David A. West

What Happens If the Workers Bees Don’t Get Honey…

If the worker bees don’t get honey, the Queen bee will perish. Worker bees are responsible for everything that happens in the hive. They make the comb where the honey is stored and eggs are laid. Why am I thinking about bees again? Bees make a great metaphoric lead into interesting topics like employee and employer relationships. Plus, the last time I wrote about Bees in my blog, It brought a lot of visitors… who would have thought there was so much interest in bees.

Take Two…with a few word changes;

If the employees don’t get things done, the Company will perish. Workers are responsible for everything that gets done in an organization. They deliver the products or services and add the creative flash that makes your business what it is. Workers that regret or resent their employment do not contribute… your clients will feel their dissatisfaction.

As our business evolves we add resources to ensure that we can deliver the services that we sell. In our business of web design and development, our number one resource is people. I have been a people manager for most of my adult life. At one point in my career I had a dozen direct reports who helped me coordinate and manage a team of nearly 400 personnel on 24 hour shifts.

I can’t imagine managing people without these thoughts;

• recognize and appreciate each individual persons strengths
• forgive their weakness (if it doesn’t impact your business negatively)
• be flexible, not everyone has a good day every day
• value the things your people have learned and recognize that starting over with a replacement is more difficult than coaching the employee you already have
• the time we put into growing skills in our people is priceless
• give regular feedback, be honest, honesty should not be hurtful
• feedback has to include positive remarks

Back to Bees… the bees all work together to fill up the comb. Each individual has to contribute.

How do you work with people. Have I missed any important points in my list above? I am sure I have… share your thoughts.

Have you seen the Part Machine buses running around?

Tell me your thoughts on this… I would love to see your comment added below.

Cheers -
David A. West