Tips for how to get your employees motivated for small business success.
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Tips for Managing People Who Can’t Make Up Their Minds
Indecisive people are a frustrating part of life. Here are some tips for dealing with an indecisive person and helping them make up their minds already!
We have all had to deal with indecisive and difficult people at some point in our lives. Whether it be the manager who can’t decide on how to format a report, or a wife who can’t make a decision on whether you should go to Olive Garden or The Spaghetti Warehouse, indecisive people are a frustrating part of life. Here are some tips for how to deal with an indecisive person and help them make up their minds already!
Limit Their Options
When dealing with an indecisive person, you simply cannot offer them an unlimited list of options. You have to narrow down and limit their options to two or three choices; no more than four. If you allow them more than four options you will find yourself in for a very long day… maybe even longer.
Take Them to Task
Most of the time, an indecisive person will be the type that doesn’t really want to do anything physically. They just want to talk about things forever. So I find that one way to get indecisive people to make up their minds is to take them to task on their “visions.” Let them know exactly what they will have to do in order for certain choices before them to be carried out. This will also help narrow down the list of options because more than likely, once the indecisive person hears about all the work they will have to do in certain cases, they will be less thrilled about those options.
Clearly Outline the Benefits of Each Option
Sometimes indecisive people have a problem deciding because they are not able to process information well. They sometimes have a hard time deciding what are the pros and cons of a situation. Help them out. Give them specific reasons why each option would be ideal. Just two pros each will do. When you find that they are favoring one or two choices over the others, that’s when you hit them with the biggest “con” or downside of one of those two narrowed down choices. BAM. They will think about it for a few moments, and after a short while will probably choose the opposite option.
Wrap it Up
Now that you have gotten them to commit to one option, you have to wrap things up quickly. Do not allow them extra time to think about the decision they just made. Tell them: “Great, I will get this going.” Reassure them by saying things like “This will be great” or “I’m glad you made this choice,” and then leave the room to get things started.
Be Firm
The most important advice you can get when dealing with an indecisive person is to be firm with them. Don’t waiver like them or play into their dysfunction. They will start to think this is a fun game and you will end up going back and forth forever. So put your foot down, let them know that there is a firm timeline that you have to follow, and stick by your narrowed down options. One sign of weakness, and an indecisive person will have you tied up in knots.
Don’t think you’re alone if you frequently have to deal with indecisive people in your everyday life. They may seem impossible to work with at first, but if you implement these options, remain calm, and use your charm and wit to get things done, you will find success dealing with indecisive people.
Anyone who runs or manages a small business knows how difficult it can be to keep employee morale high. According to a recent Gallop poll, 70 percent of Americans don’t enjoy showing up to work each day. This just won’t do if you want your business to thrive—your employees play a vital role in the success of your company. If you can somehow motivate them to start to love (or at least strongly like) doing what they do, it will be beneficial for everyone involved.
Don’t Neglect Praise
It’s essential to give praise to your employees when it’s deserved. Many managers feel as if doing so will show a weakness of some sort, but it can actually serve to improve the employee’s job performance by leaps and bounds. Relate this to your own life—if your spouse or a loved one gives you genuine thanks and praise for completing a task, doesn’t it make you want to do it more and even better the next time? One caveat: be sure that you’re being genuine in your praise; you don’t want your employees to think that you’re reaching or being patronizing with them.
Limit the Rules
It’s important for every workplace to have rules, but restricting your employees too much will most likely cause them to develop a strong distaste for their jobs. Don’t lose an otherwise very strong employee because he took a seven-minute bathroom break instead of five—that type of nitpicking is counterproductive and doesn’t look at the bigger picture for your business. Give employees room to breathe if you want them to love their jobs.
At the same time, if an employee is completely disrespectful of all of your business rules even after several warnings, it may be best to let him go and give another qualified person a shot at the job. Too much contention with an employee who refuses to get with the program will create a tense relationship, and tension is a strong barrier to motivation.
Reward Employees with Meaningful Gifts
One of the best ways to get your employees to truly love what they do is to show your appreciation with gifts from time to time. A pat on the back is nice, but giving your employee a pair of tickets to the next home game of his favorite basketball team is even better. The gift has to be meaningful, which is why you should know a thing or two about each of your workers’ interests besides their work performance. The occasional meaningful gift shows that you have good will towards your employees, and they’ll respond to this in ways that you might not have ever expected.
To put it simply, employees who love their jobs are more productive. Since your job as a small business owner is to increase productivity, getting them to love their work more is highly beneficial to you and your company’s performance. If you can keep the level of motivation high, everyone involved will have something to gain.