- Have active ways to listen to your employees.
- Check often with employees to see if the information you are sharing with them is what they need and what they want.
- Share information about customer satisfaction with employees.
- Discuss financial performance with your employees and be sure everyone understands the importance of profitability and how they can contribute to profitability.
- Allow ad hoc teams among employees to form to address organizational problems and work with those teams to tackle the identified issues.
- Encourage employees to make suggestions for improvement whether those ideas are large or small.
- Take an idea from one employee and share it with other employees and teams and let everyone make a contribution to build upon that idea.
- Train!
- For long-term employees, find ways to keep their jobs interesting through new assignments and challenges.
- Conduct meetings around specific issues and brainstorm solutions.
Edward M. Marshall 's book, Transforming The Way We Work -- The Power Of The Collaborative Workplace , remains relevant today, more than a decade after Marshall wrote it. Particularly useful is the book's section that teaches readers how to be a collaborative leader. Marshall says that there are seven different, important roles and responsibilities of collaborative leaders when leading teams , and those leaders should select the appropriate style to meet the team's needs. The seven roles are : The leader as sponsor -- You provide strategic direction, boundaries and coaching for the team. You also monitor progress and ensure integrity in the team's operating processes. The leader as facilitator -- You ensure that meetings, team dynamics, and interpersonal relationships function effectively. You also ensure internal coordination of activities among team members. The leader as coach -- You provide support and guidance and you serve as a sounding board. The lea...

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