Be the Leader Your Team Needs
Providing a Truly Stimulating Stimulus Package at Your ALLIANCE Center

In an uncertain economy where layoffs seem to loom everywhere, managers must provide a different kind of stimulus package: security and reassurance to promote high morale and productivity at your centers. These days your team members are looking to you for guidance, direction, and support. How can you offer all this in a stimulus package truly stimulates positive action? The ALLIANCE Academy provides a few guidelines on how to be the manager your team needs in these troubled times.

Reach out to your team.

When you don't communicate with your team, you miss chances to track how they're doing and to let them know how the company is doing. Keeping them in the dark about your center's status, whether good or bad, will ensure that rumors get started and misinformation gets passed around.

Be open to questions from your team and provide answers and your vision for steps that will be taken immediately and in the future. Tough times really test your communication skills because it is then that you must speak honestly and in a straightforward, no-nonsense way. Stay away from glossing over the truth, making things sound better than they actually are, or suggesting that changes are only temporary if in fact they aren't.

If you don't know the answer to a question, don't make one up - be truthful and plain, and admit that you don't know. Remain accessible so that your center is a safe place for team members to quickly report when something has failed, and reward them for being truthful and up-front. This way you'll be able to respond quickly, as needed.

You are not pain-exempt.

It would be selfish to hold on to visible perks, a high salary and other costly benefits of your position when your company is in a tough position. Now is not the time to exempt yourself from cost cutting and and putting in extra hours at your center.

When your team needs to get something done and they seem to be shorthanded or overloaded with the tasks, help them with their workload. Be an example to your team and share whatever extra pains they're experiencing.

Celebrate the wins.

Even in hard times, we know there are things for which we should be grateful and reasons to celebrate. Remember that a good attitude, just like a bad one, can be contagious - inspiring and motivating, even.

As a manager, it is up to you to be the example of a grateful team member. Be proactive and recognize things that are going well, improvements that are implemented, accomplishments that team members have made. Have your team report on things they've done successfully, not just the challenges they're facing.

Encourage your team members, and emphasize to them the importance of supporting one another. Express your appreciation for your team's work, and don't shy away from recognizing particularly outstanding individual work.

Seek out opportunities.

Some of the greatest inventions have been imagined and born during tough times, and many companies have experienced steady growth during economic downturns. There are many examples to learn from: Hewlett-Packard was started in a garage during the depression in the 1930s. Also during the Great Depression, Chevrolet was being outsold by Ford at a rate of 10 to 1, but they expanded their advertising budget and by 1931, the Chevy 6 model was in the lead in its field, where it remained for the next five years.

Right now, companies are downsizing and looking for better office space solutions. New entrepreneurs who have been laid off from other jobs are starting their own businesses and looking for the right professional support. With these kinds of situations abounding, the office business center industry is primed to grow in this climate!

It is up to you and your team to reach out and find opportunities even though the news may continue to be discouraging.

Put a positive attitude in action.

Motivating your colleagues and team members is always important, but it is especially critical in today's economy. Mope around, focus on the negative, point out only the mistakes and the problem areas, and you will find your team and yourself void of spirit. Instead of seeing the proverbial glass as half empty, focus on positives in all situations.

Re-frame a situation by stating a positive view of the event. Don't deny the facts of the matter, but try to see what positives are coming from the circumstance and focus on those. Don't forget your sense of humor in these times; you'll need it to pull you through.

A final note on providing a truly stimulating stimulus package

While your company may not be able to afford lavish rewards and bonuses to entice employees team members into working harder and improving results, what you can provide is a winning stimulus package - a strong leader who communicates well and frequently, shares the pain of a different workload, recognizes and celebrates good work, finds opportunities in the most dismal of circumstances, and proves him or herself to be a positive example. Focus on the positives and be proactive, and your team will be stimulated and motivated through this tough economy.

For a full discussion on how you can build your leadership skills and provide a great stimulus package for your team, contact Susan Smith, Executive Director of The ALLIANCE Academy, at ssmith@theallianceacademy.com or by phone at +1 (678) 641.4467.