Business Owners & Creatives: The Mid-Year Check-in That Your Team Needs
A common myth that we often hear from business owners and creatives is that we should save our goal-setting and auditing for the beginning of the year. It’s a new year with a fresh start, right? However, we’d be remiss to ignore what our team needs throughout the year.
Pushing those issues back to December or January can cause a lot of internal issues, but really, a mid-year (or quarterly) check-in is exactly what your team needs. Giving them a fresh start to tackle busy season will set them up for success.
Clarify Roles and Responsibilities
When I set out to expand my team in any capacity, I’m always looking ahead at the bigger picture of what I want that role to entail. However, that doesn’t just stop at the hiring process, that should be something that you’re regularly looking at to make sure that expectations are being met.
When you get into a groove of working with your team, there are times when responsibilities can fall to the wayside. Your team expands, roles shift, and busy season can lend a hand to miscommunication. It’s a good rule of thumb to review each team member’s performance and overall job duties during this time, that way you can ensure that everyone is performing as expected. If you find that a particular team member isn’t fulfilling their role, then you can use that as an opportunity to have a conversation and treat it as a learning experience for both of you.
Maintain Communication
With busy season extending into both summer and fall in the event industry, I can be guilty of getting caught up in my work like anyone else. But these are the crucial times in which your team needs you to be hands-on, especially during a big project or event. Holding weekly meetings can be a huge game-changer, and it paves the way for some constructive communication.
Your employees want to feel as if they can come to you for anything, at any moment. Provide an open-door policy that goes both ways. Don’t be afraid to give healthy feedback after an event or project, or even just a simple check-in. Remove all of the fear out of discussing strengths and weaknesses. It can go a long way!
Audit Your Internal Processes
When things get unorganized and messy behind-the-scenes, it sets the tone for how the team feels and how they present themselves to clients. Make sure that you’re holding the back-end to a high standard, just as you would for anything client-facing. Keep things neat and organized, even if that means taking the day to have your team clean up their computers and making everything easily accessible.
Ask your team if there’s anything tech-wise that can help them succeed as well. There are a lot of collaborative apps and software that can make working together a breeze, especially when working from home. They’ll thank you for wanting to make their work lives easier!
Using these tips will not only help your employees feel heard and appreciated, but it can help evolve the way that you manage them as well. Remember that you make mistakes as a team, and it’s your responsibility to find a solution as team. Giving them the tools to excel within their roles will create a healthy working environment and a loyal staff in the long run.
Photos by Duke Images
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