Hi entrepreneur!

Do your employees know what you expect of them?

(And do they subsequently do so?)

Do you recognize this; the organization is growing rapidly, and you find that it is no longer so easy to manage everyone on your team directly as you used to and to know what is going on with your employees. The cozy kitchen table conversations are still there, only they are no longer enough. There is more and more distance between you and your team. How do you ensure that your employees know what you expect of them and are willing to do it? Preferably without you having to keep on top of everything or doing it yourself.

From Kitchen Table to Office Gardens

In the beginning, it’s easy. You have a small team, everyone knows each other, and communication is direct and personal. But then your company grows and before you know it, you’re no longer working with five, but fifty people. How do you make sure everyone stays on the same wavelength and knows what needs to be done?

Leadership in a Growing Business

A crucial step is to ensure that the right people get into leadership positions. Often employees who have been with the organization longer grow into these roles. But do they have the right leadership skills? It is your job to make the right choices and to guide them in this. For example, by showing good example behavior yourself. External training or coaching can often accelerate this process. Bunchmark has developed a track for new managers; Bunchmark First Time Manager Track. Especially to send new managers into the workplace with the right knowledge and tools.

Creating an open culture

It is essential that employees feel safe and that they are heard. This fosters collaboration, trust and development. Here are a few tips to promote an open culture:

• Transparency in decision-making:Share the rationale behind important decisions and how they support business goals. This creates greater understanding and engagement.

• Feedback moments: Create regular moments for feedback, both formal and informal. This can be done during team meetings or one-on-one conversations. Make sure you actively listen to your employees. What are their ideas? What are they running into? This not only helps solve problems, but also makes them feel valued.

• Making mistakes is allowed: Encourage employees to explore new ideas without fear of failure. Give space to try and get ahead of it yourself if something failed with you.

• Inclusion and diversity: ensure that everyone has equal opportunities in growth and development, both first-time and new employees.

Making expectations clear

To make sure everyone knows what is expected of them, it is important to communicate clearly and distinctly. Not once a year share the goals for the new year, but also test them. Is it understood and acted upon? And keep repeating what you want to achieve together, where you are now and what everyone’s role is in it. To do this, build a clear drumbeat in communication that the team can trust and build on.

Motivate and inspire

In a growing organization, inspiring and motivating your team is crucial. Here are a few ways to do that:

• Empowerment:Give your employees room to make their own decisions and take on responsibilities. This creates more engagement and encourages them to proactively contribute to the success of the organization.

• Recognition and reward: Give recognition for good work. This can be in the form of a compliment, flower, bonus or other reward. Notice what your employees contribute!

• Development opportunities: Offer your employees opportunities to develop. This can be through courses, workshops or advancement opportunities within the company.

So

Managing a growing team is challenging, but with the right attention and approach, you can ensure that your team achieves the right performance. Provide good leadership within your team, create an open culture, make expectations clear, and continue to motivate and inspire your employees. And remember, occasionally you have to step into the operation yourself to get things done; that’s just part of the job. But ultimately, the growth of your company is in your employees, who contribute with great energy!

Could you use help on this topic? We would be happy to schedule a (call) appointment with you to see how we can help your organization. Fill out this contact form.