Our strengths and weaknesses play an important role in determining who we are as employees and leaders. They tell us what job we should do, what responsibilities we should have, and how we decide what to do in that role.
Identifying strengths and weaknesses is the key to unlocking the potential of each employee and each team. With this information, managers can make smarter distribution decisions, provide better evaluation, and empower all employees to grow and succeed. However, strengths and weaknesses are often relative and employees often don’t know where they are. Andre Alonzo Chambers, a former business consultant, believes that one of the most important jobs of a good manager is to identify strengths and weaknesses and apply that knowledge to promote productivity and collaboration. Andre mentions five ways to measure team strengths and weaknesses.
Being Direct and Real: Employees are often asked about their strengths and weaknesses when evaluating performance, but these answers are rarely reliable. Features like a “results-oriented starter” are vague and clichéd, and employees can boast strengths that may not improve their chances of promotion. Once you show employees your human side and make them overcome this hurdle, they are more honest about where they excel and where they thrive. Remember, you have to be honest to get it back.
Learn about them from their media profiles: One of the best things about time on social media is that almost every one of your employees there has accessible personal and professional profiles. Most business organizations have social networks as well as social intranets that they use to communicate, collaborate and connect with divided / large groups. Employees create profiles in these systems, for example through sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn. These profiles provide a gold mine of information about employee interests, hobbies and displeasures, skills, experience, and expertise.
Observe and listen to them: If you work with the same people every day, it can be difficult to see them clearly. Instead of strength or weakness, you can see that the person is moving normally. It can be a missed opportunity. If one of your team members is known to always behave well and be friendly, he or she can also be a natural diplomat. This is a solid benefit for managers, whether they are trying to dispel team tensions, find a partner with a difficult employee to work with, or gather enthusiasm for a new initiative.
Using the above-mentioned ways, a manager can successfully identify many weaknesses and strengths. Andre Chambers, who is also the owner of DMV ASAP, suggests that the best way of assessing is to observe without interrupting them. The more you can do it , the better you can manage your team.
