As business owners, executives, leaders and managers we move fast, change course, and shift gears daily. Operating a successful business demands that we have the ability to be flexible and change as needed. What about our employees? How flexible do they need to be? How informed? How engaged in the success of the business? How do we know they are aligned with us and the business vision?
Sometimes we overlook informing, including, asking or collaborating with our employees. We are often satisfied with cooperation from our employees, unaware of what is possible if we instead we were in collaboration with our employees.
When an environment of collaboration is made to flourish the possibilities are endless.
Wondering how you can get your team in a collaborative frame of mind?
Over the next week we will be exploring opportunities to do just that and provide several tools to get you started.
- Know the vision for the business. Click here to get a list of questions you can ask yourself to help identify your vision.
- Include them often in the planning for the business, referencing the vision
- Work on not just in the business with them. (If you’re wondering what the difference is Michael E. Gerber does a wonderful job explaining this in his best selling book The E Myth Revisited.)
- Tie in daily tasks or monthly projects with the overall business vision.
- Create and measure goals against the vision with your staff.
- Report in on goals with your staff and/or have them report in on their goals.
Start reading the E Myth Revisited and work on your own vision today.
Be sure to stop back tomorrow for more ideas on getting your staff to move from cooperation to collaboration.