Most (seasoned) professionals have had to put up with a bad manager at some point in their career.
(If you haven’t, then lucky you!!!)
And it can be SO demoralising, especially when you give your all to a company, only to get belittled, ignored, undervalued or even harassed by an unintelligent or inexperienced idiot.
Don’t be that idiot.
Behold; our top 10 tips on becoming a great manager that employees actually respect…
1. Honesty is the best policy.
Why keep secrets? It makes your employees feel unsure, undervalued and completely unloved.
As far as possible, keep an open line of communication with your team, informing them of any changes that will affect them and offering honest answers to any worries, concerns and general questions that they may have.
In return, they’ve feel like a valued and important part of your team and will care much more about the success of your business.
To find out more, check out this Guardian article: Corporate transparency.
2. It’s time to grow up.
You may have gotten away with bitching, gossiping, snapping, messing around and moaning before becoming a manager, but now, you’re going to have to buck up your ideas.
I’m not saying you can’t have some fun (great bosses make work fun for their employees) but you do still have to maintain some sense of control and some boundaries if you want people to remember you are the boss.
Always remember; negativity and laziness are infectious in an office environment.
For some tips on how to overcome such workplace negativity, click here.
3. Let your staff actually do their jobs.
Honestly, there’s nothing more distracting (and irritating) than a micromanager.
You hired your team; now let them get on with their bloomin’ jobs.
Increasing accountability and responsibility will mean employees care much more about the outcomes of their actions and will feel more proud of all of their joint successes.
Put simply, they’ll be more engaged AND will work harder.
Click here for some more tips on engaging your staff and making them truly care about your business.
4. Learn to delegate.
One of the best, (but hardest), things about being a manager is getting to delegate.
I know; it’s a bit scary letting go of those reins and putting your faith in other people for a change isn’t it?
Recruiter Pro Tip 3 things you must remember when delegating…
- Pitch in yourself. No one likes a boss who does nothing more than delegate.
- Don’t overwork people. Delegate to people who can actually do the job.
- Be fair. Spread the load and don’t make one person do all the rubbish jobs.
If you can find a balance between the above points, then you’ll be well away.
And as we said in point number three, you need to trust your people.
Want to learn more about the keys to delegation? Click here.
5. Say “Thank You!”
“Studies show that 80% of highly engaged staff received some form of reward or recognition for work well done.” CITY AM
And you don’t (always) have to make a huge, dramatic gesture; sometimes all it takes to make a staff member feel valued, is a sincere thank you.
So, when’s the last time you showed your team gratitude?
Click here to check out our blog: 50 fun ways to say thank you to your staff.
6. Offer feedback, always.
Reckon performance reviews are just for show, boring and/or a waste of time? You’re wrong.
Turns out (shock horror) that employees actually do prefer to have an upfront discussion with their boss from time-to-time to make sure they’re on the right track and to discuss where improvements can be made.
No one wants to be left in the dark about their progress, constantly wondering whether their job is safe, whether you think they’re doing well and whether there are opportunities for progression.
Got nothing bad to say? That’s fine, use your performance review as a chance to thank staff (see number 5) and ask them if they’ve got any issues or ideas for the future.
Find out more about the importance of performance reviews – here.
7. Accept feedback, always.
Are you a good boss? How do you know? Do your staff tell you so?
It’s dead important for you to get honest feedback from your team, so you know if and where you’re going wrong and how you can make them happier and more engaged.
They might say something dead simple like they’d like to socialise more as a team or there could be a bigger issue like a lack of appropriate training for staff members.
If you never ask, you’ll never know.
A great way of finding out the truth, without making your staff feel awkward is to send out an anonymous employee satisfaction survey. For tips on how to do just that, click here.
8. Don’t be a grump.
I know, I know, the world is getting tougher and more competitive – but it’s your job as a Manager to keep your staff upbeat, positive and motivated.
Your employees are so much more likely to respond to friendly, happy bosses, than miserable so-and-sos and the more happy they are, the more efficient loyal and hard-working they’ll become!
So turn that frown, upside down. It’s worth it.
To learn how to stop yourself being a grumpy so-and-so, check out this post.
9. But still be firm.
Of course, as a manager, you still have to have some kind of authority.
Ever worked for a boss who just couldn’t control their team? It’s one of those situations where you might have an awful lot of fun… but it really isn’t doing the business any good and eventually it’ll bite you on the bum.
Don’t be that manager. And don’t let your staff take advantage of your good nature…
Perhaps they’re always running late or can’t quite seem to knuckle down to work. Maybe they bring down the rest of the office by complaining about others… all because they can get away with it.
In the case of these bad eggs, the best thing you can do is act quickly.
Offer them any support they need and always give warnings before making any rash decisions, but if they won’t change, then perhaps it’s time to reassess their suitability at your business.
To find out how to deal with these ‘underperformers’ – check out our blog, here.
10. Don’t be afraid to change.
To be a great manager, you must be ready for change and to adapt the way you and your team work, to become more efficient and more relevant.
Always invest in training and never turn someone down if they want to learn and grow.
Offering such opportunities will increase employee engagement and happiness (they’ll care about your business) and it will also mean you have more skills at your fingertips… so why not?
Are you a good manager?
Hopefully, you’ll recognise all of the great-manager behaviours we’ve outlined above – most of them are just common sense, right? You’d be surprised how many people don’t think so!
Of course, there is always room for improvement, so if you’d like to find out more about how to engage your employees, keep them happy and retain them for longer at your business, then CLICK HERE to sign up to this blog.
We’ll just send over a quick weekly email with our latest blog post.
Good luck, you great manager you.
