1. Match the person to the task. Think about the personalities of the people you are managing when you assign tasks. People will perform most effectively when their tasks are suited to their personalities.

2. Join staff during breaks. Don’t lose your cool when employees take unauthorized breaks and begin chatting about the latest football game or TV sitcom. If the break becomes too long, join them. Your presence will show you are part of the team. When you leave, they usually will too.

3. Believe in your staff’s ability to do their work. When you do, your behavior toward your staff signals your confidence in their ability to perform. This builds confidence.

4. Outline your performance expectations. If you are experienced in accomplishing the task and your staff isn’t, explain ways in which it might be carried out. No one can meet your expectations if they do not understand what they are.

5. Monitor your expectations. It is not enough to issue orders then sit back and wait for the results. You need to monitor the work from time to time. Asking staff to report back to you at key points in the task or walking around the work area and discussing informally will give you the opportunity to get them back on track.

6. Provide feedback. Let your people know how they are doing. Become a cheerleader if they are meeting the defined objectives. Do not criticize poor performance, provide feedback.

7. Involve staff when defining objectives. Staff input into their objectives and goals will result in staff ownership.

8. Reward outstanding effort. Rewards do not have to be elaborate. Sometimes just selecting an employee of the month is all that is needed.

9. Improve processes and procedures. Are your processes efficient? Check for improvements in workflow, environment ergonomics, and new equipment that will pay for itself quickly. Do you really use all those reports they create? Limit paperwork to only those items that are critical to running your operation.

10. Assume that people want to do a good job.

11. Create a work environment that encourages your team to use their skills.

12. Get rid of any policies, systems or rules that frustrate effort or initiative.

13. Eliminate systems that require either excessive amounts of overtime or that allocate more time than necessary to complete tasks.

14. Train people to become generalists, not specialists. Make cross training a continuous activity.

15. Do not let your organization grow overweight in staff during prosperous times.