RULE 23

Create a good atmosphere

Creating a good atmosphere isn’t only easy but also essential. If your staff are sullen and despondent and depressed and surly – it shows. It shows in their work, the way they handle customers and colleagues, the way they relate to each other and, most importantly, the way they work with you and for you.

It takes nothing to say good morning politely and mean it. It isn’t a chore to make sure everyone has got a coffee or tea for a meeting. It takes a second to ask, ‘How are you today?’ The three rules for any workplace are:

• politeness
• friendliness
• kindness.

Yep, we’ve all known the bosses who shout and are rude and belligerent, but, like the dinosaurs, they are a dying breed and we can move on. People are entitled to:

• respect
• civilized behaviour
• dignity.

If you can’t give them these things you shouldn’t be a manager. But I’m sure you can. Creating a good atmosphere is easy. It comes from the top down. It is your job and your responsibility to be cheerful, considerate, polite and helpful. Your people are one of your most important resources – your tools, your weapons of mass achievement. Without them you are nothing. With them you are a team. Use them kindly and don’t abuse them. Be genuinely interested in them and their lives. If you don’t have time – make time.

I guess the word I am looking for is ‘courtesy’. An old-fashioned concept, I’ll grant you, but one that gets mountains moved, doors opened and staff working shifts they would normally have refused to do.