Removing roadblocks is an essential component of the manager/employee relationship. As a leader, it is your primary purpose to make things easy for your team so they can, in turn, reward you with hard work, loyalty, and success. Even company-wide roadblocks, such as managing turnover and churn, can usually be traced back to individual teams and employees failing to do their jobs each day. 

Regardless of the roadblock, managers are generally responsible for identifying and offering support for getting around, through, or over them. According to a Gallup report, a whopping 85% of employees globally are still actively disengaged or not engaged at work, despite more efforts from organizations. Possible reasons explaining such a level of disengagement could be associated with poor transparency between management and teams, lack of alignment with company goals, or little room for growth. 

How Can Managers Effectively Remove Roadblocks?

You cannot remove roadblocks unless you know what they are. Managers should take time to study past patterns and consider any trending obstacles that are commonly found in their teams. Once you have fished out the most frequent causes of concern, you can use a proactive strategy to prevent, control, or effectively resolve the issue. 

Hurdles that go unnoticed until they become quite serious are the worst, and those are the ones you should be looking out for. Regular meetings with team members can help you understand what's bothering them and what can be done to monitor the situation.

Consistent communication is key to removing roadblocks, so ensure you are communicating regularly and following up on the solutions. 

Preventing Future Roadblocks 

You can effectively prevent roadblocks by identifying common issues and devising processes to improve communication and resolve conflict. 

Involve the Team 

An effective way to avoid future roadblocks is to involve your team members and ask them how the situation could have been avoided and what can be done differently moving forward. Workers know potential roadblocks well, and their feedback can be very insightful.

Prevent Burnout 

Burnout is one of the main causes of dissatisfaction that can lead to various problems. Make sure to delegate work properly to prevent employees from becoming overwhelmed. Be on the lookout for signs of burnout to avoid loss of productivity and long-term negative effects. 

Appreciation 

Do you recognize the efforts of your team or take their hard work for granted? Rewarding team members for their work can significantly raise morale and increase job satisfaction, thus avoiding many problems related to loss of productivity, such as absenteeism, declining quality of work, and unannounced leaves. Give credit where it's due by mentioning the person or sending them a motivating email. 

Summing Up

Keeping that in mind, it is crucial to understand that not all roadblocks can be avoided. Although numerous measures can be taken to control the severity of the issue, managing obstacles is a continuous part of a manager’s job. Avoid being confrontational when roadblocks occur and try to face them head-on.