When’s the last time you had a pressure-free chat with your team? Outside of a project meeting or a debriefing, when was the last time you asked your team, as a whole or individually, how they were doing?
Annual reviews are important because they help set goals and expectations for the year ahead while making sure everyone’s on the same page and making progress toward their personal professional aspirations. But informal conversations and little check-in chats can help take the temperature of the team and bring matters to light that could become issues in the future.
Here’s why employee check-ins are important and how they can be done!
1. Keep everyone on the same page.
If someone’s having a really great week, while someone else is struggling, that will impact your team’s overall success. You want your team to feel supported, connected, and focused on the work that needs to be done. Clear, consistent communication is key to this! Making sure everyone hears and understands the same instructions is important to ensuring everyone knows their responsibilities and the order in which things will be addressed. Checking in with people to make sure they’ve got their proverbial marching orders keeps everyone working to achieve the same goal.
2. Feedback.
As a manager, your job is to keep your team together and get along (and work) well as a team. If there’s conflict among employees, not seeing it, not knowing about it, and unknowingly letting it fester and grow can become a huge problem. By talking with your employees, individually and as a group, on a regular basis, you can find out where the cracks in the foundation might be starting to form, and you can take positive action to help fix them before things start to fall apart. Additionally, you can hear from your team what’s working well and bringing everyone together, allowing you to find ways to do more to enhance, encourage and sustain those collaborative and positive interactions.
3. It’s an opportunity to be supportive and encouraging.
Meeting with your employees one-on-one is a chance for you to let them know you see them, their hard work, and how you appreciate it. People who don’t feel noticed, who feel like their work is overlooked and not appreciated, are those who feel taken for granted and will eventually start to look for other work. Taking just a few minutes, even if it’s informal, to congratulate them on a job well done, or to thank them for being helpful and contributing so much to your team’s success, can go a long way toward boosting morale. No one likes to feel taken for granted; check-in conversations are the perfect time to build people up when they might be feeling down.
4. It encourages buy-in and engagement.
Talking with your team about the projects you’re currently working on and overseeing gives them the chance to share ideas on how things are going but also how a tweak here or there might make things more efficient or otherwise improved. Some people, by nature, are more creative when it comes to problem-solving, but they might not have the confidence to speak up in front of the larger group; allowing them some individual time to share their ideas can boost their self-esteem and confidence. Showing you support them by bringing your idea to the larger group can help them believe in themselves more, which can further foster creativity among the group. When employees begin to believe their managers will find value and importance in their feedback and contributions, they will make more of them, and more often, making them feel invested in the work and team.
Looking to add to your team? ABLE can help!
There’s a difference between a manager who cares about their employees, who check-in often and makes a point to be available to their team and one who micromanages to the point where no one feels trusted or competent. Talking with your team and giving them the space and support to try new ideas, giving them a boost of confidence when they need it, and working through problems together will benefit everyone.
If you need to add to your team and keep that good work going, call ABLE Associates. Our recruiters are ready to introduce you to smart, talented, qualified candidates who are ready to get to work right away! Give ABLE Associates a call today and meet your new team member faster.