Home
>
Team Building
>
Motivation - Dont Make Your Team Uncomfortable

Motivation - Dont Make Your Team Uncomfortable

The people in your team may feel a bit uncomfortable when you sit down and spend time with them, particularly if they're not used to it. They might not be used to you doing it or perhaps a previous manager didn't do it. It's often the case that people are uncomfortable because they associate their manager sitting down with them as a prelude to a reprimand.

As Kenneth Blanchard and Spencer Johnson say in their book 'The One Minute Manager' - "Catch people doing something right" Too many managers think that their job is to - "catch people doing something wrong."

Many old style managers believed that their job was to check up on what their people were doing and "sort things" as required. Many employees today still feel that's still the situation. If a manager comes close to you then they're checking up. If you've got that culture amongst your team members, then you need to change it.

Think of it this way - are you the kind of manager who spends time with your team to find out what they're doing or to find out how they're doing. Make sure it's the latter.

Some of your people may even be a bit scared of you particularly when they first join the team. You may believe that - "you're much too nice a person for anybody to be scared of little old you" - however I used to believe that too.

One day I was discussing a new salesman with John, one of the more experienced guys. "Young Patrick's scared of you" he said. "Don't be ridiculous" was my reply, "What have I ever done to make him scared of me, I'm always really nice to him." - "Well he is scared of you and just wants to please you" said John.

This was something that really made me think because there was no way I wanted any of my team to be scared of me. Now that I was aware of it I took more care in my dealing with Patrick and our working relationship worked out okay.

So always be aware of the impact you're having on your people; you may think that you're the nicest most reasonable person in the world but how do they see it. Sadly, there are some managers who quite like the fact that their people are a bit scared of them and they see it as a positive situation. These are also the managers who spend a lot of time recruiting new people.

I can remember times when I've taken over a new team. I've had many strange looks and defensive body language when I've stopped to have a chat with some of the team. Some field sales people would get extremely uncomfortable when I told them I'd be spending some time with them visiting customers. However, I always knew that I was getting it right when at later date a salesman would ask - "When are you coming out with me again Alan to see some customers."

There's always going to be members of your team who are really keen to spend time with you and others who are less so. However, you must spend time with everyone - more with some and less with others. If you do it right, then your people will start to get used to it and start to see the benefits to themselves.

Discover how you can generate more business by motivating your team! Alan Fairweather is the author of "How to get More Sales by Motivating Your Team" This book is packed with practical things you can do to get the best out of your people . Visit http://www.howtogetmoresales.com

cleaning help near Mundelein ..

In The News:

A phone phishing attack compromised Harvard's alumni and donor database, marking the second security incident at the university in recent months.

AutoFlight's zero-carbon floating vertiport uses solar power to charge eVTOL aircraft while supporting emergency response, tourism, and marine energy maintenance.

A new phone return scam targets recent buyers with fake carrier calls. Learn how criminals steal devices and steps to protect yourself from this fraud.

New Anthropic research reveals how AI reward hacking leads to dangerous behaviors, including models giving harmful advice like drinking bleach to users seeking help.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Holiday email scams, including non-delivery fraud and gift card schemes, spike in November and December, costing victims hundreds of millions, the FBI says.

Holiday visits offer the perfect opportunity to help older parents with technology updates, scam protection and basic troubleshooting skills for safer digital experiences.

Swiss scientists create grain-sized robot that surgeons control with magnets to deliver medicine precisely through blood vessels in medical breakthrough.

Researchers exploited WhatsApp's API vulnerability to scrape 3.5 billion phone numbers. Learn how this massive data breach happened and protect yourself.

Travel companies share passenger data with third parties during holidays, but travelers can protect themselves by removing data from broker sites and using aliases.

Xpeng's humanoid robot moves so realistically that crowds believed it was fake, marking a major advancement in robotics technology ahead of 2026 commercial launch.

Researchers discover phishing scam using invisible characters to evade email security, with protection tips including password managers and two-factor authentication.

iPhone and Android users can reduce battery drain and data usage by restricting Background App Refresh to Wi-Fi connections instead of mobile networks.

Scammers nearly stole an Apple account by exploiting the support system with authentic-looking tickets and phone calls, users can protect themselves with safety steps.

FoloToy restored sales of its AI teddy bear Kumma after a weeklong suspension following safety group findings of risky and inappropriate responses to children.

Threat intelligence firm Synthient uncovers one of the largest password exposures ever, prompting immediate security recommendations.

Viral video shared by Elon Musk shows Tesla's Optimus humanoid robots performing tasks from cooking to construction, garnering over 58.5 million views on social media.

Chinese hackers used Anthropic's Claude AI to launch autonomous cyberattacks on 30 organizations worldwide, marking a major shift in cybersecurity threats.

Apple's new Sleep Score feature gives you a rating for your nightly rest quality. Learn how to set it up on your Apple Watch and iPhone today.

Essential phone settings to enable before losing your device, including Find My network, location services and security features for iPhone and Android.

The Fox News AI Newsletter gives readers the latest AI technology advancements, covering the challenges and opportunities AI presents.

Cybersecurity research shows weak passwords remain a major threat, with simple patterns and number sequences putting millions of accounts at risk.

New Android malware BankBot YNRK silences phones, steals banking data and drains crypto wallets automatically. Learn how this advanced threat works.

FDA approves first human trial for Paradromics' brain-computer interface that could restore speech for paralyzed patients through neural technology.

New phishing platform QRR targets Microsoft 365 users across 1,000 domains in 90 countries. Learn how to spot fake login pages and protect your accounts.

Motivation - Dont Make Your Team Uncomfortable

Team Building