{excerpted from The Ladders online newsletter}
Communication can play a large role in determining your effectiveness and success as a leader. How you communicate with your employees can either show them they are valued or make them feel disposable. Great bosses find themselves using the following positive reinforcements, questions, and statements of gratitude on a daily basis.
1. Good job.
Good bosses let employees know when they’ve succeeded. Offering positive reinforcement encourages your staff and assures them that their hard work is appreciated and noticed. Giving an employee praise can be equally as effective as giving an employee constructive criticism – both help a worker continue to improve his/her professional performance.
2. What’s our goal?
A great boss wants to keep his/her employees motivated. By creating a goal-oriented environment, a boss can encourage employees to focus on an end-point and make decisions that will lead them to achieve their goals. And by saying our, that employee knows the boss is working toward this goal with her/him.
3. How are you?
A boss who truly cares about the well-being of his/her employees is a great boss. How are you? is a question that could render responses involving personal life and/or work life. Employees fare better when they don’t feel like just another number in a sea of employees; good bosses make each employee feel crucial to the functionality of the company.
4. That was my fault. I’m sorry.
Hearing a boss admit a mistake allows for an employee to be comfortable enough to own up to a mistake he/she may make in the future. By saying I’m sorry, a boss not only admits the mistake but shows respect for the employees who will be affected by his/her mistake.
5. What do you think?
Good bosses let their employees know their ideas will be heard and taken into consideration. Seeking advice from employees shows that the bossvalues their opinions. Employees were hired for their potential, and giving them a chance to exhibit their skills lets them know you believe in them and value their ideas.
6. How can we improve?
Inviting employees into the postmortem process shows them that they are a crucial part of the company and that their proposed solutions are valued. Each error or mistake can be viewed as a learning experience. And good bosses let employees in on that process, in turn helping them grow professionally.
7. Let me know if you have any questions.
A great boss is approachable and lets his/her employees know they can easily ask for help when needed. Opening up employee/boss communication allows employees to feel part of a team.
8. Thank you.
A simple thank you is still the best way to let employees know you truly appreciates the work they are putting in. A good boss thanks his/her workers often, noting specific positive behaviors or assignments that were exceptional. Great bosses want their employees to feel valued.
