Eight actions for managers that will boost team engagement instantly.

Employee engagement can seem complex if you are a manager to which engagement doesn't come easy. Yes, there are proven business-wide strategies to enhance engagement and net promoter scores. But manager behaviour is still a major driver of engagement...or lack of.

Many managers say that time, money, and planning are barriers to boosting team engagement. These eight actions cost nothing and take little time.

1. Focus on your team: Sorry: it's not all about you. Get to know the people in your team. How can you trust them and empower them if you don't know their values and needs?

2. Empathise: Walk a mile in your employees’ shoes. See things from their point of view. Show that you care or understand where they are coming from. This shows you have emotional intelligence: a major skill needed for the modern leader.

3. Follow through: If you say you are going to do something, do it. Take action and update employees when it has been achieved. This boosts trust in you as someone that keeps their word.

4. Ask, don't tell. There is nothing more disengaging than a manager telling you what to do. Present employees with problems to solve, so that they can use their business insights and innovate.

Tell yourself that employees know the business and customers best. Involving employees will solve your problems more effectively than doing it yourself.

5. Value your team’s time: This may sound insignificant but it is small things that make a big difference when it comes to the perception of leaders. Remind yourself that your employees’ time is as important as yours. There is nothing worse than your boss being late for your team meeting.

6. Say good morning.

7. Be yourself: you are your own person with your own style of leadership. So, be yourself, be human.

8. Smile: It's proven that smiling makes people trust you more and helps improve your personal productivity. You will be surprised how much this simple gesture improves perceptions of you too. So, take some advice from Nat King Cole who said "smile, and maybe tomorrow you will see some sun shining through".

In my experience managers that show these behaviours are more likely to create an emotional connection with their team, which in turn improves team engagement and productivity.