Road to Being Boss of the Year
A four-step guide to making your employees love Mondays
If you’re on Twitter, your Sunday feed is probably an array of tweets describing how almost everyone dreads Mondays, said in more languages than one. I’d noticed these same people post distressing tweets on how terrible their week is going or how alone they feel at work.
A study previously found that roughly 71% and 54% of women and men, respectively, suffered from work-related anxiety. The idea of going to work has become a cause for negative emotions for so many of us, and yet it is something we literally cannot live without.
So why don’t we just agree to make the world a better place, starting by making work a fulfilling experience for the people we manage?
You don’t need to be on top to be the boss. Chances are, wherever you are in the workplace hierarchy, you manage at least one person and your dynamics will set the tone of what their relationship with Mondays will be.
Below are simple, yet frequently overlooked steps to make it a good one.
Set clear expectations.
Laying down expectations is always imperative. Never leave subordinates wondering how much work is expected of them over a particular time period. It would be helpful to outline the milestones required to accomplish a goal and define timelines to keep them on track.
Otherwise, they could only end up falling short on judgment day and find themselves at the receiving end of piled-up work without adequate time to make their output at par with your expectations.
Just as badly, they could work so much harder than they had to and still feel falling behind, eventually developing low morale in the long run. Either way, these are lose-lose scenarios that could have been avoided if you just set the record straight.
Be open to diverse preferences in task execution.
Milestones need not be as zoomed in as can be. They must be designed such that employees still have the avenue to channel their own inner awesome and manage the task at hand the way they see fit.
Not only does this help them improve critical thinking and decision-making skills, but it also sets you up for a possible surprise: that maybe, just maybe, their execution is actually better than yours.
Long story short, this is a win-win scenario: they feel empowered and flexible, and you ought to learn something new as you go.
Let your subordinates know you are grounded.
I would have initially suggested that you simply stay grounded, but this would be of no use if the people you manage do not see you in that light anyway.
Perhaps, occasionally, try slipping on their work boots and see things from where they stand. A friend, who used to be a general contractor, once told me she had problems with workers taking so long to mount the glass walls in her first building project. The workers said it was what it was, and there was no way to further speed up the process.
What she did, however, changed their minds. Not only did she observe them do the task step by step and note possible improvement points, but she also tried using her suggestions herself.
To the workers, she stopped being just some bossy woman. She was THE boss, and she knew her onions. Gaining their respect and seeing that even the most mundane processes can still have significant upgrades made a world of difference in their productivity.
From the perspective of a former employee at a consultancy firm, it was a life-changing sight to see my boss finish a report in the wee hours of the night while I stayed awake doing the same. She was still so energetic at 2 AM, totally looking like she loved her job so much with every click and clack of her keyboard.
Ever craved ice cream after seeing someone look so happy downing a pint? One way or another, that was how I felt. I loved my job because she loved hers, and I wanted to emulate the passion she exudes.
More than that, though, she helped me put things in perspective. An easy task can at times be daunting to an inexperienced employee, and it was to me at the time. Having someone show me it was doable had some sort of strong psychological impact. It made me think I could do it too.
Give constant feedback; ask for it too.
Just as clear expectations must be set, bosses must facilitate regular assessments to ensure the entire team is on the same page.
Another friend tendered her resignation out of the blue last year. She enthusiastically did her job months prior, so the resignation generally came as a shock. But to her, it didn’t.
It’s just that nobody has a 20/20 vision, let alone in a team full of people working from home. Her superiors did not notice she always thought she was being mediocre. At the same time, she had no idea her bosses thought she was doing a good job — all this miscommunication, just because neither of them received feedback.
The key to any successful relationship is communication, and there’s no reason this stops being true in work relationships. Feedback must be at the core of everything, and as the boss, you should know it’s your responsibility to make this happen.
Oftentimes, bosses can significantly curb workplace anxiety by simply doing their jobs and doing them right. Set the record straight about your expectations, build their confidence by letting them be their own person, be grounded on the gravity of work you are demanding, and always, always give and ask for feedback.
