A vital ability for every manager is the art of mobilising and engaging subordinates. You must know how to get others to put all their efforts into achieving your goals. The starting point for this, according to the leadershipnow.com website, is an honest assessment of how your subordinates perceive you.
Mobilising your employees
It is not the position of a manager in itself that will spur enthusiasm and dedication from the workforce. What is crucial is that the team must be convinced that goals are achievable and there will be some kind of personal payoff. These two conditions are necessary if you want everybody to make a full contribution to your joint effort. Further, you need to deploy your leadership: you must be visible and utilise every possible chance to demonstrate in person passion for your goals. Show how deeply you care and how important those goals are to you.
New opportunities to get buy-in from your employees
Regular blogging and modern internal media are popular with today's managers. Employee publications, intranet and videoconferencing are all useful sophisticated technologies: some of them give you instant communications with many employees; others allow you clearly to repeat your core message, which is essential for making an impact and influencing the workforce in your organisation.
Personal interactions
Indicate that you are approachable and communicative. When you speak, support every statement with a gesture and underscore the main points of your speech with significant body movements. Meeting your subordinates in person means that you have to make your case loudly and consistently. Be clear about what you want and express your message. Address all concerns your employees share with you. You can listen to unfiltered opinions on various issues and deal with bad news on the spot, making sure matters will not spiral out of control. Attend skip-level meetings and occasionally show up in branch offices.
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