Much has been written about the secrets of good
management and few will argue that the best managers are inspired, visionary,
dedicated, industrious, energetic, energizing and display integrity,
leadership, common sense and courage.
So where is it that managers commonly fail or falter
and lose their precious foothold on the corporation's top rungs? The following,
from the career experts at bayt.com, are ten of the most basic management traps
and tips to avoid them:
Weak
managers set weak goals
As a manager your role is to get specific jobs
completed by employees in the most optimal, efficient and innovative manner and
in order to do that, you need to set clear objectives. Successful managers set
SMART goals - goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and
time-based. They are able to communicate these goals clearly, simply and
concisely to their employees so that none are vague or uncertain about
expectations.
By all means reach for the stars in your objectives
but to do so without supplying employees with the training, resources,
flexibility and freedom they need to accomplish their goals and a schedule of
regular supervision and feedback is to set them (and yourself) up for failure.
Weak
managers micro-manage - effective leaders inspire
The days of command and control organizations are
long over - today's managers recognize that in order to leverage their skills
and maximize their team's output they need to adopt a flexible approach and
'lead' their teams to excellence rather than closely supervise, instruct and
control them. The best leaders communicate to their employees a vision and
ignite in them the fire; motivation and desire to work towards making this
vision a reality.
Good leaders unleash their employees to innovate and
achieve optimal solutions by communicating top-level goals and objectives and a
suggested blueprint for success, and then leaving the employees to determine
how to get there most optimally while ensuring they have the aptitudes,
training, resources and work environment necessary to achieve superior results.
While a program of regular feedback and supervision
is essential, managers should ensure that their management style is not
repressive, meddling or overly overbearing.
The golden rule is to communicate the 'what' and the
'why' of the work that needs to be done and leave the employees to determine
the 'how' without burdening them with strict instruction manuals or prescribed
rules and patterns that are largely redundant and inconducive to speed,
creativity, progress and innovation.
Weak
managers are afraid of hiring/cultivating strong leaders
Strong leaders/managers have the self-confidence to
hire the best people, take them to new levels and cultivate in them all the
qualities needed to make them in turn effective leaders of the future. Weak
leaders replicate themselves in their hiring decisions and hire mediocre
players, mistakenly believing that an employee with more skills, acumen or
industry knowledge than themselves will ultimately undermine them or make them
look bad.
The best managers are characterized by an ability to
stimulate their employees to superior performance and through coaching,
training, feedback as well as by example, inspire in them all the qualities
needed to make effective managers.
A good manager helps employees achieve their full
potential and constantly raises the bar so that employees never stop learning,
innovating and growing. Coaching, training, career planning and programs for
ongoing growth and development of key staff are high on the priority lists of
the best managers.
Weak
managers belittle their employees
Bosses who favor the archaic 'tough' management style
where employees are singled out for public reprimand and negative feedback is
plentiful while recognition and positive reinforcement are scarce will fail to
win the loyalty, respect and commitment of their teams over the long run.
Without an inspired, fired up, self-confident employee base these managers set
themselves and their teams up for failure.
Effective leaders by contrast, respect their
employees and give them regular feedback with intelligent constructive
criticism and loudly laud special accomplishments in both public and private,
while communicating any negative feedback ONLY in private and focusing such
criticism strictly on the job performance, not the person's character. Strong
leaders recognize and reward a job well done.
These leaders inspire their teams to perform at their
best and are able to elicit from them a high degree of loyalty and a 'hunger'
to raise the bar and continuously excel. In such organizations, employees are
not afraid to challenge their boss's ideas or upset the status quo in the
interest of innovation and excellence and are encouraged to take risks to
elevate the business to a new level. The autocrats and bureaucrats on the other
hand sap their employees' self-confidence, drive and energy with their
overbearing management style and fail to induce in them any motivation to raise
the bar or excel.
Weak
managers have obsolete skills - strong leaders constantly reinvent themselves
In today's knowledge-driven economies and highly
competitive environment, skills, training and education rapidly become obsolete
and effective managers know that they must constantly re-educate themselves and
update their skills to maintain an edge.
While over-confident managers with inertia to further
education fall by the wayside, good managers regularly take an honest inventory
of their skills and abilities and upgrade their technical knowledge and soft
skills wherever appropriate. They encourage their teams to do likewise with
sound career planning and performance appraisal programs and an emphasis on
training and self-education.
Weak
managers have poor communication skills
Good communication includes cultivating and
maintaining open channels of communication with the team and others in the
organization, giving constructive, intelligent feedback, eliciting ideas
through brainstorming sessions or otherwise, articulating the company vision
and mission in no uncertain terms, setting clear objectives and listening
attentively with an open-mind to employees grievances, suggestions and any
other issues.
Effective leaders have an open-door policy that welcomes
input, suggestions and feedback from employees and recognize that good ideas
and the next best idea/process/innovation can come from anywhere. Strong leaders listen; weak leaders talk.
Strong leaders pay attention to their employees and encourage them to express
professional opinions and ask for more responsibility; weak leaders think they
are above such open-door policies.
Employees who are not listened to and are not made to
feel important or respected as professionals or individuals are unlikely to
innovate or express any exciting new ideas that can move a company forward.
Weak
managers blame
Everybody makes mistakes and strong leaders protect
their good people from taking the fall when they err. Good bosses recognize
that the occasional slip-ups are inevitable and can be learning opportunities
and are ready to take personal responsibility when the team makes a misstep. A
good boss realizes that his most promising employees want to succeed, will grow
as a result of their mistakes and are unlikely to repeat the same mistakes.
They do no set their people up as a negative example for the rest of the
organization nor point fingers when the going gets tough.
Good bosses are personally accountable for their
actions as well as the actions of their subordinates and do not allow a culture
of blame to permeate the organization.
Weak
managers take full credit for their team's accomplishments
While weak leaders usurp all the credit for a job
well done by their teams, the strongest leaders will give the full credit to
the team as a whole or the team member responsible for the project. Strong
leaders motivate, energize and inspire by giving credit where credit is due and
being generous with reward and recognition wherever appropriate. Strong leaders
publicly thank their employees for a job well done and recognize that a
motivated, successful, energized team will reflect directly on the boss.
Weak
managers thrive on bureaucracy
Weak leaders are fond of, augment and live well with
the layers and bureaucratic shackles that tie an organization down; strong
leaders remove them. Today's effective leaders recognize that in order to
compete they must operate like a small company with a high level of speed,
responsiveness and flexibility. They realize that to maintain their edge in
today's marketplace their organization needs to be responsive to changing
market conditions and remove the shackles, boundaries, layers, clutter and
obsolete policies, procedures and routines that get in the way of the freedom
and free flow of people, resources and ideas.
Weak
managers are divorced from their teams
Effective managers genuinely care about their
employees and take the time to get to know them and to understand their
strengths, weaknesses, what makes them tick and their goals and ambitions. They
also take the time to learn something about their personal life.
While weak managers will maintain an outdated
aloofness and a formal distance from their teams, exceptional managers are able
to bring out the best in every employee and win their loyalty and respect by
understanding their unique needs, motivations and abilities and showing the
team that they are important and personally significant.
Strong managers are team players and through their
constant involvement with their teams communicate to them that they are there
for them and supportive of them.
Effective managers by building a supportive work
environment, build a camaraderie and team spirit that enthuses and excites the
team to new levels of performance.
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