Few managers are trained to promote the strengths and well being of their teams.   People take more time and are more complex than solving the functional side of the business.    Without strong contributing employees, you, as their manager, as well as the company don’t reach its full potential.

So how do you build a great team?  Simple…spend the time managing each team member.   Managing employees means listening, setting standards and expectations, and pushing each person to stretch and do more.    The composite of your team members could include:

• employees who are strong performers but weak communicators,

Email is an important form of communication in the workplace.   Companies do have policies on email, though mainly to protect the assets of the company.    I’ve rarely seen in an employee’s handbooks etiquette for creating emails.

Email is one dimensional…you can’t see the other person and they can’t see you.   What does this mean?   It means that whatever you write, the other person will put in their own meaning.   This is true even on the phone, yet this form allows the receiver to hear the tone in your voice and to ask additional questions to clarify.  In person, they can also see your eyes and how you position your body.   This information provides the receiver with additional information.

Are you the type of manager that concentrates on the strengths or the weaknesses of an employee?    It’s important to know how you are evaluating your employees.   Are you a demanding manager who focuses on those areas the employee doesn’t perform as well?    Or do you recognize an employee quickly when they are contributing to the team.   You will build a stronger team when you manage employees from their strengths.

To build a strong relationship with each member of your team ask yourself:

• Do an employee’s strengths meet the essential functions of the job?

In managing employees, you role is to understand the strengths and weaknesses of your team members.    The more you know about them, the more you can coach them to higher performance.    High performance employees are usually satisfied employees.   So how do you go about creating the ideal work environment to create high performing employees…given your strengths and weaknesses?

You need to be honest about your own strengths and weaknesses.

If you resisted the thought of evaluating yourself,  it’s really to your benefit to do so.  The more you know about yourself, the more you can manage your behaviors, learn new skills or hire the right talent to handle areas you are not as skilled in.

Employee theft is not a topic that managers want to discuss, though it happens a lot in the workplace.  What constitutes employee theft?   Anywhere from stealing time, supplies or an outright theft where a trusted employee embezzles thousands of dollars.    Small companies are vulnerable because they don’t usually have in place financial control systems that insure employees are honest.

Studies show that people will rationalize taking something that doesn’t belong to them if the environment is ripe for the taking.    That’s why it’s important that managers/owners help employees stay honest by setting up clear guidelines and systems that protect the assets of the company.