The mood of small business owners across the US continues to brighten as the NFIB reported another increase in their highly regarded Small Business Optimism Index in August. The index ticked higher a full half a point to 100.8, almost 3 points higher than the 52 year average of 98. As tariffs and higher operating costs become a fact of life, small and midsize businesses adapt and focus on the controllables to improve business prospects. Even in smaller organizations, leadership plays a key role in business success and higher performing managers and supervisors can have much greater effect in small businesses. The current economic landscape creates more questions than answers but a strong and skilled leadership unit can plan and execute strategies that improve business prospects and maximize opportunities.

Leadership Roles in the Smallest Organizations

Small businesses have varying definitions and sizes but leadership hierarchies exist, even in one person operations where the owner is ultimately ‘the boss’. Larger teams may have a frontline team supervisor or manager that oversees the core operational unit of the business. Closer contact with leadership is a common element in small businesses and in many cases, the owner(s) may be a part of the day to day operations. Supervisors, managers and owners have dual roles in delegating day to day work tasks and jobs that keep the business running. Secondly, that closer contact provides more opportunities for a leadership style role which when effective, yields many short and long term benefits to the business. Motivating and leading teams to reach goals and increase performance is a challenge, especially in the entry level realm, but the advantage for small business leadership is the increased interaction and engagement with those valuable front line workers. Leading by example is a core technique for managers and supervisors and can be much more effective in smaller sized businesses with closer contacts.

Key Skills for Small Business Leaders

Managing entry level teams can be challenging and in many cases, is considered an uphill climb. For small businesses with limited resources and less time than their larger counterparts, effective leadership is key to maintaining performance, output and productivity. Managers and supervisors in smaller sized businesses need to perfect certain skills and habits to effectively engage workers in closer contact environments. Some key skill sets and traits of higher performing leadership are:

Strong and confident communication skills

Active listening skills and comprehension

Advanced organizational and planning habits

Big picture thinking and strategization

Evaluation skills and higher levels of awareness and perception

Leadership that displays a defined balance between empathy and expectations will see the best results from their teams. The closer environment in small businesses can mean better relationships with managers and workers and higher levels of enthusiasm and ownership of the business within front line teams.

Sharpening Skills for Managers and Supervisors

Having managers that lack skill sets to lead will have short and long term negative impacts to any small business and evaluating and training managers is just as important as ensuring entry level workers have the skills they need. Managers and supervisors need advanced training to understand their role and effectively interact and engage with their workers. Recognizing the need for fast, efficient and cost effective training for small business, Express Training Systems has deployed its newest training product – Entry Level – Supervisor Training. This full course covers basic and advanced managerial skills, organizational and planning skills, team evaluation, leadership techniques and more. Offered only in Instructor Led format, EL-ST classes are limited to 5 students for a better and more effective learning experience. This interactive and engaging course includes ample Q/A time for students as well as in class evaluations, polls and knowledge checks.

The Bottom Line

Leadership and management has a stigma attached to it but these roles are invaluable in business organizations and can yield significant and positive results in smaller sized businesses. Sharpening and developing managerial and supervisory skills with effective training and development will create a more productive and efficient workspace in a goal oriented atmosphere. In addition to ensuring day to day operations, small business leadership provides important planning and strategizing that maximizes opportunities and positively impacts business growth. Training products, such as EL-ST can help new-to-the-role supervisors acquire essential and advanced leadership and communication skills, ensuring a path to success and higher performance from frontline teams. Click here for more information on Entry Level – Supervisor Training from Express Training Systems.