10 Questions You Should Never Hesitate to Ask

What is one question every boss should ask employees regularly? We asked several bosses to chime in.

Do You Have Everything You Need?

“You want to empower and equip your employees to go out and execute to the best of their abilities at all times. Asking your employees regularly about their needs will help you discover any hidden inefficiencies or dependencies that might be preventing your employees from performing at an optimal level.” — Matt Ehrlichman (@mattehrlichman), Porch

What Can Be Improved?

“Asking employees which aspects of your business can be improved upon accomplishes two crucial things: You get free and immediate feedback from the people who know you best, and employees know that you value their opinions.” — Brennan White (@Brenomics), Cortex

What Did You Accomplish This Week?

“It is crucial to have a handle on what your employees are working on and accomplishing regularly. If an employee isn’t accomplishing anything, then what is he good for?” — Josh Weiss (@bluegala), Bluegala

Are You Happy?

“People who are doing what they love and who feel supported produce far better work and do so more efficiently. Support a happy work environment, and your productivity will improve.” — Alexis Wolfer (@AlexisWolfer), The Beauty Bean

What Do You Love About Your Job?

“My job as a leader is to scale what my employees love about their work with RTC and replace them in areas of their job that aggravate them or simply don’t bring them joy. In most businesses, employees love 20 percent of what they’re doing and tolerate the rest. We’ve been able to flip those percentages around, and our staff are inspired to bring their A-game because of it.” — Corey Blake (@CoreyBlake9000), Round Table Companies

How Am I Doing?

“It’s a simple question: How am I doing as a leader? Your employees are a reflection of yourself and a reflection of the company. An honest answer will open any door that needs opening.” — Kevin Cauley, Advanced Media

What’s Keeping You Up at Night?

“This question can be incredibly eye-opening. You get to hear about stress at work (and sometimes at home), which affects the employee’s productivity and performance. You can then work with the employee to figure out how to address the situation.” — Bhavin Parikh (@bkparikh), Magoosh Inc

Are You Having Fun?

“In order to be successful, employees need to be passionate and engaged. It’s important to me that everyone at my company is excited about what we do and enjoys being a part of our team. Even when things get crazy and we’re all swamped, I’m still having fun, and I want to know that my employees are, too. When they stop having fun, that’s a sign that something has to shift.” — David Ehrenberg (@EarlyGrowthFS), Early Growth Financial Services

How Are You Spending Your Time?

“The majority of the time, what management thinks is happening day to day and what is actually happening are two totally different things. Understanding what an employee’s day looks like can help lead to conversations about better processes, work load balance and new techniques for approaching daily issues.” — Kim Kaupe (@kimkaupe), ZinePak

Did you feel challenged?

“While you are striving to build and sustain your growing company, it’s important to remember that keeping a motivated and devoted team is key to your company’s success. Making sure employees are challenged and involved in core company projects and decision making is a great way to achieve employee satisfaction.” — Zach Cutler (@CutlerPRteam), Cutler PR

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organization comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship program that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

This article was originally published on StartupCollective.