Recently my daughter wrapped up her second year working at a film festival. When she got home she shared that she was told she was the best camera person they had working the event (which was streamed live online). She graduated as a digital media production major about two years ago and has been working in the business while also working behind the scenes on a few productions.
What struck me was how often we UNDER VALUE positive feedback.
I’ve worked for many years and for a lot of great brands. Management is very quick to point out errors and shortcomings. Unfortunately, good or great work seems to get far less of an acknowledgment. Positive reinforcement costs nothing. Still, it is far too hard to come by.
Having managed many people in my career while also having slim budgets for compensating my teams, I tried to stick with a few simple rules:
- Let your top performers know that they’re your top performers.
- When someone gets a “win” make sure to attach their name to it publicly.
- Review with your staff their “hit list” of achievements that you need them to focus on. Understand where each item stands and what is required to complete each item.
- Ask pointed questions, “how can I help you?” or “do you need any help to make that happen?” and most important, “when do you think you’ll have this one wrapped up?”
In this era when remote work is still quite common for younger talent, they should be given a balance of positive feedback along with the criticism that organizations are very quick to deliver. It isn’t uncommon for teams to share an “in office” day and still have little to no contact with their managers on those days. That isn’t a failure of the staff. That’s a failure of management who haven’t made the effort to connect with, motivate and properly train or educate their team. Anyone who has managed a dozen employees knows that twelve people are motivated and managed twelve different ways. Put in the work.
I’ve been very fortunate in my career. I’ve managed some amazing people both in person and also remotely. When we traveled together, I made it a point to make the time to get to know what was happening in their lives as well as what challenges they faced at work. This is especially important in the time of remote and hybrid working where one on one time is very limited. I always asked, “where do you want to go from here and what can I do to support that?” It is important to know the goals of your staff and how you can help them achieve that. A team that believes their manager is interested in their professional and personal growth will perform better than a team that doesn’t feel supported.
- My advice to those professionals managing other people is simple. If you expect your staff to burn the midnight oil to complete a project, try shortening their day every so often when the red alert siren isn’t going off.
- When your staff scores a win or does something to merit accolades, make sure they receive them publicly and that they can hear and see you supporting their achievements.
- Be direct. “I want you to know how much I appreciated your help on this project. If not for your contribution we’d still be digging out,” costs you nothing. The dividends it pays to you and the person hearing it are immeasurable.
And “thank you” is a nice touch no matter who you say it to. Hopefully I managed to thank those people who have worked with me throughout my career whenever I had the opportunity to.
