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How To Show Your Employees You Care

Have you ever started the day with a to-do list a mile long and a schedule full of meetings? Do you feel like you always have a lot to do, but there’s never enough time to get it all done?

As the leader of your company, your attention is constantly being pulled in many different directions. You’re going to overlook some things, but you don’t want to drop the ball on what’s most important.

While you might miss a meeting or leave one item off your to-do list, you can’t miss the boat when it comes to your employees. Building relationships with the people who keep your business running is critically important.

It can be tough to show your employees you care, especially if they’re working remotely. These four strategies will help you keep your employees happy and ready to work.

Show You’re Available And Fair

Employees want to know that they can come to their boss if they have a problem. Whether it’s a tech problem, a coworker problem, or something else, it doesn’t matter. Employees need to know that they can count on their boss to be available to them. While they should ask their direct supervisor first, they should also know that you’re available.

You can share your calendar with your employees, or you can tell them exactly which hours are best to come and see you for help with problems. Make it clear that you don’t consider their concerns a waste of your time.

Fairness is an extremely important quality in a manager. Emphasize that you value everyone being treated with the support that they need. Ask your employees to come to you with any concerns about fairness.

If you want to show your employees that you care, limit required overtime and provide excellent benefits. Take care of the basics first, and fairly, and you’ll be on your way to establishing those important relationships.

Be Appreciative

There’s no doubt about it: without your employees, your business would not run. Your staff is crucial to your success, and you need to let them know.


Always reward employees for a job well done. While the reward will depend on you and the employee, a written thank you card is always a good idea. It’s a memento that they can keep in their desk to provide motivation on difficult days and to encourage them to keep working hard during slower times.

Verbally recognize one employee during a set time period. You could follow the traditional employee-of-the-month schedule, or you could choose to recognize one employee each quarter.

Whenever you recognize an employee, make sure you are specific. State what was most notable about their work. For example, you could say something like “Your follow-through with difficult customers has helped us keep large accounts.” That sort of compliment is much better than, “Your hard work keeps us afloat.”

You should also check in with employees who are experiencing a challenging time, either in their professional role or in their personal life. The fact that they continue to show up in the face of difficulties is important and should be recognized just as much as successes should be.

Schedule Social Events

The population continues to increase and there are more people on Earth than ever before. Because of technology, we can connect with each other more than ever before. However, online connections with strangers or acquaintances can’t take the place of real connections.

While some might view their work as “just a job,” it’s important to give all employees the opportunity to make connections at work outside of their roles. Social events help employees feel connected and motivated to work hard for their work community.

If your staff is working remotely, you can schedule a Zoom call that’s entirely social. Make sure to research games to play beforehand. Set a time limit and encourage employees to bring snacks and drinks.


If your staff is working in-person, then you should schedule a themed get-together during work hours. It’s a great idea to get a break from the office/the building and go out somewhere, if possible. Bring game ideas as a backup plan if natural socializing needs a nudge. This is also a great opportunity to recognize the employee of the month or quarter. Try to schedule these events on a regularly recurring basis.

Provide Perks That Elevate The Environment

The days of boring office environments are over. It’s time to think about how perks and amenities can motivate employees to have a positive attitude and to work hard.

Studies have proven that open offices, where no one can close the door to their office or has the privacy of a cubicle, create problems. Coworkers distract each other with conversation, and there’s too much noise for real, deep work.

That doesn’t mean that you can’t offer amenities, though. A snack bar is a great perk that shows employees you care. A coffee bar is another great amenity. Some of the giant tech companies have nap rooms, but that might not be the best solution for your business.

It’s also a great idea to give employees the opportunity to walk outside. A walking path allows employees to take a quick break, breathe some fresh air, and come back to their desk rejuvenated.

Take a good look at your office furniture, too. Is it comfortable and supportive, or outdated and flawed? If you can, look into upgrading the oldest furniture at leas.t

Wrapping It Up

To show your employees you care, make it evident that you are available, do your best to be fair, show your appreciation directly, schedule social events, and provide perks that elevate your office environment.

Embracing these four steps will show your employees that you want to help them succeed in their careers. Most importantly, your actions will show that you care about them as not just an employee, but as a person.

Here’s Why Creativity is the #1 Skill for Entrepreneurs

Countless business gurus and blogs have made their checklists of what it takes to be an entrepreneur: passion. Ingenuity. Good financial sense. While all these characteristics are important, entrepreneurship relies on one thing above all else. To successfully launch and manage your own business, you need to be creative and make creativity a core element of your endeavors. Here’s why.

Creativity Breeds Innovation

As the saying goes, there’s nothing new under the sun. Most industries are oversaturated as more and more people try to get in the game. Eventually, businesses face seemingly infinite competition, which drives down their value.

To stand out from the crowd, you need to innovate new solutions, and that requires creativity. This doesn’t necessarily mean inventing a new product. Rather, you need to find a way to enter the market in a unique way. Creativity is crucial to this process; it gives you ideas on how to position yourself as distinctive from your competitors.

Creativity Helps You Solve Problems

Ultimately, a business is only as successful as its ability to meet its customers’ needs. This goes beyond creating a desired product or solution; you need to provide a brand experience that supports your customers’ core interests and preferences. To tackle their problems, you often need to brainstorm solutions that don’t yet exist. This is where creativity comes in!

When you are creative, you can more easily imagine your target audience’s journey, which allows you to craft the ideal experience for them. You can empathize with their struggles and find a brand story that resonates with them. Simply putting a clever product out to market isn’t enough! Creativity gives you the tools to position yourself as the wise guide on your customers’ journey.

Creativity Promotes Courage

Starting a business is a risky endeavor. There is a lot of work involved, with only a narrow window for sustainable success. The best entrepreneurs can envision all possible scenarios and find the right path to achieve the results they want. They can imagine achieving their goals, which helps them obtain the courage they need to take risks.

This doesn’t mean entrepreneurs need to be foolish, though. Creative people are better able to think outside the box, which can help them take the right kind of risk. They can measure their ideas against their feasibility, then imagine the outcome they want. This is crucial to making the best decisions at the best time.

Creativity Leads To Collaboration

Creative people are often better able to work with others. That’s because creativity is actually a talent for connection. It allows you to think outside the box and find ways to cross barriers between various experiences. This makes you more empathetic and open minded, both of which are crucial to building strong teams and brands.

People skills are essential to business success! Creativity lends itself to collaboration by encouraging people to share and build on each other’s ideas. When you find the right mix of people, your business can grow.

Creativity Leads To An Empowered Mindset

The much touted entrepreneurial mindset is one that looks for revenue opportunity and financial success. What most people don’t tell you is that this mindset is actually creativity. When we can imagine our business’s growth and abundance, we can adopt the famous “money manifestation” attitude. Countless entrepreneurs have reported that this attitude helped them grow a thriving business.

There’s nothing mystical about the money manifestation mindset or entrepreneurial attitudes in general. It’s simply creativity, which allows us to envision our business goals and put them into action! When we know we can find the best ideas and solutions, we feel empowered to make our business a success.

Wrapping Up

If you’ve been reading this article and are worried your entrepreneurial dreams are doomed, don’t be! Contrary to popular belief, creativity is not something you either have or don’t have. While some people may have a greater affinity for creative thought, it can be cultivated in anyone.

If you wish to become more creative and unlock your potential as an entrepreneur, work on developing an innovative, positive mindset. Build connections with other people. Spend time brainstorming and imagining. These activities can help find the best solutions for your target customers’ problems and ultimately form a brand that makes a lasting impact!

Bi-weekly Resource Roundup Volume 2

Hello everyone!

We’ve been excited lately to welcome some new members to our team, and as always, we’re blown away by their talent! Passion and creativity are equally important at Flocksy.

We started by innovating the way that businesses can obtain creative services, but we’ve grown into a thriving community — something totally unique! We couldn’t have done it without our dedicated team of writers, designers, developers, video editors, voice over artists, and SEO experts!  

Sincerely,

Sam Ryan 

CEO/Co-founder 

Featured team member design of the month:

This cool custom brand social media graphic was created by Flocksy team member John for a current client

Some great new Resource Articles to enjoy!:

4 Basic Tools To Succeed As An Entrepreneur In 2021

by Flocksy writer Matt Gladstone
The world has changed vastly in just the last five years, so it’s important to know where you stand and where you’re going when starting a business. Here are the four most important and most basic things needed to start a business this year. continue

Let’s Tweet About It: Business Dos And Don’ts For Twitter

by Flocksy writer Mary Lee Ptacek
Leveraging the different social media outlets takes time, energy, and knowledge. Before you can develop a strategy, it’s essential to know the basics of how Twitter works… continue

5 Key Focuses To Grow Your Facebook Group Fast

by Flocksy writer Kasey Van Dyke

Whether you just started to find your tribe or you’re taking over an existing page, growing your Facebook group is likely top priority… continue

How To Choose A Blog Name That Helps Your Blog Succeed


by Flocksy writer Matt Gladstone  

Here are some tips for choosing a name that will stand the test of time and lead people to your new company.   continue

7 Ways To Instantly Improve Your Focus

When you focus, you’re able to accomplish lots of high-quality work. Your creative juices are flowing, and you make it all look easy. However, today’s ever-connected digital life can make it feel impossible to focus on any one task.

If it seems like you can never spend more than a few minutes on a project before picking up something else, it’s time to take control of your time! From new workflows to different boundaries, try these tips and tricks to improve your focus and increase your productivity.

Embrace Single-Tasking

The myth of multi-tasking has had a good run, but it’s time to let go of this outdated idea. Multi-tasking, where you try to work on several different projects at once, simply isn’t effective. Multi-taskers accomplish less and make more mistakes than people who work on one project at a time.

Take a look at your usual workday and see where you might be multitasking. Maybe you’re answering emails while on the phone, or are trying to proofread two different documents at the same time. Instead, start tackling each of these tasks separately. You might not think you have room in your schedule to handle them individually, but you’ll probably find that tasks take less time when you’re more focused.

Batch Your Days

Take single-tasking to the next level by batching your days. When you batch your work, you focus on all the similar parts of different projects, one at a time. For example, if you need to send updates on various projects, write and deliver all of these updates one after another. 

When you batch work, you save resources because you’re performing similar jobs at the same time. There’s no need to load the same software multiple times a week, get into the right mindset every day, or track down supplies more than once. Batching is a great way to reduce the workload of your routine tasks.

Reduce Interruptions

Your workday is probably full of interruptions. Chat alerts, pop-up email notifications, ringing phones, coworkers popping by your desk, and countless other modern reminders pull you away from your current task, interrupting your workflow and breaking your focus.

Remove as many interruptions as you can from your environment. When you’re working on a project, aim to make yourself unavailable for anything else. If you can close your office door, log out of your email, and set yourself unreachable on chat, you’ll be able to focus on your most important work.

Your work culture might not allow you to go fully offline, but you can still try to reduce your interruptions. Turn off notifications on your personal accounts, block off time on your calendar, and ask drop-in colleagues to circle back at a better time.

Build In Breaks

Don’t push yourself past your breaking point. Regular breaks can help you stay more focused than trying to power through hours of work. Build breaks into your routine to keep your physical and mental abilities sharp. 

You can experiment to find the style and frequency of breaks that work best for you. Whether you prefer short but frequent breaks or look forward to one longer change of pace a day, it’s important to take these breathers. You’ll discover new ideas and trains of thought come easier after a break. Your body will also feel better when you stay hydrated, eat meals at a decent hour, and walk around during the day.

Focus On Your Circle Of Control

No matter how talented or high-ranking you are, you can’t control everything. You’ll be able to focus better and stress less when you spend your energy where it’s effective. 

From other people’s mistakes, to international trade wars, to the weather, it’s easy to fixate on what could go wrong with a project. But when you focus on events you can’t control, you’re wasting your efforts. Instead, spend your time and energy working within your circle of control. Your focus will be improved when you’re thinking about realistic, workable solutions.

Set Achievable Goals

Lofty goals are a vital part of your company’s growth, but it can be hard to know where to start with a big task. Break your goals into smaller steps and sub-goals to help them feel more approachable. You’ll have an easier time making plans, taking action, and focusing on your work when you’re reaching for a small, realistic goal each day.

Prioritize One Task A Day

No matter how careful you are with your time and energy, there will be days when it’s hard to focus. Last-minute directives from your boss, an unfavorable news cycle, and other emergency situations can require all your energy without any warning. You can still keep making progress towards your long-term goals when you prioritize one task a day.

Every day, identify what’s most important to accomplish. If you could only do one thing that day, what task would be most impactful? Front-load this task and take care of it as soon as you can. Even if the rest of the day’s plans are ruined, you can better focus on the emergency situation when you know that your priority task is already taken care of.

Five Problems Women In Sales Face

Women around the world enjoy pouring themselves a cup of ambition and trying to make it big in the sales world. But how fair is the sales world, really, to women? Do women get the promotions they deserve whether they’re working 9-5 or longer hours?

According to the 2018 U.S. Census, the answer is no. The U.S. sales industry has the second-highest pay gap between women and men. The highest pay gap in the country is between men and women in finance.

That spells bad news for women who want to, or who are currently trying to, make a large income in sales. Being prepared for the challenges women in sales face is the first step to closing this gap. Equal pay for equal work is essential in a modern world. Here are five problems women in sales face and potential solutions to each.

Problem #1: Systemic Flaws

Unfortunately, one of the top problems that women have in business is that they simply haven’t been allowed to, or had the opportunity to, establish their place for as long as men have. Women who don’t have relationships with clients passed on from mother to daughter, for example, are at a disadvantage. Fathers who pass on their clients to sons are giving their sons an advantage that women just don’t have.

Speaking of sons and daughters, let’s take a look at motherhood. Women have faced hiring discrimination for decades because employers do not want to hire, train, and pay someone who will be temporarily gone for maternity leave. They sometimes even attempt to fire women while they are gone on maternity leave. This is illegal now, but it has been a problem that’s prevented women from having successful sales and business careers in the past. Maternity leave is a major issue that prevents women from leading successful sales careers.

Problem #2: Lack Of Networking Opportunities

Because there have historically been fewer women than men in business, there are fewer women to go to for networking opportunities. That means fewer women mentors are available, which is especially bad news for young women who are just starting out in their careers.

Connections are extremely important in the sales world. While it’s important to have a mentor for support, simply knowing more people in the sales world who can help you change companies, for example, is useful and can lead to a more lucrative career. Networking opportunities can be hard to come by for women in sales.

Problem #3: Unconscious Bias

Women tend to be undervalued in the workplace, especially considering that they meet their sales quotas more often than men do! Someone holds an unconscious bias when they do not know that they have a set of attitudes or beliefs about a person or group of people, and these attitudes/beliefs are not based on reality.

Many men hold common, stereotypical unconscious biases about women in the workplace. Examples include, “Women can’t be trusted because of their hormones,” and “She can’t deal with that client because he’s old school. We need a man to work with him.”


Unconscious biases are dangerous because if they are not recognized and addressed, they can turn into discrimination. If, for example, a supervisor never assigns a woman representative to a certain client, they are limiting the woman’s ability to do her job. It doesn’t matter if the supervisor thought he had good intentions; by preventing women from even trying, his unconscious bias is setting up (or perpetuating) problems from the start.

Note that women can also hold unconscious biases about other women. However, it’s much more common that men hold unconscious biases about women, and these biases affect their actions, women’s opportunities, and ultimately, their performance.

Problem #4: Unfair Business Environments

When many men in a company hold unconscious biases against women, it has a major impact on interpersonal relationships and on women’s attitude about what they can accomplish at work. Unconscious biases effect women during interactions, but it extends beyond moment-to-moment interactions.

For instance, women might not feel comfortable using office equipment or going into the break room because they fear an awkward or unpleasant encounter. They might not speak up in meetings because they fear that they will not be taken seriously. Women might also feel uncertain on business trips because they do not have a support system in place.

Sometimes, companies will require a man to partner up with a woman, even if another woman could have filled that role or if the woman could have accomplished the task on her own. These are all examples of how unconscious biases work to create unfair business environments that prevent women from feeling safe and empowered at work.

Problem #5: Imposter Syndrome

While we’ve looked at major external forces that create problems for women in sales, we haven’t considered one important internal force: imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is the untrue belief that you aren’t good enough to accomplish something, even though there is evidence that suggests you are.

Imposter syndrome affects women much more than men. It creates insecurities that lead women to take fewer risks, risks which could pay off and help decrease (and ultimately, eliminate) the gender pay gap.

Women in sales need to fight imposter syndrome by taking a look at all the hard work they’ve put in and the rewards they’ve reached. Take time to be proud of how far you’ve come and what you’ve accomplished. Then, take that positive attitude and energy and put it to work.

In Conclusion

Women face many challenges in the work place, including systemic flaws, a lack of networking opportunities, unconscious bias, unfair work environments, and imposter syndrome. These five problems can be resolved if both men and women work together to fix them.

Equal pay for equal work is extremely important, and creating an environment where more women will want to work is also essential to eliminating the gender pay gap. Despite the challenges they face, women can led rewarding careers in sales.

Five Of Our Favorite Ways To Celebrate Customers This Valentine’s Day

Romance is in the air and it’s time to celebrate Saint Valentine’s Day once again. During a pandemic, it can be difficult to know how to celebrate appropriately. But this year, businesses can mark the holiday with a paper or digital Valentine’s Day campaign that celebrates love, affection, and a promise of a future together. Put your own spin on these five ideas and make an impression on your customers this Valentine’s Day.

If You Ship A Product: Embrace The Personal

Some businesses (especially small businesses) already include personalized or handwritten notes as part of their product packaging. It’s a great way to show your customer you care about them as an individual customer, and that you appreciate their business.

In the weeks before Valentine’s Day, include a paper valentine in all orders shipped out to your customers. How personal the message will be depends on the size of your businesses (you might not have time to send a handwritten note with each order, and that’s okay!). Consider including a picture of a company pet with a sweet message, or send “Best Wishes For A Happy Valentine’s Day!” Don’t forget to include your customer’s first name.

If Your Business Is Online: Show Your Love Digitally

For businesses that don’t ship products directly to customers, there are plenty of other ways to share the Valentine’s Day spirit, but digitally. Launch a Valentine’s campaign by adapting your original marketing posts for the holiday. Use Valentine’s-oriented (hearts, flowers, chocolates) images in your social media posts, on your website, and in your marketing emails.

You could also do a “Countdown To Valentine’s Day” and include a cute picture with a quote, or highlight one of your services for each day. Share photos of your office decorations and ask your customers how they’re celebrating this year.

Host A Valentine’s Charity Match

Spreading the love just got a lot better. Host a charity match where for every dollar spent (on specific products or during a specific time frame; it’s up to you!) you match the contribution and donate it to a charity of your choice.

Showing your customers you care about your community indicates that you are a business with values. If you care enough to donate, then you probably care enough to offer a great product or service, and a great customer service experience as well.

Donating to a charity for Valentine’s Day shows you love and care for more than just the bottom line. It’s a great way to showcase the mission behind your business.

Celebrate The Singles

For many who are single, Valentine’s Day can be an isolating holiday. You can develop your Valentine’s marketing campaign to include content that makes single people feel bad about not being in a romantic relationship.

Choose a day or two to highlight self-care for people who are single and people who are in relationships during the Valentine’s season. If there’s a way to tie in your product or service to self-care, that’s fantastic! Let your customers know how they can put their health and needs first with your business.

Share Your Appreciation

Valentine’s Day is all about showing love and appreciation. It’s a great opportunity for you to show how much you value your customers. You can send a simple message of thanks to your customers, letting them know how much you love being in your business and how they make that possible.

You can also show your appreciation by offering a valuable coupon. Or you can use a “Share the Love this Valentine’s Day” message to offer discounts to customers who refer a friend.

Whatever direction you go, make sure to let your customers know you appreciate them and that you want to thank them for helping make your business possible!

In Conclusion

By sending personalized paper messages, running a digital Valentine’s Day campaign, hosting a Valentine’s Day charity match, celebrating the singles, and showing your appreciation, you can reveal more of your personality to your customers. Giving your customers a reason to connect to you is a great way to grow your business!

Bi-weekly Resource Roundup Volume 1

Hello everyone!
The New Year has kicked off, bringing new challenges, experiences and successes to us all in some form or another.

Here at Flocksy, we are dedicated to helping your business knock it out of the park in the coming year, and continuing to make the creative projects on your to do list not just easy, but fun as well.

We are confident that exciting things are ahead, for both your business and ours, as we pave new roads together in 2021!  

Sincerely,

Sam Ryan 

CEO/Co-founder 

Featured team member design of the month:


This cool custom brand graphic was drawn from scratch by Flocksy team member Sunardi for a current client

How Small Businesses Can Use YouTube To Grow

by Flocksy writer Matt Gladstone

If you’re a small business trying to compete with larger corporations, YouTube is a great place to start. Here are some simple but effective tips to running a successful YouTube channel.

How To Pick A Business Name And Trademark It.

by Flocksy writer Alexander Lundrigan

All brands need a catchy and recognizable business name. Picking the right name can be challenging, but there are simple tips and tricks to help you..

Essential Marketing Plan Tips For Small Businesses

by Flocksy writer Matt Gladstone

Here are five tips for developing and executing an effective marketing plan for the first-time small business owner

7 Methods For Living Distraction Free

by Flocksy writer Matt Gladstone

Don’t succumb to the distractions of the modern world; use these tips and tricks to calm the storm in your mind and your life.

How To Motivate Your Customer Service Team For The Long Haul

Your customer service team is your first line of defense when it comes to customers. They handle customer complaints, concerns, and questions. They are actually who your customer will likely interact with and how your customers will develop an opinion of your brand. And because of that, your customer service team has to stay motivated for the long haul.

Here are some things to keep in mind when thinking about how you can better motivate your customer service team.

Encourage Individual Growth

One of the best ways to motivate your team is to help them grow both professionally and personally. For their professional growth, you should engage in regular training sessions that actually help them learn the techniques to be better in customer service situations. Things like deescalation training, how to make small talk, ways to connect with the customers, and how to multitask are all great places to start.

You may also want to look into seminars and conferences or classes that your team could attend. These should have experts giving more insight into their position and providing the advice your team will need to be excellent in their day-to-day activities.

Personally, you can help your team grow, too. They spend a huge amount of their lives at work, making it important that their personal growth makes an appearance at work. Help them identify their goals in life and how they want to accomplish that. For example, you can help your team achieve better health by creating a wellness program for them. It will improve their lives while helping them feel more motivated to work hard for the company.

Give Them The Right Tools

Obviously, your team can only be efficient and effective with the right tools. Make sure they have all the equipment they need to do their job well, from training to physical equipment. Stay up-to-date on the best tools in the industry and consider having a part of your budget there to cover the expense of new equipment.

One of the crucial tools for success is autonomy. Your team needs to know that you trust them to make certain decisions. Without a mutual trust, they will never feel like they are progressing in their position and you will continue to see a large number of calls referred to supervisors. Instead, make sure your customer service team is well-trained and fully equipped to handle the majority of situations.

Strengthen The Team

Your team will always work better when working as a team. Start to encourage this by listening to their feedback. You are an essential part of the team and you should trust the feedback you’re getting when making decisions.

Additionally, you need to regularly help them participate in team building activities. These can be something as simple as a team coffee break or as elaborate as going out into the community and doing charity work together. The act of doing something together outside of work can help broaden their relationships and given them experiences together they may not have gotten otherwise.

You can also help them build as a team by fostering friendly competition. You don’t want to pit one employee against another, but having a little competition will incentivize them to work harder while also helping them appreciate the skills of other team members.

Focus On Appreciation

Think about the last time someone asked you for something. Chances are, if you chose to help them out, you knew you would be appreciated. Appreciation is an excellent motivator. You can use this with your customer service team. Try placing some focus on their purpose and importance within the company. As they see why they are coming to work every day and why others rely on them, they will have context for their daily activities.

You can also help the team show appreciation for and take pride in the brand. Fundamentally, people want to work for a company that they respect. Whether it’s the mission of the company, the quality of the products they’re selling, or the good treatment they get from upper management, there is something that will help them stay connected to the company and the brand, which will then motivate them further.

You should also get in the habit of showing appreciation for the team. Regularly show appreciation for them during team meetings, throughout the week, and individually. This doesn’t always have to be an elaborate thing that you do. Simply bringing in a treat or sending a thoughtful email can make a huge difference.

Know What Motivates Them

Generally speaking, people are motivated either intrinsically or extrinsically. If your employees are intrinsically motivated, consider encouraging their creativity. As they improve their problem solving skills and in their position, that intrinsic motivation will continue to be met.

If you have some employees who are more motivated extrinsically, consider coming up with an employee incentive program. How you structure this is completely up to you! It might be based on how many customer service calls they take in a day or their average rating by customers or even the length of their calls. However you decide to make your incentive program, it can be a great outside motivator for every employee.

Arguing At The Office Or Online: How To Manage Employee Conflicts

While some companies are telling their employees to keep working from home, others are calling staff back to the office. Although it might be easier to avoid office conflict when working from home, that doesn’t mean that arguments disappear entirely.

We’ve come up with four best practices for managing employee conflicts, no matter what the setting might be. Whether there’s a disagreement happening in the office or online, one thing is certain: that conflict is decreasing productivity and making your workplace a less pleasant place to be.

Don’t let conflict take away from your company. Follow these best practices to keep conflict to a minimum and to provide a positive work environment for your employees.

Be Proactive

For this best practice, you’ll have to pick a day to start, and we suggest the first Monday of a new month. The symbolism of choosing the first day of the week to launch an initiative actually helps people get in the right mindset: new month, new practice.

And just what is this best practice? It’s simple but so important: respect. When employees don’t respect each other, miscommunications and arguments increase. Respect is essential to the functioning of any organization or society,

Unfortunately, you can never control whether or how much employees actually respect each other. But what you can do is establish a set of norms. Don’t interrupt when someone is speaking. Each person has this much time to speak. If you have an issue with a coworker’s behavior, then talk to your supervisor.

If an employee breaks these norms, then it’s time to have a discussion with them about the importance of respect and their future with the company.

Establish A Complaint Process

Sometimes a conflict gets out of control, or an employee’s behavior escalates in a way that can no longer be tolerated. When this is the case, there needs to be a process for filing a formal complaint.

No employee should have to feel like their voice won’t be heard. If a coworker is treating another employee poorly, then that employee needs to make it known.

A written complaint that goes into a personnel file will help HR track employee behavior in case the case escalates even further.

Communicate the complaint process to your employees. Make sure they know that they will not be penalized for reporting the inappropriate behavior of a coworker.

Confront The Issue

For less serious conflicts, it’s time to leave passive aggressiveness behind. When a minor event happens, employees should be encouraged to confront each other over what went wrong.

Ignoring tensions can actually make the problem worse as time goes by. When employees secretly dislike a coworker or manager, that’s a recipe for miscommunication. It’s difficult to ask for help from someone who you don’t like or don’t trust.

Encourage your employees to have honest, open conversations with each other. Explain that the first step is to politely state how they feel and what the other person might be able to do in a future similar situation to minimize the issue.

Set Communication Standards

Establishing norms for respect, a process for filing formal complaints, and a policy of addressing issues as they arise are three important steps that all have to do with communication. Communication is critically important in the workplace, and that’s why having high standards for it will help your business move up to the next level.

Decide on how much communication you expect from your employees daily, and how much communication is needed within teams. Make sure that you model clear and concise communication in your emails and meetings.


Be honest, open, and to the point. Prioritize your employees’ understanding. If you have communicated something unclearly, then that could lead to future miscommunications.

You should also ask each team to establish their own communication standards, and make sure you approve them. Ask your employees for feedback about what was communicated well and what needed more clarity.

In Conclusion

Respect, complaint processes, conflict policies, and communication standards are four areas where companies should be following best practices to keep conflict to a minimum and employees happy at work.


Arguing at the office or online can lead to more than just a miscommunication or lost time. When conflict gets out of hand, serious consequences can ensue that can lead companies into disaster.

Make sure that you take the right steps and follow best practices to create a positive work environment where employees feel heard and valued. Communication is key!

How To Build A Feel-Good Business That Makes A Lasting Impact

We all need to make money to make our way in the world, but self-fulfillment is just as important. In the business world, doing good work that you can feel good about is the first step. Companies from all over the world and a wide range of industries are finding ways to create lasting social impact. Whatever your business, you can make a difference, too.

Build A Business On Your Passion

Do what you love, right? It’s sage advice. You have to care about something to feel good about doing it. Doing good and giving back isn’t just for nonprofits. Parents start businesses selling products that will help their family and other families. A vegan establishes a line of prepackaged vegan foods. Yes, a business needs to be sustainable, but you can enjoy what you do. The first step to feeling good about your business is selling a product that makes you feel good and makes a difference.

Here are some great examples of companies selling feel-good products:

Alternative Apparel sells sustainably sourced clothing that’s Fair Trade certified.

Seventh Generation sells eco-friendly products that are packaged in 100% recycled material.

Warby Parker sells eyeglasses. For every pair sold, they donate a pair.

Grove Collaborative sells paper goods made from 100% bamboo.

Build It Into Your Business Plan

Every business isn’t selling bamboo paper towels or sustainably sourced clothing, and that’s okay. You can still do good by building it into your brand. You don’t have to wait until you’re well established to give back either. Build it into your business plan from the very start. If you can’t afford to make monetary donations right now, build quarterly volunteer days into your business plan. You can include monetary donations in your business plan for when your start-up is off and running. Factor donations into your budget and projections. 2 years from now, how much do you want to be donating? 5 years from now? Set goals for yourself, then track your progress. Get your team involved, so everyone can feel good about their contribution when you meet a goal.

Your business plan is the blueprint for your business. What you choose to put in it is entirely up to you. It can just be about profit and loss, or it can also be about doing your part to make a lasting change in this world.

Build An Atmosphere of Giving

As the founder of a company, you set the tone. If you make charity a focus of your business, it sets an example for all of your employees. If you want to make a difference but aren’t sure where to start, hold a meeting to ask your employees’ opinions. They may have some great ideas! Or perhaps, they are already involved in volunteer work and need assistance. Don’t just assign an eager employee as head of charitable contributions and step back, either. Get involved yourself and set a positive example. You may inspire your customers and business partners to get involved, as well.

Build A People-First Philosophy

Customers know the difference between a company that values its customers and one that values its bottom line above all else. Chewy, the pet retailer, sends condolence cards to its customers when they lose their beloved pet. Acts of kindness like this will win the hearts and minds of your customers.

Yes, good customer service is good business sense, but a people-first philosophy is more than that. A people-centric business is one employees want to work for because their time and input are valued. They have fair wages, good working conditions, and an understanding boss. A people-first philosophy means implementing policies that protect the physical and mental health of your staff. From adequate leave time to group health insurance, there are a lot of things an employer can do for his or her employees. A smart business owner knows a company’s success depends upon how hard its employees are willing to work.

Build A Reputation for Good

As a business owner, you have choices about how you package your products, how you advertise your services, and what vendors you use. You choose how you treat your employees and how you run your business. Make choices you can proudly share with your customers. It will establish your business as one that cares about people over money. People don’t just want a good product at a good price. They want a product they can feel good about buying.