10 Management-Enhancing Tips that Bring Harmony to a Workplace

Working in a tense and unorganized office can trigger a huge amount of stress.

As a result, employees exposed to such work conditions will waste a lot of energy on trivial things, which will consequently affect their focus and productivity.

A well-organized workplace will not only increase your employees’ creativity, but it will turn your office into a serene, yet efficient work environment.

Since happy workers are more productive workers, treating them with care and respect will bring tangible benefits to your business, as well.

New research suggests we work more effectively, creatively, and collaboratively when we’re happy at work

For all these reasons, we’ve analyzed dozens of different ways to bring harmony to a modern office.

The end result of our research are these ten organizational strategies.

They’ll help business owners improve their office ambience and work organization.

#1 Apply gradual onboarding

Being a new kid on the block is always a stressful and tiring experience.

Most new businesses don’t have time for new employees to catch up with the rest of the staff.

Because of that, it’s essential that you include the following four points into your onboarding agenda:

a) Manage hiring time wisely

Regardless of the size of your business, it’s more practical to hire several people at once. Therefore, collaborate with your teams to gather the data about their work load and potential vacancies, so that you can announce several openings at the same time.

b) Prepare an in-house guide

Welcome your new employees with a concise but resourceful booklet that will tell them everything about your business organization and the key people inside it. That way, they’ll always know who to turn to in case of emergency.

c) Introduce internal mentorships

Assign your old employees the task to assist the new ones. Your team leaders will be the key figures at this stage. They’ll form those mentoring teams. Also, you can use an HR-software tool, to learn more about your new workers and help them fit into your team.

d) Be clear about your goals

When new workers know what you expect from them, they’ll fit into your business slots more easily. Moreover, encourage their creativity by special bonuses.

#2 Develop a system of rewards

No employee will feel good working in a stale and bleak environment.

This is why every business owner and HR-expert needs to develop a system of bonuses for their employees.

Of course, bringing a clear set of rules for promotions and raises is a must for every business.

The business owner and their team leaders should hold regular meetings, analyzing employees’ effort and making proper decisions on that matter.

Nevertheless, let’s not underestimate the importance of non-monetary rewards.

For instance, giving your employee a day off for their birthday or sending presents to their kids for Christmas aren’t direct cash bonuses, but they can serve a great morale-boosting purpose.

#3 Practice supportive communication

Nowadays, people mostly refer to communication as to what we do when we speak on the phone, chat via social media or text one another.

However, a clever businessperson will understand how important it is for their business to grow an affirmative communication strategy.

In a nutshell, even when you’re not over the moon with your employees’ results, it’s vital that you approach them in a civilized and encouraging way.

On the other hand, reprimanding or scorning will only worsen their situation.

Taking a mild and supportive attitude while still pointing at what they didn’t do correctly is what modern business communication should look like.

Be prepared, have a plan

You can learn more about this topic from the post on business communication published by the Government of Victoria, Australia.

#4 Listen carefully to your employees

Instead of turning a deaf ear on their workers’ complaints and problems, proactive business executives should listen to them with great interest.

On the one hand, you can find out a lot about your teams and the work atmosphere inside your business by only listening to your workers.

On the other, you will keep such an individual close to you if they feel that you support them.

Good listening is much more than being silent while the other person talks

Also, staying open-minded (and open-eared) to your staff can also yield some ingenious new ideas.

This is why you should encourage them to share their opinions and solutions with their team members and other managers.

For instance, you can delegate your team leaders and department heads to strongly support the employees to join the discussions pertaining to the projects in progress.

Moreover, think about sending encouraging newsletters via email, so that your workers are frequently reminded that their creativity is more than welcome.

Furthermore, inform them that such contributions will be recognized by the system of rewards, as well.

You might also want to read what the experts from the Harvard Business Review have to say about the importance of listening in business, so check it out here.

#5 Smoothen the work process

Obstacles in the work process not only slow it down, but they also increase the level of stress in the office.

Business owners, managers and employees who deal with these problems will waste a lot of energy, which will affect both their creativity and efficiency.

There are many applications available to help business owners juggle all the tasks that come with running their own ventures

As opposed to that, an office managed in a smooth, modern way won’t have to bother with such issues.

This is why it’s crucial to smoothen the work process as much as possible. The following practical hacks will be of great assistance along that path:

a) Use the cloud

From creating and syncing data to editing and sharing them, the cloud is a perfect modern tool for keeping a business in order.

Additionally, you can also store your business data online and avoid buying dozens of budget-nibbling storage devices.

b) Enable fast transactions

Today payments are made in a matter of second or they aren’t made at all.

Businesspeople who are aware of this trend will include some cutting-edge payment options in their business agenda.

Options such as online invoicing, popular payment gateways, like Stripe or PayPal, and accepting a wide range of credit cards will definitely improve the user experience your clients have with your business.

c) Allow for flexible work hours

You’ll gain a higher level of respect from your employees if you employ a flexible work policy.

While it’s important that they still come to the office from time to time, let them work every now and then from their homes.

Since modern businesspeople can count on a wide range of business apps, it’s more than practical to allow them flexible work hours and working from various settings.

#6 Outsource non-core obligations

Every business owner sooner or later needs to deal with a certain number of actions that aren’t exactly to their core tasks.

For instance, accounting and computing are two segments that are vital for almost every type of business these days.

However, what business owners frequently do is ask one of their regular workers to maintain their office computers.

As a result, that employee is under a lot of pressure, which can yield lower productivity.

When it comes to in-house accounting, a full-time accountant is too large an expense for most small or mid-sized businesses. What such enterprises should do is turn to cutting-edge accounting tools or affordable accounting software.

What such enterprises should do is turn to cutting-edge accounting tools.

For any other bookkeeping services, they should turn to freelancing accountants.

While it pays off not to have accountants and IT-pros on your payroll, it’s still important to choose some reliable providers of these services and reach an agreement on occasional collaboration.

It will ensure that you get their help at once when you need it.

#7 Turn down new projects

Many tranquil and idyllic offices transform into infernos of tension and stress when their managers bite off more than they can chew.

This is why it’s extremely important that the business owner, their HR-assistants and the team leaders make a common strategy for their business regarding the workload they can handle.

It would be wise that this committee holds a meeting every time when a new demanding project pops up on the business horizon.

These executives will compare their current tasks, the manpower and the capacity to accept and finish such new projects on time.

In smaller businesses, this working group should consist of the owner and the employees.

By analyzing their present-day situation, they’ll make an estimate whether or not they should take up new business challenges.

#8 Invest in employees’ knowledge

Workers who don’t climb the company ladder will soon lose motivation and energy for work.

Since zeal-less employee can become a millstone around your neck, it’s vital to give them a chance to grow both within the company and outside it.

While we’ve already discussed the importance of the internal system of rewards, what also matters is the opportunity to earn those rewards.

The most practical way to enable your employees to become more competitive is to invest in their education.

For example, they can enroll on one of numerous online courses and extend their knowledge.

Back in the day, if you wanted to learn something new, you’d go to school for it

Moreover, you can help them attend offline courses and get some practical knowledge that way.

Still, you shouldn’t pay for all these educational expenses.

If you pay only one part and the employees pay the rest, they’ll have a stronger sense of obligation to finish those courses and get back to work with new skills.

#9 Organize leisure activities

The term team building has become a bit too obsolete and pushy.

When you insist that your employees build their sense of belonging to your business, it might have the completely opposite outcome.

Therefore, don’t call it that way and try not to force your workers to dress up in military uniforms and play paintball once a month.

What you can do instead is organize some noble leisure activities.

Throw a company barbecue every now and then and invite your employees’ families to join

For instance, playing board or role-playing games once in a while is a relaxing activity that will give your employees a chance to meet each other more closely and strengthen the bonds between them.

Also, throw a company barbecue every now and then and invite your employees’ families to join their beloved ones on such occasions.

These leisure activities will generate a sense of belonging to your company in a natural way.

Besides, your employees will have great time, as well.

#10 Insist on equality

Even though we’re living in the 2010s, there’s still too much mobbing and harassment at work.

Offices in which employees exercise inappropriate behavior won’t be pleasant places to work. Therefore, it’s essential for every business owner and HR-professional to nip such attitude in the bud.

What you can do here is bring a set of rules that will prevent discrimination based on gender, age, nation, religion or any other difference between your workers.

Although it sounds more than logical, you’d be surprised how many improper social patterns people still consider acceptable.

The rules that you bring should be compiled in a booklet and distributed to your old employees, as well as to newbies in your company.

When you take care of everybody’s emotions, you’ll get one step closer to bringing harmony to your office and improving its performance.

Modern times ask for fast and efficient workers that can easily cope with stress and pressure.

What many entrepreneurs fail to realize is that they’re the ones who create the work atmosphere for their employees.

If you apply the right strategies to organize your office and workers, you’ll keep their productivity and creativity on a high level.

So, try out the strategies presented in this piece to turn your work environment into a peaceful and prolific place.

Mark is a biz-dev hero at Invoicebus – a simple invoicing service that gets your invoices paid faster. He passionately blogs on topics that help small biz owners succeed in their business. He is also a lifelong learner who practices mindfulness and enjoys long walks in nature more than anything else.

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