Let’s face it – no one wants to work in an office they hate. In the long run, poor staff retention means more time hiring and less time on the business. Doesn’t sound like smart management to me! But happy team members don’t just happen – every member of your team needs to be continually engaged. I spend a lot of time looking at ways to engage staff, and through participation and encouragement have introduced a number of activities to get the most out of my brilliant team.
The ‘Monday 10 at 10’
Every Monday, we hold a short, sharp and to the point meeting at 10am. Each team member stands up and explains to the rest of the team how during the previous week they have delivered an exceptional or surprising act of service for a client, team member or colleague. The act needs to have gone above and beyond their normal KPIs. During the second part of their short presentation, the staff member outlines their plan for the following week to go beyond in the same way.
The purpose of the Monday 10 at 10 is to ensure client service is top of mind for everyone at the start of the week. We always start with a different team member and it energises the office with a great vibe each Monday. Since it’s been introduced, we’ve had lots of interesting contributions, which I love because it shows my team are really engaged. These include:
* Creating an additional client video that explains a particular process to a client. These can be immensely helpful resources and only take a minute to produce.
* Doing something for a client that is ‘out the box’. This could be finding a great link to an article and sending it to them, or inviting them to an event we think they might be interested in.
* Helping a team member who is overworked. We have always valued the team environment at JBS, and having staff who can demonstrate that they’re willing to pitch in and help goes a long way.
The only drawback has been staff presenting on the spot and ‘winging’ it each week. So we asked two of our staff members to help better prepare the team on Fridays, to ensure they get their messages across. As always, a bit of gentle team pressure always works wonders!
The 1% ideas board
This is literally a white board in the office, which staff members can write on with small ideas on how to improve, change and upgrade the things we do to make a small difference. The idea is that lots of 1% changes can make a big difference when combined. Often, the ideas are generated from the Monday 10 at 10s, and they’re all recorded on the board.
JBS team retreat
At the start of each year, I take the team on an offsite retreat. They’re usually on a Thursday and Friday, staying overnight, and we take the time to plan out what we want to achieve for the following year. Right now, we’re looking at how we become better and stronger in 2014, given our success with the AFA Adviser of the Year and Smileys awards. We are looking at potentially running workshops, coaching and specialist sessions too. We’ve found that big winners are more fun activities – whether it’s a foosball table, Nerf guns, Friday drinks or lunches. I encourage everyone to participate to help build our culture.
we’d love to hear from you – what are you doing to create an awesome team, support your team and help them go a step further?
