The age old rule of "business is business, and personal is personal is old thinking.  Many will disagree with the statement I am about to put here, but bear with me... "You have to be personal in business".  Why would we want to spend 8 hours a day with someone we know nothing about?  Why can we not be available to give advice to people who ask for it based on our own experiences? Personal touches can make or break a business in my view.  Over the years the PERSONAL TOUCH HAS GONE AWAY. Here are some rules that I follow that will get you RESPECT and RESULTS.

- Have a real "open door" policy, not the one many corporations go by where they say they have one but really don't want to be bothered.  NOTE: Time is important so make sure that you don't get involved in a 2 hour discussion at work, but offer yourself for advice if needed.  After work hours is also acceptable if they ask....but control the timing.

- Make sure you tell your employees when they do a good job.  DO NOT tell them they did a good job for tasks that are small.  ie "Joe, great job shredding those documents buddy, you chop paper like an animal".

- If an employee fails at something, NEVER CALL THEM OUT IN FRONT OF THEIR TEAM.  This is embarrassing and accomplishes nothing.  Take them aside and discuss what went wrong and what the corrective action is to fix it.  Share best practices of what works that you have witnessed.

- Have an agenda with a timeline and keep them to it.  If there is a task it needs to be assigned with specific instructions on what the results should be.  If you don't hold the timeline ONCE, they will test your limits next time.  Demand success because it means THEIR SUCCESS.

- Don't do it for them..  So many micro-managers out there are working too much.  If you have a team , you need to delegate the tasks accordingly.  I am not saying do nothing, I am saying spread it around.

- Genuinely ask how things are going for them at work and personally.  Be a human. If they can share personal feelings with you, they will be more willing to share business.

- Do not get too close.  I know this sounds funny after reading the last few pointers, but this is where the artful balance comes in.  Don't go drinking with your team after work every day.  Don't hang out at their homes.  Don't dump your personal problems on them.  Control the situation.

Hope a couple of these help and open everyone up to some more "personal" touches at work.  It WILL make a difference in your teams work ethic and attitude. Those are 2 important things we need for success!

CS