Attitude is the core of personal and professional success.
One of my favorite quotes about attitude is, “There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.”
Attitude is a highly personal and sensitive topic — only you are responsible for your attitude. No one can force a change for you, and only you can decide if it will be positive or negative.
Each person’s positive attitude at work is important to his or her success. The attitudes your business team shows contribute to the overall success of the business. To have positive team attitude, you must have positive personal attitudes among team members.
You need to create a climate that encourages teamwork and sets the environment for positive team attitude. Negative attitudes undermine a team climate.
So how do you create a team climate?
A clear sense of direction with defined goals is imperative. The work needs to be challenging and meaningful, and perceived by team members with a real sense of purpose. Team members should feel there is an opportunity for achievement and that all resources needed to succeed will be available.
There is recognition at all levels from all levels for work that is done well. Creativity and open communication are encouraged, and there is an atmosphere of trust, not punishment. Most important, there is a clear expectation of teamwork as a company value.
Once you have worked to create a team climate, here are 15 signs that your staff has accepted and is fostering a positive team attitude:
Honesty and trust. They’re honest and tell others what they know or don’t know. They don’t fake it.
Open communication offered regularly, before others have to ask.
Listening with care and sensitivity, and responding to needs and questions.
Anticipating others’ needs and offering to meet those needs.
Offering promises of what they can and will do –not what they can’t and won’t do.
Keeping promises, doing what they say they will do.
Consistent follow-up and follow through with each other.
Support of one another instead of placing blame.
Knowledge sharing as opposed to keeping information as an advantage for personal gain.
Working together to solve a problem, not working against each other for their own self gain.
Accepting the differences in people and knowing that differences bring strength through unique perspectives.
Showing respect and value for every person and his or her contributions.
Empathy for one another, combined with fair, compassionate and honest thoughtfulness.
Trust built through reliability and dependability.
Being nice to each other.
If you look at the characteristics of a positive team attitude, you’ll see this is an accurate checklist for the characteristics we look for in quality customer service. And when these characteristics are strong in your team’s attitude, they will transfer to your customer. Pam Schuck ([email protected]) is president of STRIV=E Training, which specializes in motivating customer service for businesses. She can be reached at (440) 235-5498.
