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Tradesman Insurance: The Good Boss Guide for Tradesmen

Good boss v bad boss. If you have a small team of people working for you how do you know if they're singing your praises or moaning about you behind your back? A good indicator of how well you're doing is by looking at your staff turnover and morale. Of course staff do come and go and there are workplace gripes every now and again, but if you feel like you're constantly replacing team members then maybe you're not doing as good a job as you thought. Perhaps your team seems a little gloomy, lacking in motivation and has poor productivity levels. This could also be down to your behaviour. On the other hand, if you have a happy, productive and loyal workforce which has stuck by you for a while then you're probably on the right track. Whether you're the good guy or the bad guy you can be better. We've put together a list of common boss traits. Take a look. Which group do you (honestly) fall into and are there any changes you can make to create a cheerful and effective working environment for you and your team?

Good boss

A good boss generally does the following things. How well are you doing?

Motivates staff.
Offers ongoing training and support for the team.
Praises and rewards individual and team work.
Communicates with staff and has an 'open door' policy.
Acknowledges initiative.
Gets involved with the 'hands on' work.
Is honest and truthful.
Treats staff as individuals.
Includes staff (where appropriate) in decisions affecting them.
Provides suitable tools and equipment for the job.
Is flexible and open-minded to staff requests.
Looks for ways to improve the working environment.

Bad boss

The traits below are generally associated with bad boss behaviour. If you can identify with any of these then now might be the time to start making changes so your business doesn't suffer.

Takes all the credit.
Is never wrong.
Blames other people.
Takes over.
Constantly criticises individuals and the team.
Keeps secrets from the rest of the team.
Gives vague information and instructions.
Over-supervises or micromanages work.
Bullies staff.

Whichever camp you fall into, you can make improvements to the way you run your team. Some of these changes might be relatively easy to make but if you're struggling with certain aspects of your behaviour then it could be worth looking for training courses to improve your people skills.