Here are a few management tips to consider and take on board if you’re looking to improve your effectiveness as a manager (and your likability as a manager too!)

Good managers:

1. Surround themselves with the smartest and the best. They know their own strengths and weaknesses and, more importantly, are honest with themselves about their shortcomings. They make up for this by surrounding themselves with people who have expertise in the areas where they may be lacking themselves.

2. Manage people, not numbers. The best managers know that when they manage their people well, and coach them effectively where they need to be coached, then the numbers will follow naturally.

3. Don’t micromanage. They know they can trust their employees to do their jobs well, and do not feel the need to control the behaviours and exact working hours of their employees. They know that when they treat their employees like adults, then their employees will behave like the independent adults they are, and also appreciate the freedom their manager gives them.

4. Know how to delegate effectively. They accept that they cannot do everything themselves, and they also know that delegating work to the people they know will do the job at hand fosters an atmosphere and culture of trust and responsibility.

5. Are specific about expectations. They lay out expectations and goals clearly, and speak their minds. They are aware that employees cannot tell what they’re thinking, and also know that their team will perform better when they are clear about exactly what they need to do, rather than having to ask guess all the time.

6. Know how to make decisions quickly. This goes hand in hand with surrounding themselves with the right people. Doing this helps them to make the most well-informed decisions possible, as they have access to many opinions and the expertise of others. But it also must be noted that even if the manager arrives at a decision with the help of others, they will take full responsibility if it turns out to be a poor decision.

7. Give credit where it’s due. They openly acknowledge the successes and hard work of their employees and do not take all the glory for themselves. But at the same time, they will take the blame when something goes wrong.

8. Are approachable. They communicate and encourage an open door policy with their employees, and actually deliver on it when their employees come to them. They also take the time to instigate regular chats with their team members to make sure that any underlying issues aren’t ignored or go unaddressed.

There are many different management styles (perhaps almost as many as there are managers!) but the common trait of the greatest ones are that they discover what is unique about a person, or people, and help them capitalize on it.

In his article ‘What Great Managers Do’, which is adapted from one of his books, Marcus Buckingham clarifies the difference between leaders and managers, and also goes into detail about how the great managers go about getting the best out of their people.

Buckingham discusses three aspects that great managers utilise in order to get their people performing at the highest level:

1. Make the most of strengths:

To identify these, a manager should ask the employee what their best work day was in the past 3 months – what they were doing, and why did they enjoy it? It might not be something they’re great at yet, but if they found it enjoyable and satisfying, it shows that it is an area they should concentrate on developing.

2. Trigger good performance:

The most powerful trigger by far is recognition, not money. Of course, different employees will prefer different types of recognition. Some may want to be acknowledged in front of their peers, others will be happy with just a quiet one-on-one with their manager, or would appreciate a note written to the company director outlining how well they’ve performed.

3. Tailor to learning styles:

There are a number of different learning styles, and if a manager is aware of the way in which their employees learn best, and like to learn, it will help to focus their coaching and make it more effective. Analyzers learn best by gathering all information available, and studying it, before taking any action. Watchers need to observe others in order to pick up how to perform a task. And finally, others learn best by doing – trial and error is a big part of their learning process.

Finally, Buckingham provides an excellent summary of what great managers do at the end of his paper:

We know that having a sense of purpose, being a part of something ‘greater than ourselves’, is important for sustaining motivation. As leadership consultant and coach John Baldoni says in his article ‘How to Instill Purpose’:

Here are a few suggestions for promoting a sense of purpose for employees at work:

Show employees how their role contributes to the whole organisation’s strategy and mission. When someone can see that their input is significant, they will be more engaged, inspired and productive.

Be clear about the outcomes employees need to achieve. This is especially important in today’s uncertain and often ambiguous business environment. People need to know what they’re working toward, and why, in order to stay motivated.

Finally, prepare the next generation of leaders. The passing on of core values to all employees is important, but it is especially important to take the time to develop, share and embed values with future leaders who will one day run the company. This will create a great sense of purpose and motivation for those key players.

Having a culture of innovation is now seen as a key factor for success.  There are a number of ways that an innovative culture can be cultivated, but there is one particularly important starting point.  It must be ascertained that employees know and understand the vision of the company they are working for. When they can see how they fit in, and that their contribution is significant to the overall mission, it gives them a sense of purpose.

However, as stated in the article ‘Driving Innovation By Exchanging Ideas’ from Human Resources IQ:

It is especially important for those in key leadership positions to be aware of this potential hindrance, and take action to ensure it doesn’t happen. In addition to these 7 ways to foster innovation, a culture of inclusion and transparency should be encouraged. Employees also need have a medium to communicate ideas and suggestions and know that they will be heard, no matter what ‘level’ they are. Two way communication is key, and an open door policy is ideal.

Coaching also plays a significant role in driving innovation, for both the learner and the coach themselves:

A common perception is that most people who are very successful have some sort of innate ability (or abilities) that makes them more likely to achieve success than others. Well, it turns out that most people are successful because of what they do – not because of who they are.

Heidi Grant Halvorson has done extensive research on this topic, and found that there are 9 key factors that successful people do differently and excel at. Here’s a summary:

1: Set specific goals

When your goals are specific, it means that they can be objectively measured. Instead of saying you’re going to “improve your programming skills”, say that you will “spend 3 hours each week modifying existing programmes and 3 hours each week writing new programmes from scratch, and make notes on when I’ve struggled with something and when I’ve overcome an obstacle.”

2: Don’t miss opportunities to act on goals

Be aware of any events going on around you, both at work and in your personal life, that you can take advantage of that will help with your goal attainment and development. As Heidi says, ‘given how busy most of us are, it’s not surprising that we routinely miss opportunities to act on a goal because we simply fail to notice them.’

3: Monitor your progress

When you track your goal progress regularly, you can see how much you have already achieved. But far more motivating is knowing exactly how far you have left to go to reach the end point of your goal. Heidi emphasises this principle by saying you should focus on ‘to-go thinking’ rather than ‘to-date thinking’.

4: Be a realistic optimist

Of course it is a good idea to set goals that are challenging, but they should not be overly optimistic, or ‘overstretch’ goals.

5: Focus on getting better

Put your energy into constant improvement and strengthening your strengths, rather than accepting your status when you are good, or even great, at something. If you can, find a coach for yourself – even if you’re an expert, there’s always room for improvement. It’s also important to remember that our mindsets aren’t fixed – we’re always able to learn more and become better at something.

6: Be persistent, and be willing to commit to long term goals

Accept that most goals are going to be difficult to accomplish, and prepare yourself mentally for this. When you underestimate the difficulty of goals, the chances of you giving up, and ultimately failing, will increase.

7: Build up your willpower and self-control

It’s good to consistently have a challenge in one area of your life or another. It’s even better to set yourself something that you are particularly averse to doing – as Heidi says, this will really help to ‘exercise your willpower muscle’.  But at the same time…

8: Don’t put pressure on yourself

It’s not a good idea to take on too many big challenges at once. In other words, challenge yourself realistically, as in point 4.

9: Focus on what you will do

Rather than saying ‘I won’t get anxious before meeting new clients’, tell yourself what you will do before meetings. Studies have shown that if you try to force yourself not to think of something or not to behave in a certain way, then you are in fact more likely to exert that undesired behaviour.

Have a listen to an interview with Heidi on HBR IdeaCast.

It’s now widely accepted that the days of employees staying at the same organization for many many years (or perhaps even their whole career!) are now over – as outlined in this article about the challenges and expectations of Generation Y.

Retention management is therefore imperative, especially as the economy recovers and employees start looking for new, and better, opportunities. Here are some tips for how to keep your best talent:

Mentoring. Mentoring is excellent for developing strong relationships within an organisation.  It also shows employees that you’re serious about their development and growth and are willing to help them get to where they want to go.

Coaching/feedback. Firstly, coaching and feedback is important from the perspective of maximising performance. Those who consistently receive coaching will be learning constantly, thereby performing at the best of their abilities. Even when people are experts or specialists in their field, there is always room for improvement. Secondly, specific  feedback should be provided as often as possible, and can be both formal and informal. Remember that in order to provide specific, and truly useful feedback, goals and expectations must be unambiguous and agreed upon. (Perhaps you’re wondering what the difference is, exactly, between mentoring and coaching? Read this.)

Show appreciation through compensation and benefits, as well as publicly recognising employees’ efforts and achievements. Offering good salaries, bonuses, health plans and so forth is great – it does show employees that they are important to the organisation. But you must make sure that rewards are meaningful to the individual in order to really boost retention.  For example, while some may want a health care plan to cover their whole family, others may want more to be put toward their pension each month.  Ask employees for their input as to what rewards might work best for them, and what’s important to them.

Provide growth opportunities. This is also a key factor that increases employee engagement at work. Employees need to be provided with the right kind of challenges that are in line with what they are interested in pursuing career-wise. Additionally, when employees can see a career path for themselves at the company, and they know that the company is investing in them, they are much more likely to reciprocate that commitment.

Provide work/life balance.  Something as simple as flexitime can have a significantly positive effect on worker morale and, as a result, their intention to stay at your company.

Communicate, and build a culture of integrity. Provide a framework for people to communicate ideas, suggestions, and concerns or give credit to others. It’s important to remember that the communication should be two-ways – employers should respond to employee input to show them that their opinions are being heard and are valued.

Foster trust and confidence in senior leaders. Employees need to know that upper management is capable, and that the company will be successful. If they don’t have this confidence, they could begin to feel like their job security is in jeopardy and look for better, and more stable, opportunities elsewhere. To help build this confidence, senior management must follow through on their promises, and there must be no contradiction between their words and actions. Transparency is also key to building trust.

If you’d like to see a few more tips, read the article that was the inspiration for this post: Strategies for Retaining Employees and Minimizing Turnover by Sarah Yazinski.

Does your company have a formalised and supportive process for helping young, first-time managers navigate their new role as a manager? Or do they tend to get thrown in the deep end, even though they may not have a good idea at all of what it means, or what it takes, to manage people?

It may be something that is easily overlooked.  Those that have a lot of management experience behind them may not recall how difficult they found some aspects in the beginning.  Your reasoning behind something may become automatic – you know what to do without even realising it, or having to think about it. This is what happens when you become an expert – you often ‘forget’ about the basics and, perhaps more importantly, how to relay those basics to others.

Here are a few suggestions for what organisations, and senior management, can do to help a first-time manager successfully settle into their new role:

1. Be very clear about their expected roles and responsibilities.

2. Allow some time for a ‘job shadow’ of highly experienced managers to take place – perhaps think of it as a ‘manager’s internship’.

3. Provide (or make sure they have) a mentor for their new role as a manager to help build their confidence by giving prompt, constructive feedback, and also to help them create a development plan for supporting their improvement over time.

4. Place much more emphasis on continuous feedback and coaching rather than just the initial training. As Eric Douglas says in his article ‘Helping New Managers Achieve “Flow”‘:

Just about every professional athlete has a coach. But what about other professionals – doctors, teachers, lawyers, and so forth?

This is an excellent question posed by Atul Gawande, professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School, in his article ‘Personal Best’ for The New Yorker. He discusses why he believes it’s important to have a coach from his own standpoint as a surgeon, and his reasoning is entirely applicable across any industry.  He also gave a great interview to National Public Radio on the topic -

There are numerous benefits that come from continuous coaching, for both individuals and the organizations they work for. Most notably:

• Improvements in individual’s goal achievement and performance
• Greater ownership and responsibility
• Higher organizational performance and productivity
• Facilitates the optimal use of an individual’s full potential and talent