Ever wonder why management techniques that work with one person do not work for another? Have you struggled to connect with your employees or your coworkers? Do you find yourself asking, “How do I let my people know how much I appreciate them?”

If you’re reading this, then you know that managing people is not easy. In fact, friendships aren’t easy. We all struggle with relating to certain types of people. Sometimes it just seems to work easily. Sometimes it doesn’t seem to work at all. What’s the solution? How can we make sure that we are communicating effectively with those we work with, hang out with, and live with?

I recently read Gary Chapman’s book The Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace. You hardly hear leadership experts or management experts tell you that you need to learn to love your people. I believe the number one solution for making your workplace the most awesome place to go to work each and every day, is to let your people know that you love and appreciate them each and every day.

In his book. Mr. Chapman expresses that there are five ways that people receive appreciation, or I call it love, from their leaders, supervisors and managers. They are:

1. Words of Affirmation

2. Acts of Service

3. Gifts

4. Quality Time

5. Appropriate Physical Touch

In the next five blog posts, I plan to delve into how each one of these five languages of appreciation can impact your employees and other relationships so strongly that you will see a remarkable difference in the attitudes and actions of your employees.

People need to know they are loved and appreciated. They need to know more than ever that those they work for really care about them. Take time today and look at your interactions with each one of the people that you work with. Pay attention to how they interact with people around them. Do you see a difference?

If you want to bring out the best in your people, and your friendships, in your relationships at home, you need to effectively communicate your love and appreciation to them.

Have a great week.

For more information, check out Gary Chapman’s website www.5lovelanguages.com or www.5languagesofappreciation.com.