3 Tips on How to Navigate the Workplace

Dr. Ryan Giffen

As a leader or someone in a management position, navigating the workplace can be daunting. It is hard enough to balance work and home, all of the business decisions that you must make, and the financial health of your business, let alone all that and a happy and healthy team. If you are tired of wondering whether or not your leadership is effective, keep reading. Below are listed three tips to help you to navigate the workplace and ensure that you are the effective leader that you strive to be.

Listen!

One of the best things that you can do as a leader in your workplace is to listen. You should always take into consideration the feelings and concerns of your team members. The first reason for this is to gain respect. If you expect your team and employees to respect and listen to you, you should do the same for them. It is also important because there might just be some phenomenal ideas floating around that are waiting to land in your ears. If you hear of ways for improvement or ways in which your business could grow, consider them! Listening to your employees can be one of the best things that you can do for your business. Giving your employees a voice can also be a significant morale booster. If they feel as though they are an active part of the growth and development of the business, they are likely to have a better workplace experience as well as a better likelihood of sticking around. Nobody wants to see a high turnover rate for their employees.

Navigate and Build Relationships

It will also be extremely beneficial to build relationships with your employees and your team. It is difficult to take positive steps forward in business if you never invest in the people working with you and for you. Get to know them. Doing so will let you see what they are and are not good at doing. Being able to utilize your employees for their strong points will make your workforce extremely efficient. It is also critical because people are social creatures, whether they believe it or not. Productivity often depends upon workplace interaction. Make your employees feel welcomed and you will see an immediate difference in their productivity. Further, if you help to facilitate an environment that fosters healthy work relationships between your employees, you will see your productivity increase even more.

Take Action

The third tip is to act. No, do not take on a character role. Take action. The key thing that a lot of employers fail to do is take action at the time it is needed. It can be difficult to keep on top of everything, but if you can take action to handle issues as they arise, you will soon find yourself in a productive, happy, environment. It is easy to succumb to the temptation to make a note of a problem or schedule it for later, but if you tackle issues as they arise, you will not have to deal with problems after they have gotten worse over time.

About Dr. Ryan Giffen

With over 20 years of experience, Dr. Ryan Giffen is an expert in human relations and business culture. His career began in hospitality, leading operations and human resource departments for Fortune 500 companies and the like. Not long after, Ryan found his passion for teaching and consulting. He earned a Ph.D. in Hospitality Management with a Human Resources focus from Iowa State University and now works as an assistant professor at California State University, Long Beach. For over a decade, he continues to research and speak on organizational culture, relationship intelligence, and leadership effectiveness. Ryan is also the founder of Inospire, a company helping bosses and employees build stronger relationships with one another.  Lastly, Dr. Giffen is producer and host of the Corporate Shadow Podcast. a show helping everyday employees overcome workplace nonsense.