Congratulations! You have gone up the career ladder and you are now a manager of several employees. Before you start celebrating you need to remember that anyone can be a manager but only a few can become great managers. Discover the seven commandments of a great manager.
Commandment #1: Know Your Employees
Get to know your employees, not just as professionals, but as people. Figure out ways to bond with your team. You don’t have to be their best friend but they need to know you and respect you on personal basis and not just professionally.
Commandment #2: Inspiration is Viral
You are the main source of inspiration and you set the tone for the creative flow in the office, so start inspiring your team today. Think of games, treasure hunts or simply focus on giving them more creative space to come up with ideas. You may think you know better, but sometimes one team member can shock you.
Commandment #3: Delegate, Delegate, Delegate
It is awesome that you can do everything yourself but delegating is the most important aspect of management, don’t forget to set KPIs and deliverables too. Give them tasks to be completely responsible for yet with a deadline and weekly/daily follow up emails. You have a right to be on top of everything but you can’t really do everything yourself. It all boils down to trust, do you trust your team members?
Commandment #4: Give Feedback
Give your employees the best and worst feedback at anytime. Just remember, the most important feedback is the one they can actually use. Saying a task is done poorly or wrong is not constructive criticism, but saying how it can be done better and giving your team member enough encouragement, time and resources to get it done is the best feedback.
Commandment #5: Confront when Needed
Sometimes, you need to confront your employees about a certain aspect. You cannot avoid it, you cannot turn around it and you cannot get someone else to do it. You are not evil, you just need to set the record straight sometimes. Remember, the best kind of confrontation is objective, honest and direct.
Commandment #6: Hire Correctly
One wrong hire can damage your team, hiring the right candidate is what makes or breaks a team. Make sure the new hire can fit seamlessly with the existing team and take your time to go through your potential hires, Jobzella’s Job Posting and Talent Search dashboards make it so much easier for you.
Commandment #7: Avoid meetings from Hell
We all know those long meetings that waste everyone’s time and no one is prepared for. Instead of meetings that leave everyone more confused than they were when it started, conduct brief meetings that focus on one aspect of the operation and one aspect only. We do recommend a 30 minute staff meeting at the beginning of every week to make sure everyone is energized and ready for the work week.
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