subject: 3 Leadership Tips to Manage Your SEO Team [print this page] 3 Leadership Tips to Manage Your SEO Team
During my small chat with one of the trainers, he asked me what leadership principals that I used to lead my team in running my business.
I replied him that my business is just consisted of several employees, thus I didn't need to practice any specific leadership skills. He then told me something inspiring: "You know what, whenever at least 2 people exist, leadership is needed".
He then continued telling me what problems might occur if I underestimate leadership in running my SEO business. He knows that optimizing websites is a very boring and tedious task, and my employees may feel that too and thus decreases the efficiency and productivity of their works, start thinking that their job is a boring job with no bright future, and better looking for a new exciting job somewhere else.
In short, he finally gave some specific leadership tips that I can use to lead my team to produce more productive results. I believe that these tips are useful for you if you are in SEO business too.
Tell them the GOAL, not the WAY
If you tell your team how to do something, they are then similar to robots. You say "A" and they do "A". But if you tell them the goal, they will decide themselves how to do it, and that gives them room to improve themselves.
For example, instead of telling them "John, you must choose websites with high PR and relevant contents to exchange links with, submit articles to high PR websites, find good but free directories to submit our client's website, comment on blog, etc... "
You might better say:
"John, your goal for this week is build 10 quality inbound links".
You see the difference? You employee would feel respected because he is trusted to do the things on his own way, and it's more exciting on working and also sharpens his creativity.
Make a fun working environment
SEO is usually the business of young and fresh people. These people don't like something that is too serious and formal. Create the environment of your office as fun as possible for them to work. Allow them to turn on the music during working, dress casually, avoid too much formal communication, and if possible provide a particular room with TV or video game so they can take a rest for a while if needed. This is good to increase their creativity, productivity, and of course the loyalty to your company.
Reward and Punishment: Basic of Leadership
Whatever good achievement your team has made, you must give them something as appreciation. It doesn't have to be expensive. You may just give them a piece of cake, free cinema tickets, or just an open compliment.
To be balance, if they underperform, you should "punish" them with something. Give them extra work at home, limit their privileges, or maybe suspend their bonuses.
These three leadership tips are only basic tips that I got from my short conversation with my client. You can develop the ideas according to your own business and circumstances. However, I hope they are helpful enough for you who have problems in managing the people in your SEO team.
Hendra Lim is an SEO consultant in Jakarta, Indonesia. He's currently working on SEO projects for a company that provides training services such as leadership training. Visit his website at Indonesia SEO Services.
