In recent years, coworking – the practice of freelancers and small-business owners working in communal spaces designed for that purpose – has risen precipitously in popularity. A survey of independent workers conducted in 2012 found that several hundred thousand Americans are working in coworking environments at least once per week, and that number seems to be climbing monthly.

It’s no wonder coworking spaces are popular: the number of freelancers and independent contractors in the U.S. economy has increased dramatically in the last decade, and the Great Recession and its aftermath have only accelerated that trend. Coworking spaces offer a work alternative that solves the problems of isolation and home-office distractions that have plagued freelancers for as long as freelancing has been an option.

In addition, coworking spaces allow for creative collaboration among freelancers in similar or complementary industries, which can be beneficial to anyone trying to innovate or stand out in a crowded field. But if you or your employees participate in coworking, you should also be aware of the risks that come with this type of work environment.

Risk Management in Coworking Spaces

So what kinds of risks exist in coworking spaces? Read on for details about how your business could be in danger and how you can keep it safe when you’re toiling away in one of these trendy activity hubs.

• Data breaches from unprotected WiFi: Public Internet connections are inherently risky for business owners. If you or one of your employees is working with customer data, you need to establish network security protocol to ensure that sensitive information isn’t inadvertently leaked. In the event that a data breach or data theft occurs because of the use of public WiFi, your business could be slammed with a costly liability lawsuit – not exactly the best way to ensure steady revenue growth. (Read more about data breach risks in the article "Why Small Firms Are More Vulnerable to Data Breaches.")
• Intellectual property leaks: It may sound like something out of a spy movie to suggest that others in a coworking environment might overhear a conversation with you and a business partner or client and steal your ideas for a killer app – but keep in mind that even inadvertent idea theft is possible when discussing underground projects in public. To prevent unplanned leaks, reserve private rooms for sensitive discussions or have them on days you’re not in a coworking environment.
• The cost of hanging out: Every coworking space is different, but most aren’t completely free: workers have to either pay for access or buy food and drinks to sustain themselves through a day’s work. While these costs usually aren’t excessive, they can add up over time. If you choose to work in a coworking environment, make sure the cost isn’t canceling out any benefits you get from the collaborative and social environment.
• Theft of equipment: While coworking spaces are perhaps safer environments to leave electronics unattended than your average coffee shop, you still run the risk of having your possessions taken if you leave them. Luckily, you can more or less eliminate this risk by befriending coworking “colleagues,” taking your gear with you when you leave your seat, or leaving it behind the counter when you need to step away.
• Overcaffeination: Just kidding. You can’t face a risk from a state of being that doesn’t exist!

Have you or your employees used a coworking space in the past? Share your experiences or tips in the comments!

In recent years, coworking – the practice of freelancers and small-business owners working in communal spaces designed for that purpose – has risen precipitously in popularity. A survey of independent workers conducted in 2012 found that several hundred thousand Americans are working in coworking environments at least once per week, and that number seems to be climbing monthly.

It’s no wonder coworking spaces are popular: the number of freelancers and independent contractors in the U.S. economy has increased dramatically in the last decade, and the Great Recession and its aftermath have only accelerated that trend. Coworking spaces offer a work alternative that solves the problems of isolation and home-office distractions that have plagued freelancers for as long as freelancing has been an option.

In addition, coworking spaces allow for creative collaboration among freelancers in similar or complementary industries, which can be beneficial to anyone trying to innovate or stand out in a crowded field. But if you or your employees participate in coworking, you should also be aware of the risks that come with this type of work environment.

Risk Management in Coworking Spaces

So what kinds of risks exist in coworking spaces? Read on for details about how your business could be in danger and how you can keep it safe when you’re toiling away in one of these trendy activity hubs.

• Data breaches from unprotected WiFi: Public Internet connections are inherently risky for business owners. If you or one of your employees is working with customer data, you need to establish network security protocol to ensure that sensitive information isn’t inadvertently leaked. In the event that a data breach or data theft occurs because of the use of public WiFi, your business could be slammed with a costly liability lawsuit – not exactly the best way to ensure steady revenue growth. (Read more about data breach risks in the article "Why Small Firms Are More Vulnerable to Data Breaches.")
• Intellectual property leaks: It may sound like something out of a spy movie to suggest that others in a coworking environment might overhear a conversation with you and a business partner or client and steal your ideas for a killer app – but keep in mind that even inadvertent idea theft is possible when discussing underground projects in public. To prevent unplanned leaks, reserve private rooms for sensitive discussions or have them on days you’re not in a coworking environment.
• The cost of hanging out: Every coworking space is different, but most aren’t completely free: workers have to either pay for access or buy food and drinks to sustain themselves through a day’s work. While these costs usually aren’t excessive, they can add up over time. If you choose to work in a coworking environment, make sure the cost isn’t canceling out any benefits you get from the collaborative and social environment.
• Theft of equipment: While coworking spaces are perhaps safer environments to leave electronics unattended than your average coffee shop, you still run the risk of having your possessions taken if you leave them. Luckily, you can more or less eliminate this risk by befriending coworking “colleagues,” taking your gear with you when you leave your seat, or leaving it behind the counter when you need to step away.
• Overcaffeination: Just kidding. You can’t face a risk from a state of being that doesn’t exist!

Have you or your employees used a coworking space in the past? Share your experiences or tips in the comments!

If you’re like most owners of IT and tech businesses, there’s a good chance that you or your employees rely on mobile gadgets for certain work-related activities, whether those include sending emails or completing entire projects remotely.

We’ve mentioned before that implementing a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policy introduces a certain amount of risk to your business, but in the summer months, when people tend to spend more time on the go and at the beach, the physical risks to mobile gadgets increase significantly. (Read more about data security in the article "Are BYOD Policies Worth the Cost?")

Here’s what you can to do ensure that your company’s gadgets (and the data stored on them) survive the dog days of summer.

Summer’s 3 Biggest Threats: Travel, Heat, and Water

When the weather heats up, many of us pack our bags for vacation and make an effort to spend more hours near bodies of water. And because we’re tragically connected these days, we tend to take our gadgets with us, which can lead to a number of problems, including…

• Frying the lithium-ion batteries that run our tablets and smartphones. Leaving your phone or tablet in a hot car can cause serious damage to its battery. At the least, hot temperatures can reduce a battery’s capacity, making it less able to hold a charge. At worst, high temps can cause your device to lose any stored data or even explode, causing serious damage.
• Damaging our gear with water. We all know someone who forgot they had a phone in their pocket and either put it through the wash or dropped it in a toilet. Add to this natural state of affairs high temperatures and frequent trips to lakes, oceans, and pools, and you’ve got a recipe for water disaster. Even an unexpected thunderstorm on a summer afternoon could hurt a gadget left out in the open.
• Losing gadgets while traveling (or having them stolen). It only takes seconds for someone to snatch a laptop from a security scanner line or a luggage conveyor belt. And if you leave a gadget in an unfamiliar (or faraway) place, retrieving it later will be that much more difficult.
• Banging up gadgets via poor packing jobs. Even those who keep their gear with them at all times could cause damage by not handling it properly (or not properly handling the luggage in which it’s packed).

Keeping Your Gadgets Safe All Summer

So how can you protect your gadgets, the data they contain, and your business’s investment in both? The first step is being aware of the elevated risk level that comes with warmer weather. The second is to educate your employees about how they can keep their gadgets and data safe:

1. Store gadgets in air-conditioned buildings whenever possible, and avoid keeping them in locations (like cars parked in the sun) likely to become super-hot.
2. If you don’t trust yourself to empty your pockets before leaping in a body of water, invest in a waterproof case. 
3. Keep your gear near you when you travel, and consider insuring essential equipment.
4. Pack gadgets snugly and don’t toss your bags around. Avoid checking bags with electronics whenever possible so you always know who’s handling your stuff.

Chances are, your business has some kind of online presence, whether that includes a website, a social media page or two, an email system, or all of the above. With a digital presence comes exposure to a variety of intellectual property violations, including the misuse or theft of copyrighted images and text, the misappropriation of your trademarks, and more. 

But in an era where the free exchange of information is considered standard operating procedure, it can be difficult for a small business to know when and whether to take action against intellectual property offenders.

Why Small Firms Need to Protect their IP

The sad truth is that small firms face as much risk of IP fraud as larger ones – in fact, they may actually face a greater risk. Why? Because defending yourself against instances of IP fraud or misuse can cost well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars and beyond. While larger companies like Apple and Google have the resources to fight IP cases, many smaller companies do not, making them attractive targets for fraudsters and hackers. (Read more about the risks small businesses face in "Why Small Firms Are More Vulnerable to Data Breach.")

Having your IP stolen, of course, can have serious financial consequences, especially if the perpetrators undercut you on price for knockoffs of what you sell. Here’s a brief guide to how you can protect your firm’s IP so that you aren’t victimized by your own success.  

Protecting your Intellectual Property

Keeping your non-tangible business assets safe requires you to… 

• Get your trademarks, copyrights, and patents in order. In order to have a legitimate legal claim to your intellectual property, it’s important to file the appropriate legal protections first. Patents protect processes and products; copyrights protect works that you authored; and trademarks protect symbols, images, slogans, and logos.
• Know the risks of working with international partners. While off-shoring with workers in China, Russia, and elsewhere can be a savvy way to cut costs for a small business, it can also expose you to IP theft. Reports show that knockoffs of products and services based on American-owned intellectual property have shown up in a number of countries, including Russia, China, Belarus, and the Czech Republic. If you’re worried about losing international market share to imposters, consider keeping your employees in the U.S.
• Automate tracking for key product and brand names. Chances are, you don’t have time to scour the web for misuse of your company’s intellectual property. Luckily, you can automate the process by setting up alerts through various online tracking apps (including HootSuite and Google Alerts). These will help you keep an eye on when and how others are mentioning your company and its products.
• Establish guidelines for responding to infringement incidents. In some cases, having your company mentioned or its logo used without permission isn’t a bad thing: think an influential blogger giving a positive review of your products or services. But in other cases (e.g., if someone lifts a blog or article you authored word for word), it probably makes sense to take action. Read on for more about when and how to respond to any infringement incidents you detect. 

When and How to Take Action against IP Infringements

Broadly speaking, it’s probably not worth your time and money to respond to IP violations unless the incident has the potential to cause serious financial damage to your company. Even in cases where financial damage is considerable, your decision about whether to pursue legal action should take into consideration the amount of money the violation will cost you versus the amount a lawsuit would cost. 

For ongoing use of intellectual property (in the form of a stolen app or software program, for example), the loss may justify a suit. For smaller incidents of IP theft, it may not be worth your time or energy to take any action, as much as the violation may frustrate you. 

When you do decide to act against an IP theft, these steps can help you pursue justice…

1. Know the rules of the various websites you use. Each social media channel and website you rely on has its own terms of use and privacy policies. Reading through them (or hiring a lawyer to do so) can help you determine whether an incident has truly violated your rights.
2. Make direct contact. In some cases, a violator may be genuinely unaware that they’re breaking the law, and a simple message is enough to make them stop. Even if you aren’t able to convince a violator to stop, you may find your way to a higher-level offender by making contact.
3. Take advantage of the protection provided by the DMCA. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act allows you to block violating websites from search engine results.
4. Go to court. Because of how costly and time-consuming court actions are, this should be a last resort. If you aren’t sure whether your case warrants legal action, hire a lawyer to review the circumstances and recommend a course of action that makes sense for your finances and goals.

Here at TechInsurance, we’re constantly working to improve our product (an all-online application for business insurance for sole proprietors and owners of small tech firms). A lot of the tweaking we do involves the high-tech programming, coding, and designing you’d expect from an Internet-based insurance agency.

But sometimes, we get just as much valuable information from trouble shooting of a very low-tech variety. For example, we occasionally review applications that our customers start but abandon to determine what caused them to quit early. In some cases, we’ll call these business owners and ask for their input about what prompted them to abandon their insurance application.

The answers are honest, immediate, and sometimes surprising. Conversations like these have led us to adjust the size and placement of text and images, test alternate color schemes, and even update the site’s home page, all of which has helped us increase the percentage of completed applications we receive.

So how can you tell if it’s time for some low-tech trouble shooting in your business? (For more tips on building your business, check out our Business Tips section.) The following are key indicators that you might need to unplug to fix a bug.

• Your code is flawless but something’s still not gelling. If you’ve tested and retested the technical features of your products and found no problems – but are still experiencing trouble somewhere – it’s time to go non-technical. Talk to your customers or ask a non-technical friend to test your product to get a fresh perspective on what’s causing complications.
• You’re receiving customer feedback that’s consistently mediocre or negative. Even if you’re not having trouble attracting and winning new customers, you may want to look at non-technical issues if your feedback is ho-hum. Following up with the people who give you less than rave reviews and asking them how you can improve is an excellent way to turn some of your clients into repeat clients.
• You have very few repeat customers. If you don’t currently collect customer feedback, looking at your percentage of repeat customers is a good way to gauge whether or not your customer service is up to par. Once again, heading offline for a quick phone call (or follow-up email, if you must) can help identify key areas where you can improve your game.
• You haven’t seen sunlight in several weeks. Sure, your business may be entirely online or dependent on computers, but that doesn’t mean you should neglect your mental and physical health. If you don’t currently know what season it is, stop reading this article and GO OUTSIDE! I promise, it will improve your mood and (probably) give you a fresh perspective on how to improve your business.

Writtten by Brenna Lemieux - check her out at Google+ or Twitter

As a small-business owner in the technology sector, you've got more tasks than available time, so it’s easy to put off non-essential tasks like staying abreast of the latest trends in Errors & Omissions lawsuits. But knowing the risks tech firms most often face can help you manage your risk better and avoid unnecessary claims scenarios. 

Get yourself up to speed and keep client lawsuits at bay with this overview of what’s “hot” in the world of technology E&O claims.

Data Breach Lawsuits

Technology companies are often literally driven by data. Every time you obtain data for a client project, the potential for a data breach lawsuit exists.

When personal information is compromised, affected consumers frequently respond by filing a class-action lawsuit. If you're the contracted IT vendor or computer consultant at the time of the breach, it's likely you'll find yourself entangled in costly litigation with your client. 

Why? Because many prominent corporate attorneys advise their clients to take legal action against technology vendors if and when something goes wrong.

In fact, it's become common practice for contract language to specify that technology vendors are required to guarantee financial compensation in the event of a data breach. (For a better idea of standard contract language, check out our free sample legal contracts.) Without an Errors and Omissions Insurance policy in place, you firm most likely won’t be able to secure contracts with top corporations and institutions.

Even if you do manage to land the contract without an E&O policy, a costly data breach lawsuit could quickly cripple or even bankrupt your small business. The cost of litigation – and even mediation, with its lower price tag – can quickly exceed your incoming revenue stream.

Top Five Most Frequent Legal Errors & Omissions Claims

Beyond the data breach danger lies a whole host of additional liability exposure risk.  Just about everything evolves at a rapid pace in the technology sector, but when it comes to legal matters, a few contract law classics dominate courtrooms across America.

Here’s a quick look at the not-so-fabulous five. Time and again, these same claims are cited in lawsuits filed against small IT, computer consulting, and technology companies. If you are faced with litigation, one of the following will likely be the reason why:

1. Breach of Warranty: You promise something to a consumer or client in a warranty, and for one reason or another, you’re unable to keep that promise.
2. Breach of Contract: A detail within a written or verbal contract is agreed upon, and then one party doesn't meet its obligation.
3. Fraud: One party intentionally lies to or deceives another for financial or personal gain.
4. Negligence: One party fails to use reasonable care, which results in damage or harm to a person or entity.
5. Misrepresentation: One party makes a false statement or claim in order to entice another person or party into agreeing to the terms of a contract.

Protecting Yourself against Common Liability Claims

If you find yourself named as defendant, any one of these can quickly throw your whole organization into a tailspin. Litigation and lawsuits interrupt your business, damage your reputation, and take an enormous financial toll. Errors and Omissions Insurance can instill confidence in potential clients, protect you from costly litigation, and give you peace of mind. (Learn more about Errors & Omissions Insurance in the article "6 Common Myths about Errors and Omissions Insurance.")

Writtten by Brenna Lemieux - check her out at Google+ or Twitter

While the economy seems to be lumbering steadily toward recovery, one area that has been consistently slow to return to pre-recession levels is lending, with individuals and small businesses among the hardest hit borrowers. But there’s good news: if you’re looking to find business loans to grow your IT business, you may be able to do it even if the banks send you away, thanks to peer to peer lending. (For more tips on growing your IT business, check out our Small Business Resources section.)

Peer to peer (or P2P lending, as it’s sometimes called) isn’t brand new, but it’s gaining steam in recent months as major corporate investors hop onboard (including, notably, Google earlier this month).

Here’s how it works:

• Lenders and borrowers register online to join a peer to peer lending network.
• Borrowers submit loan applications, which identify how much money they’d like to borrow, what they plan to use the funds for (“business” is an option), and how their credit is.
• Site administrators match borrowers with lenders according to risk profile and other factors.

The online-only model of peer to peer lending eliminates a lot of the inefficiencies of traditional banking, which makes transactions more financially rewarding for everyone: lower interest rates for borrowers, and higher returns for lenders.

Could Peer to Peer Lending Help Grow Your IT Firm?

So how can you tell if peer to peer lending is a good choice for your financing needs? It might be time to turn to an online lending site like Prosper or Lending Club if you…

• Need a relatively small amount of capital: Peer to peer lenders are by definition smaller than major banks, which means that borrowers can access less money per loan than they could through a traditional bank. A typical per-loan maximum is $35,000, which means that peer to peer loans won’t be right for every kind of growth project you have in mind. If you’re in a situation where a small improvement could make a big difference to your growth, however (for example, if you need to hire a part-time assistant to handle paperwork so you can take on more programming projects), peer to peer lending might make sense. 
• Have had trouble borrowing money from traditional lenders: If banks and credit unions have turned you away (or you know based on their lending criteria that they’re likely to do so), peer to peer lending may be a great place to turn. It keeps things official so you don’t have to put friends or family members in the uncomfortable position of being your source of cash.
• Don’t mind doing everything online: The good news about conducting all your transactions online is that it’s convenient. And if you own an IT business, you’re probably pretty comfortable operating exclusively on the web. Even better? Now that these peer to peer lending sites have been around a while, the uncertainties associated with new companies have mostly dissipated. And with big players like Google endorsing the sites via major investments, peer to peer lenders are becoming an even safer bet.

Writtten by Brenna Lemieux - check her out at Google+ or Twitter

A new installation corrupts your client's database. 

A hacker pulls off an unauthorized entry into the credit files you're storing for a retail customer. 

Both of these are examples of data breaches, and chances are that they’ll eventually affect your business. When they do, they've got the potential to sink you if you don't have adequate Cyber Liability Insurance.

What Is Cyber Liability Insurance?

Your firm can be held responsible for an array of third-party and first-party costs in the aftermath of a data breach. (Find out why small firms are more susceptible to data breaches in "Why Small Firms Are More Vulnerable to Data Breaches.") You can expect the highest costs in the form of legal fees to defend against lawsuits brought by clients and others. Beyond those costs, there's a substantial price for auditing and containing the breach, notifying your customers, and paying government fines. Further data breach liability involves losses from your damaged business reputation, the loss of clients, and business interruption.

Standard business insurance doesn't cover these liabilities, and that's where Cyber Liability Insurance steps in. Also called Cyber Risk Insurance and Data Breach Insurance, this specialized coverage protects you in the event of numerous cyber-related mishaps. Your insurance agent can tailor the coverage to fit your technology firm. Your policy coverage can include coverage for a number of potential expenses, including…

• Business interruption.
• Replacement of data or systems.
• PR and crisis management.
• Cyber terrorism or extortion.
• Regulatory compliance.
• Libel / slander suits arising from e-content.
• Introduction of damaging code.
• Lost and / or corrupted data.
• Invasion of privacy.
• Data tampering.

Epsilon Data Management became all too aware of data breach liability exposures when it experienced one of largest data breaches of all time. A client list including Best Buy, Chase, Kroger, JP Morgan, Target, TiVo, and Walgreen's relied on the firm to manage their email communications. 

Unfortunately, hackers managed to gain unauthorized access to Epsilon's client data of names and email addresses. An estimated 60 million records were affected before the breach was contained. The costs for auditing the incident, paying fines and legal fees, and covering lost business ran into the billions.

Other Costly Data Breaches in the News

The owners of T.J. Maxx and Marshalls endured a data breach that took place over a period of more than 18 months. TJX Companies reported that cyber thieves captured more than 45 million of its customers' credit card numbers. The company eventually settled with 41 states for a price tag in the millions.

TD Ameritrade also suffered a data breach that led to the cyber theft of private, third-party information. The estimated loss for the compromised account data surpassed $6 million.

The hard-luck stories pile on, and they're not reserved for just the largest of companies. A court found Boston-based Briar Group, a restaurant management firm, liable for its failure in following basic cyber security protocol after hackers gained entry to customer credit and debit card information. The company's cost for inadequately securing sensitive, third-party data ran into six figures.

Managing Your Cyber Risk

These days, leading-edge technology and leading-edge liability go hand in hand. You can't avoid risk, so it's critical you safeguard your business on two levels. You can minimize risk by following industry-standard, security best practices. The second, imperative key is to manage the risk by safeguarding your company with Data Breach Insurance. (Read more about why Data Breach Insurance is growing in importance.) The policy you put in place today is the best defense against the data breach that's coming tomorrow. 

As any owner of an IT business can attest, the legalities of running a tech firm can get complicated. Between contracts, licenses, terms of use documents, privacy policies, contractor agreements, and more, there are dozens of legal forms that dictate how your business runs and what your legal responsibilities are.

Creating all those contracts, however, can get expensive: in order to be legally binding, a contract has to meet stringent criteria, which means you most likely have to hire a lawyer. But many lawyers aren’t familiar with the ins and outs of your tech business, which means you’ll have to pay for the hours it takes your counsel to learn how your business works so that he or she can construct documents that accurately reflect the work you do and the risks you face. 

Those expenses can add up quickly, making even basic contracts and legal agreements a financial strain for many businesses. But forgoing such contracts opens you up to the risk of even greater financial loss: without a limitation of liability clause in a website privacy policy, for example, you could be on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in settlement costs if someone sues you.

To help tech business owners manage their risks without draining their bank accounts, TechInsurance has partnered with ContractEdge.com to present three free, downloadable sample contracts that tech companies can adapt for use in their operations.

Protecting Your Business with Contracts

Through conversations with owners of small tech firms, we’ve found that these contracts are among the most in-demand. You can download them for free by visiting TechInsurance’s free sample contracts page.

• Mutual Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA): This form is essential if and when you work with a business partner or contractor who has to have access to proprietary information or other sensitive data (including trade secrets). It requires parties to the contract to maintain confidentiality and outlines legal remedies if any party breaches the terms of the agreement.
• Website Terms of Use (Terms and Conditions) Agreement: This contract limits the liability of a website creator. When you build a website for a client, the Terms and Conditions Agreement states that you cannot be held liable for losses website users incur related to the content of the site. It also asserts that you do not vouch for the completeness or accuracy of information included on the site.
• Website Privacy Policy: An important contract for anyone building a website for a client, the Privacy Policy outlines how the site administrators plan to use visitors’ data and limits the website maker’s liability for losses related to data use.

Your Comprehensive Risk-Management Strategy

Managing your risk and minimizing the chances that your business will face a costly lawsuit starts with preventative measures such as using appropriate contracts and investing in an adequate Cyber Risk Insurance policy. 

For more information about how to minimize the risks your business face, talk with a TechInsurance agent today.

Writtten by Brenna Lemieux - check her out at Google+ or Twitter

Once you’ve been through the marathon of hiring your first employee (which involves finding room in the budget, filing tax forms, creating a job post, finding a candidate, and training your newest addition), you may be ready to kick back and enjoy the increased productivity that you’re now able to achieve.

But before you get too relaxed, make sure you’ve got a plan for managing the people you hire. Without savvy management, the investment of your time and money could go straight down the drain.

How to Manage Your Newest IT Hire

Here are some strategies for making sure your manage your workers in a way that keeps your tech business performing at top levels.

• Ask questions. You may think you’ve explained something perfectly, and your new employee may be nodding along happily – but until you ask specific questions about what the employee needs to know, you can’t be sure you’re on the same page with your newest hire. Ask your employee to explain important concepts to you to be sure they understand the work you’re doing and the way you run your business. Without this type of inquiry, you won’t discover misunderstandings until they’ve created a real client problem.
• Check in more than you think you should. At the beginning, it’s best to over-communicate, even if it feels like a waste of time. This allows you to identify small problems or points of confusion before they mushroom into big ones, and demonstrates to your employee that you’re invested in his or her adjustment and improvement. Let your team member know, too, that you’ll let go the reins gradually as he or she gets comfortable in the new role.
• Provide regular feedback. Without your explicit feedback, a new worker has no way of knowing how he or she is doing. Offering constructive feedback on an ongoing basis is usually more helpful than saving up several criticisms for a scheduled check-in time. Plus, when employees receive feedback on the fly, they feel more empowered to make useful adjustments to their behavior. 
• Ask for feedback on your work. How are you doing as a boss? If you’ve never managed anyone before, there’s a good chance you could use some pointers. Let your employee know that you’re open to constructive criticism, too, and you’re more likely to create a sense of partnership that will ultimately help strengthen your business.
• Listen for new ideas. You hired your newest worker for a reason. Remember that he or she might have brilliant ideas about how you can improve your methods, products, or services. Be open to these suggestions; if you want to hang on to your newest team member for a while, providing opportunities for growth and innovation is a great way to do so.

Writtten by Brenna Lemieux - check her out at Google+ or Twitter