Blog with Rob: Managing Others: Always Striving

I was honored to learn that I was nominated for Long Island Press’ Best of Long Island 2015 in the category of “Best Boss.”  As someone at the helm of a company that I have built from the ground up, I have always tried to steer the ship with great care and attention to detail.  Like much of life, I think that it is important to remember to approach each task and responsibility with an open mind and hunger for knowledge.

An investment of time into your internal staff is probably the most rewarding one you can make.  Especially as an owner or experienced manager interacting with a less tenured employee, these communications are mutually beneficial.  As an owner or manager, you probably have an in-depth knowledge of exactly of how each cog of your organization should function for optimal results.  Any challenge an employee might be facing could be provided with a different perspective with your advanced knowledge.

But there is an even greater benefit to you.  If you can create an open-door policy where employees don’t feel like it is a failure to ask for your help or opinion on an issue, you can anticipate problems before they arise.  This is particularly helpful when like me, you have been a little more removed from the nuts and bolts operations of the business for a little while.  Talking to your employees regularly can help apprise you of issues you didn’t even know existed.  They might not be exactly what the employee is struggling with either, but rather symptoms of big-picture problems like workflow bottlenecks or ineffective checks and balances.

Take the time to really listen and react to your staff when they come to you with an issue.  You may be surprised at the positive outcomes which can emerge from a seemingly negative problem.