What does your sales team’s day-to-day working environment look like? It may be in flux right now, especially if your team is adjusting to hybrid working. Still, it’s important for bosses to create the kind of workplace that encourages team members to contribute their best every day.

According to leadership and management author, Art Petty, leaders should take five important steps to create an ideal working environment for their teams. In this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, we highlight Petty’s top tips for building a better working environment.

1. Ask your sales reps what you can provide for them. You probably have a good grasp of what your boss expects from you, but that’s not enough. To create an effective working environment, you should also know what your employees need from you. Keep in mind that their needs may change depending on different circumstances. Petty suggests gathering your team’s input and referencing it daily as a quality check for your priorities.

2. Give trust to get trust. When you trust your sales reps, you can often speed up the time it takes them to trust you. Instead of requiring your team members to earn your trust, try giving it immediately, suggests Petty. Those who know they are trusted by their boss will likely go above and beyond to live up to this sign of respect. If someone on your team betrays your trust, work with that person individually instead of withdrawing your trust from all.

3. Establish group values. Most working environments do not have guiding values or clearly defined expectations, according to Petty. Take time to think about what is most important for your sales team when it comes to working together. Some things to consider include how you bring new sales reps into the fold, how you handle unsatisfactory performance and how you problem-solve together.

4. Highlight the bigger picture. Another way to improve your working environment is to help everyone on your team see how their work connects to your company’s larger goals. When your sales reps know how their hard work is tied into the organization’s overall success, it can often compel them to innovate and give their best.

5. Encourage feedback between team members. Employees are accustomed to hearing feedback from their bosses, but they should also hear what their fellow sales reps have to say. Petty believes sideways feedback is one of the most important types of feedback because employees can help each other adjust, adapt or learn on the fly. When you encourage open communication, you help create a comfortable working environment.

A working environment doesn’t just involve where your sales reps do their jobs—it encompasses how work gets done. A working environment involves how sales reps feel about working together, solving problems, making decisions and collaborating. You can create the most effective working environment for your team by considering the five points above.

Compiled by Audrey Sellers

Source: Art Petty is an executive and emerging leader coach. He is also a leadership and management author, speaker and workshop presenter.