How to Develop the Elements of a Great Manager
Posted Under: Succeed in Wealth and Work
Being a manager is no easy task. And if you’ve been promoted from a technical position you may not be prepared to meet the demands of your new position. For some, managing comes naturally while others struggle with creating cohesive teams, handling staff difficulties and producing satisfactory results. As a result, you become stressed out and overworked.
If this sounds like you, the good news is that you can learn to be an effective manager. There are four areas in which great managers excel. Learn to incorporate these four elements into your management style and you’ll have a productive team with fewer problems, reduced turnover, decreased stress and a more fulfilled work life – for you and your staff!
1) Select the Right People
Many mangers get caught spending their time with those who require the most assistance. And yet, the best time is spent cultivating the talents of your best staff members – it’s less stressful and it’s more fun.
Choose staff with the right stuff so you can spend your time cultivating excellence.
2) Set Clear Performance Expectations
Setting clear expectations for results and for levels of excellence sets the standard for the work environment you require.
When your staff isn’t clear about what standard to follow or what the vision is, they do what they think is appropriate. Assumptions are never a good strategy for running a department. Without clear guidelines, your staff will waste time and energy guessing at what’s needed of them. As a result, they may be great at doing the wrong things right, but that won’t move you closer to meeting your objectives.
When you set clear guidelines, your staff knows exactly what is expected of them. As a leader, focus on cultivating excellence and your team will stretch to meet the challenge.
With clear expectations, people know how to proceed with minimal oversight, freeing you up to focus on areas that require your special attention.
Coaching Tip: Team members need to hear feedback about how they are doing and they need to hear it often. It follows that if you set clear expectations with your staff, you need to follow up with them regularly to be sure that they are on track. In addition, ask for their feedback on how they think they are doing.
3) Know Your Staff
Knowing your staff means getting to know each staff member individually, identifying their strengths and weaknesses, knowing what motivates them and what they are passionate about.
Building your team is about recognizing the differences in each member and developing their strengths. When you recognize the limitations of those on your team and learn to work around then, you are acknowledging the person for who they are and not setting unrealistic expectations for who you think they should become.
Coaching Tip: When hiring staff, look for people who complement your existing team with added strengths or unique skill sets.
Knowing your staff is what diversity in the workplace is all about. When you support the differences in each of the members of your team, you make people feel good about who they are. Recognizing their strengths and allowing people to spend their time, energy and talents doing the very things that they enjoy and do well, creates a workplace that is productive and fun.
4) Develop Your Staff
Spending your time and energy doing what you love is a recipe for happiness and fulfillment. As a manager, your job is to turn individual talent into performance. Developing your staff doesn’t necessarily mean promotions; it means supporting your staff to become their best – that may mean staying right where they are and excelling at what they currently do.
Encourage your people to stay on the cutting edge. Create a learning environment making it easy master their profession. A company that makes learning part of their culture has few issues with the ever-changing face of society and technology. If change is constant, expected and everybody’s doing it, then change is part of the norm. This means, your company will evolve faster than your competition, offering you a huge competitive advantage.
If you know that every day you go to a workplace that respects you for what you do best, allows you to focus on developing your skills, and respects you for your expertise, you’ll feel wonderful about going to work. Do you think you’ll have trouble retaining an employee who feels this way?
Your company can have the best benefit package and pay scale in your industry, but if you, the manager, do not have good relationships with those on your team, productivity suffers and team members won’t stay. If you want to make a difference, choose your staff wisely, set clear expectations for excellence, get to know your staff and focus on their strengths. The rewards are great.
Want to develop your management style? Contact me at Julie@NurturingYourSuccess.com to arrange a free coaching session.
Your partner for success,
Coach Julie ~ Nurturing Your Success
Resource: Buckingham, M. & Coffman, C. (1999) First, Break All The Rules. New York; Simon & Schuster.
Reader Comments
What happens when you did not select the staff, there were problems with the previous supervisor and now here you are asking this staff to be accountable.
Then when you do, they contact your supervisor and say that you are creating a negative environment?
I am about to quit!
Hi Valerie – thank you so much for your comments. You are in a very tough situation. Change requires willingness. It also requires time and reasonable expectations for change to take place. Big changes require small steps – one little change or correction of behavior at a time.
To change this kind of work environment CAN occur; it begins with first connecting with the people on your team and recognizing the feelings of fear and perhaps loss from losing their previous supervisior. Then, you will need to communicate a new vision for the department and set clear expectations. There are several steps involved but this gives you a start.
As for them complaining, the key will be for your supervisor to be supportive and to give you time to make these changes. Without support, it makes it much more difficult to make this change. It’s still possible.
YOU are the role model for respect and the other qualities you expect. Praise goes a long way – people want to be great; they just need someone – a leader – to show them HOW to be great.
And one last thought, this situation will challenge you in ways you cannot imagine. It will stretch your leadership capabilities to the limit – and yet, by doing it, it will demonstrate just how amazing you can be as a leader. There will be nothing you won’t be able to do!
Perhaps working with a coach can help. Feel free to get in touch to arrange a free session. You may even be able to have your work pick up the tab.
Warmly,
Coach Julie RN