Letting go is probably one of the hardest things any business founder has to do, but it is essential to be successful. Nothing kills motivation and proactive thinking more than a boss who doesn’t trust and micromanages staff.
In a recent article, Alan Downie, co-founder of Melbourne-based start-up Macropod, explains why trust is so important when building up an organisation and how respect and understanding of the individual are key to a healthy company culture.
"Trust is amazing in that it builds upon itself, and makes life better for everyone along the way. When you know that your team is always doing the best they can for the company and for each other, you stop worrying and let them make choices for themselves. At Macropod for example, we let the team work the hours they want to work, from home or the office, we’re happy for them to play games during the day (we have an Xbox and a Wii in the office), we let them take an unlimited amount of sick leave and we don’t ever, ever question their dedication to their work. If someone says they can’t come in today, we don’t ask why. If someone is sick, we don’t ask for a doctors certificate. If someone is running late, we don’t ask them to make up the time later. All of these things are about demonstrating your trust in your team. “Face time” is only important in companies where there is no trust."
"The last, and probably most important, part of trust is realising that we’re all human. We all have good days and bad days. We all have things outside of work that sometimes consume us and make us less effective than we’d like to be. None of us have simple lives, everybody’s life is complex and filled with nuance. By recognising your team as a set of individuals, with their own diverse problems and pains, the entire team will see each other as humans, not just bums on seats. With trust comes respect, and it’s only with respect that we can really understand, and work with, each other effectively."
Bottom line, if you can’t trust your team, you lose. To read the full article, Hiring for goodness not greatness lets startup founders manage less and trust more head to the Business Review Weekly website. And once you've mastered the trust part you might want to invest in your team's training. If you need help getting your staff Inbound Marketing ready, we are here for you. Click the button below to find out what we can do for you and your team.
