Corporate culture is mostly based on a leader-follower scheme. While it allows you, as a boss, to get stuff done the way you want it, it takes away all the excitement that comes from work. It also narrows your decisions and options to your mind and experience only, limiting your options. Creative teams are marked by high acumen and productivity, but to manage to switch to that mode you need to know some things.

Ways to Make Your Employees Productive and Empowered

1. 1. Tear down that wall!
      There is no need for an open space office, that actually can hurt the company a lot. But you could consider some other options to be closer to your people. The task is to eliminate that barrier that doesn’t allow people to freely come up and talk to you. Be a leader, not a boss.
   2. Learn to trust others.
      The most important tip on empowering others is actually trusting them to do their tasks. You might have this natural urge to step up and do a thing yourself, but trusting others with completing a task is crucial.
   3. Create a place for a challenge.
      You have to encourage people to jump higher and reach new heights. This is what a leader does, and even though it’s hard to do, it’s worth it. Make sure you don’t overstep their boundaries to the point where people feel uncomfortable.
   4. Get to know your people.
      Everyone working for you has a story behind them, and if you don’t know it, you’re missing out. It would be good to get to know those people through a small tete-a-tete chitchat and show that you really care. It’s really important to do it naturally, so don’t organize a corporate party or something, that makes people push their personalities back.

1. Encourage personal growth.
   There are many companies that actually financially help people with getting a new hobby, signing up for a class, etc. If you can’t afford to pay for your employees, you could either give them some slack or give them some schedule wiggle room, so they can fit their classes in. Personal growth is really important and assisting a person in it means that you value their wishes and passion. Now, that’s really empowering!
2. Open up to new solutions.
   You might be doing something your way for 10, 20 years, but that doesn’t matter. The world evolves and changes and some of those ideas your employees have can be put into practice. If you open yourself to other options, you enrich your company and help people be better.
3. Acknowledge their efforts.
   Noticing things is important, as it shows that you care. When someone does a good job, there is no reason not to say it out loud. Not only your employees will appreciate it, but it will make them do more and thrive for better next time. This will allow you to change the whole way your company operates.

Great leaders empower people and show them that they are important. This is also extremely helpful for you, as you learn to trust others and relieve some of that stress. It also benefits your company greatly, lets the creative juices flow and opens up new perspectives and horizons. Change can make your business flourish.