Nobody wants to be the overbearing boss, but sometimes you need to take extra care to make sure the business is running as it should. Thankfully, employees know that they have to be watched and directed as part of their daily working lives. It’s not that they have to be given a babysitter, but they need to have managers, making sure they know what they’re doing each day, and support them. However, what they are not prepared for is to have a boss that is a burden to their working day. They should never have to worry about looking over their shoulder. So how can you be a hawk, but not be overbearing?
Weekly meetings
Consider not having weekly meetings, instead, have fortnightly meetings. Most companies will have one meeting a week that includes the middle and lower management staff. So managers and supervisors will be led into the meeting room after upper management has decided what is going to occur for the week. However, lower management need not participate in weekly meetings. Their main role is to support workers every day and cope with the new challenges that come their way. Making them come to weekly meetings just slows them down. So one meeting every two weeks to keep them updated is all that is needed. This way, they won’t feel as if you are centralizing power.
The owl sees all
Every company needs to have some kind of security service that will protect them during the night. Most of the time, burglaries occur when businesses are empty. Whether you’re an office-based enterprise or a retail store, you must have expert Video Surveillance on-site. The service will include LCD monitors, megapixel IP cameras, infrared day/night cameras, and covert cameras to prevent thieves from dodging their sight or damaging them. Like an owl, these cameras will keep watch over your property and alert you of anything suspicious. They also record everything so you can go back and watch the footage whenever you want. This can help in building criminal cases or just keeping an eye on your day-to-day operations among employees.
The CC rule
It’s not always the best idea to be involved in the emails of your employees, but you should be CC’d into some of them. You can make a general rule of asking managers to put you into an email as a CC, every 20 emails or so. This way you can be kept alert to what they are doing at the level of their role. They will be speaking with clients, suppliers, distributors, and customers, so every 20 emails, you will get a firsthand look at what kind of conversations they’re having. If you want to narrow down the types of emails you should be included in, set a list of topics you wish to have, such as sales, client feedback, customer service, etc.
Striking a delicate balance is the key when it comes to overwatching your business. These methods will enlighten you on what’s going on, but not make your overbearing to the poting employees find your burdensome.