How can you foster a positive work environment for your team?
As a non-profit program manager, you know how important it is to have a motivated and engaged team that can deliver your mission and vision. A positive work environment can boost your team's morale, productivity, creativity, and collaboration, as well as reduce stress, burnout, and turnover. But how can you foster such an environment in your organization? Here are some tips to help you create a culture of trust, respect, and appreciation for your team.
Communication is the key to any successful team. You need to communicate your goals, expectations, feedback, and recognition to your team members regularly and transparently. You also need to listen to their ideas, concerns, and suggestions, and encourage them to share their opinions and perspectives. By communicating clearly and frequently, you can avoid misunderstandings, conflicts, and confusion, and build trust and alignment among your team.
-
As a leader of people, communication is the key to success for any person, team or org. 1. Define your role as a leader clearly firstly for yourself. 2. Then communicate what that means, and how you want your team to operate. 3. Seek to understand what great leadership really is. It's about leading, listening, guiding, playing your role in strategy (using your experts). 4. Be open and honest. If you can't share, don't share, but don't ever make things up or be false - it'll catch up with you. 5. Check understanding - ask if what you've said is clear. Ask qualifying questions. Encourage questions. 6. There must be trust. 7. Tell stories. Touch emotions.
Your team members need to have the skills, knowledge, and resources to perform their tasks effectively and efficiently. You can provide training and support to your team by offering them opportunities to learn new skills, improve their existing ones, and access relevant information and tools. You can also mentor and coach them, and connect them with other experts or peers who can help them grow and develop. By providing training and support, you can empower your team to achieve their potential and overcome challenges.
-
- Resist the temptation to train everyone on everything with the expectation that everyone is at the same level. You probably don't need that and shouldn't want that. - Hire diversity of thought, experience, outlook, approach. Leverage the amazing benefits that this diversity brings. - Train the essentials. - Build a development plan for what people REALLY want to do in the future. Not what the company thinks they should do - what they really want to do. --> Sally works in IT but eventually wants to open a bakery? Train her on Finance. You'll benefit for the next however long, and she'll be gaining valuable skills.
Your team members need to feel valued and appreciated for their contributions and efforts. You can recognize and reward achievements by giving them positive feedback, praise, and recognition, both individually and collectively. You can also offer them incentives, rewards, and perks, such as bonuses, gift cards, certificates, or flexible work arrangements. By recognizing and rewarding achievements, you can motivate your team to perform better and show them that you care about their success and well-being.
-
The recognition I most enjoy giving and that I think is best appreciated is when you offer someone a genuine chance to do something new, innovative or amazing and they then demonstrate excellence in what they deliver but essentially, in how they did it. Then tell the whole story when recognizing them. Get good at the story.
Your team members need to work together and support each other to achieve your program goals and objectives. You can encourage collaboration and innovation by creating a culture of teamwork, cooperation, and mutual respect. You can also foster a culture of innovation, creativity, and experimentation, by giving them autonomy, flexibility, and resources to try new things, test new ideas, and learn from failures. By encouraging collaboration and innovation, you can enhance your team's performance, diversity, and learning.
-
I think great leadership is all about giving team members autonomy, flexibility, authority and responsibility. In there, they have to be given the opportunity to innovate. Not everyone is great at innovation. It can be taught, and it can be learnt by observing. I love Stephen Bartlett's monthly performance discussion where he asks his team "tell me what you tried to do that didn't work this month" (or something like that). He rewards fails. Someone that never tries new things is an issue. Collaboration has to be a ticket to entry. If you have someone that won't or can't collaborate, then they are a negative influence and are holding your team back.
Your team members need to have a healthy and balanced lifestyle that allows them to manage their personal and professional responsibilities and needs. You can promote work-life balance and wellness by setting realistic and reasonable expectations, deadlines, and workloads for your team. You can also support them to take breaks, vacations, and sick leaves, and offer them wellness programs, such as yoga, meditation, or counseling. By promoting work-life balance and wellness, you can reduce your team's stress, burnout, and absenteeism, and improve their happiness and satisfaction.
-
As a leader, promoting work-life balance starts with setting an example. Avoid overworking and respect your own time off, showing your team it's okay to disconnect. Encourage your team to manage workloads effectively, ensuring deadlines and expectations are reasonable. Support breaks, vacations, and sick leaves without guilt. Offer wellness programs like yoga, meditation, or counseling to address stress. Regularly check in with your team about their workload and wellbeing. These practices not only reduce stress and burnout but also foster a happier, more productive team environment. Remember to have fun! Take chances and make mistakes. How can you be on the forefront of work-life balance in your industry?
-
- Whatever your personal preferences as a leader, you have to do what will get the best from your team. Just because you love the office, and maybe want all your people around you, doesn't mean it will work. - Take the time to understand what does work. For many people it's the ability to take care of the family & for others it's health. That can be easily managed. - Talk to the team. Ask them if they are happy. Ask them what it would take for them to be happy. You are not responsible for their happiness, but it's helpful to know. - Of course, lead by example. Don't send mails at weekends. Don't log on during vacation unless wholly necessary. I make myself available by whatsapp on time out - not by company email.
Rate this article
More relevant reading
-
FundraisingHow can a fundraising team leader ensure that team members feel valued?
-
Corporate Social ResponsibilityHere's how you can boost team morale and motivation post a setback in a CSR project.
-
Nonprofit ManagementHere's how you can enhance team dynamics in non-profit organizations through emotional intelligence.
-
Positive Employee RelationsWhat are some creative ways to show appreciation to your team members without spending a lot of money?