Improve Your Management Skills

If you have a support staff, your management skills can influence everything from company morale to productivity.  Those relationships you build with your employees are pivotal.  Here we draw from two Entrepreneur.com articles to share four suggestions we believe can help any boss create a better work environment:

1. Set up a personalized reminder system to manage tasks. There are countless systems to help you manage workflow: hardcopy to-do lists, post-it reminders, phone alerts, and specialized software.  You must evaluate your situation and determine what works best for your office.  If projects are passed from employee to employee, it might be best to find a system that enables you, as a manager, to check where a project is at any given time.  Remember that this also requires you to determine all the steps necessary to ensure the successful completion of a specific project.

2. Hire hustlers instead of slackers to bolster group work.  Collaboration often works better in a work environment than in an educational one–the big difference being that you can select group members that will pull their own weight in a group.  That’s why you must hire hustlers instead of slackers.  Entrepreneur Adam Toren explains, “Good leadership means being able to form teams according to both compatibility and complementary skills.”

3.   Show your gratitude.  Mark Sanborn says, “I’ve heard a lot of complaints from employees who feel underappreciated by their manager, but I’ve never heard anyone complain they were recognized, rewarded or appreciated too much. …Don’t be afraid of over-doing it.”  Gratitude can come in the form of an email, public praise, a gift card, special titles, and even an office party.  Routine displays of gratitude will motivate your employees to do their best. 

4. Invest in those you value.  A good employee is an incredible asset to your business.  It makes sense to invest time and energy into their professional growth, especially if it makes them even more valuable to your practice.  Consider ways that will encourage their development.  Scheduling one-on-one meetings with staff members, regular performance reviews and routine specialized training can ensure that your employees not only feel valued, but continually progress and grow while in your employment.

UAC Offers Onsite Employee Training

UAC has been training professionals for over 30 years in bookkeeping, accounting and tax services.  We know what your clients need; we know what your business needs.  And a knowledgeable, trained staff will do wonders for your bottom line.  Whether it be business management, accounting, or tax training, UA can provide complete, onsite training for your employees.  And regardless of their positions, we can help them understand how their work contributes to your business model.  This will go a long way in not only improving your business, but in building a stellar staff.  Call Universal at 1-877-833-7909 to learn more.

Resource

Eha, Brian Patrick.  “How to be a Better Boss and 4 More Business Tips from the Week.” 28 June 2013 Entrepreneur.com

Sanborn, Mark.  “What it Takes to be a Boss Every Employee Loves.”  25 June 2013 Entrepreneur.com