Leadership teams present one of the most complex examples of human dynamics within an organization. As I discuss in this video, if these dynamics work well, the team can perform brilliantly. If the dynamics break down, success is far more difficult.

In the last several blogs I’ve been talking about the tough economic times we find ourselves in. For managers and business owners, there’s a real concern of how you can keep your best employees happy and productive.

As I’ve said before, money isn’t everything. Sure, we all want a pay raise. But we also want a life. Remember that while your best employees want to give their all to your company, they also want to retain some balance in their lives.

So help them. If you’ve never offered alternative work arrangements before, this is a good time to consider these options:

• Part time or work-sharing. This is particularly appealing to working parents who might prefer to “share” their job with someone else and have more time with the kids.
• Work at home.  If you don’t need people physically in the office to do their job, you might let them do some of their work from a home office.   In this age of email and instant messaging, you can communicate as easily as when they’re in the next cubby.
• Flexible hours. Work noon to 8pm? Thursday to Monday? Ten-hours four-days a week? You might be surprised at how delighted workers can be when given a chance to “own” their time.

Depending on your workplace, you might have some alternatives of your own that meet your needs better. Your employees will appreciate that you recognize them as human beings with a life of their own, and they’ll reward you with their loyalty and productivity.

No, I don’t mean you should help yourself to the cash in the till. But if you’re the boss, you should help yourself keep your head on straight during these tough economic times.

In my last blog, I talked about acknowledging the hard times to your employees. Well, you need to acknowledge the same thing to yourself.

You need to get your own head around the uncertainty. “We don’t know how or when it’s going to end.” Give yourself permission for running a company in a time of transition.  It can help you stay in a good frame of mind for dealing with change.

Next up: keeping top talent in a downturn.