Ask Jayme...Tips for Your Business

The other day I was having lunch and a crew of guys was sitting a couple of tables away, talking about their boss. It wasn't, to say the least, complimentary. I figure this grousing is just normal, right? Do my people bad-mouth me the same way? Should I care? --Trenton

What the other kids say about you at the prom doesn't matter. What your employees say when you're not around matters a lot.

You've probably had a few bosses along the way. Think about the best boss you ever had. When you and the guys went out to lunch, what‘d you say about him? You might've poked fun at his dorky haircut or his lousy taste in music, but if he ran a good operation and treated you well, I'll bet you didn't call him a moron and sneer at how he ran the shop. You might even have traded a few positive stories about him over a bean burrito.

Remember the worst boss? The tyrannical, unreasonable, abusive, disorganized, sleazy guy who cheated his customers and employees whenever he could? What'd those lunch conversations sound like? "Didja hear what he did this time? The idiot forgot to order the concrete and we had a finishing crew standing around for two hours doing nothing." Or some such.

The point is that your people are very perceptive and they know whether you're a decent business manager or a disorganized mess. Their input can be big help to you both personally and from a business standpoint. The trick is to get them to tell you to your face. That means making it clear that bringing you information, making suggestions, or even being critical is not just permitted but encouraged, and by you following through by accepting information in a reasonable way. This doesn't mean putting up with disrespectful attacks, but all the employees will be watching like hawks to see how you react.

And, by the way, the most valuable input you'll get is the stuff that'll feel the worst to you: Where you're screwing it up, where the materials are disappearing to, why your employees are unhappy with you. It won't feel great, but it'll get you very clear on what needs attention.

Another key point in asking for input is that, while you don't have to take every suggestion, you do need to take action on employee input and make a point of acknowledging whomever made the suggestion. If you don't, they'll believe that you're just going the motions, and that's worse than not listening at all.

Yeah, I know that there'll always be somebody grousing about something you've done (or not done). And there'll also probably be a teacher's pet who thinks you're a saint. Do what they do in ice skating: throw out the low and the high opinions and listen to what the majority of your employees have to say.

Your employees see a lot more than you do about what's happening in your business and it's a lot easier to let them help keep an eye on things than doing it all yourself.

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