Bosses. We all have them, and if you’re one of them, learn to be a favorite among your employees. Trust us, it will make your life a lot easier.
Being a good boss provides a much better work environment for both your employees and yourself. You don’t need to be a pushover and not have any rules to be a great boss, you simply need a great attitude and the willingness to be flexible. Good bosses are few and far between, right? If you’ve been entrusted with the task, be one of the good ones. In fact, be great.
Do not micromanage
Have you ever been micromanaged? You know, your boss is waiting for you at your desk each morning to make sure you’re on time, notices how long your breaks are and watches your every move. It can make coming into work miserable, to say the least. As a boss, it’s important to trust your employees that they’ll get the job done and complete all assigned tasks for the day, without you breathing down their necks. If you notice someone being late on a reoccurring basis or taking advantage of the breaks, it’s your job to speak up and get the situation handled. But remember – until that happens, trust that it won’t. Give your employees the benefit of the doubt – after all, we’re all adults.
Be available
Be willing to help out when needed. It can be extremely frustrating for workers to have a question and not be able to get it answered because their boss is nowhere in sight. We understand that bosses need breaks, too, but try to always be at your desk with an open door. If you have a long meeting or are leaving early for the day, send an email out to give everyone a heads-up. Send it first thing in the morning (or the day before) so any questions or concerns can be tackled before you leave.
Be a friend
No, this does not mean that you should head to the bar for happy hour after work with your employees (though every once in a while is OK). It means show your employees that you care about them, value them and respect them. In one-on-one meetings, spend the first few minutes chatting about life and asking them questions. Get to know them as individuals. Find out about their goals both within the company and outside of work. A great boss will help her employees achieve those goals.
Show appreciation
Show appreciation for all their hard work. Doing this shows them that it’s not going unnoticed and will most likely only encourage them to work harder. Ways to show appreciation include taking your team out to lunch, bringing in coffee and donuts on a Friday morning or simply sending a “thanks for all your hard work” email out to the team at the end of the day. Everyone wants to feel appreciated for what they do and recognized for their hard work.
Ask for feedback
One quality of a really great boss is asking the employees for feedback. Ask what you can do to make their lives a little easier and what they would like to see from you. This definitely involves swallowing your pride, but we can all improve, right? And who better to ask this from than those who work with you day in and day out? These simple questions show that you want to be the best boss you can be, and your employees will appreciate you immensely for it. Similar to the saying “happy wife equals happy life,” we say “happy employees equal happy boss.” Everyone wins!
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