Becoming a Great Manager Tips From The Manager’s Answer Book

It happens all too often. Someone is hired or promoted into a management role without being prepared for the people management responsibilities that accompanies the position.  They were a good engineer, sales professional, or financial guru—all the best technical skills. Often overlooked when these hiring decisions are made is the people side of management.  This can cause a new manager to struggle, and those struggles affect the whole team.

Manager’s Tips: Managing people is challenging. No matter if you’re a new or seasoned manager, you should always be working to sharpen your people management skills. That is exactly why we included a question in The Manager’s Answer Book on how to up your managerial game.

Here are a few of those suggestions:

• Take advantage of books, webinars, podcasts, YouTube videos, and so many more ideas from experts
• Get to know your employees so that you understand what motivates them
• Listen carefully to your staff
• Reward successes and learn from failures
• Be a positive role model—live your values
• Find a mentor and be a mentor

We also think it is important for managers to be able to show vulnerability. Many managers make the mistake of thinking they need to have all the answers. They feel that if they admit they don’t know everything, they won’t be respected. In fact, the opposite is true. Letting your employees see that you are human actually builds respect and loyalty.

For more information, check out page 114 of The Manager’s Answer Book.  Remember that management development begins with you, so take charge of your own development.

Why Should I Delegate? Tips From The Manager’s Answer Book

We hear this question a lot in our consulting work with managers at all levels. Some people don’t want to delegate work because they don’t want to give up doing the things they love to do. Others say they don’t delegate because they can do the work faster or better (or faster AND better) than showing someone else how to do the task.

Manager’s Tips:  If any of these reasons apply to you, let’s consider why you should delegate.

1. Delegating routine tasks frees up your time to think, strategize, and manage your team.
2. Delegating work is a way to develop new skills in your staff.
3. Delegating work shows you trust your employees which goes a long way in establishing a positive work environment.

When you are comfortable delegating, think about who is the best person on your staff to take on a new challenge. Consider who has the potential to take on this task so that you ensure a successful outcome. You certainly don’t want to set people up to fail.

When you have that person in mind, provide all the help and resources they need. Set some milestones so that you check on their progress, and make yourself available for consultation. Don’t forget to reward their good performance.

For more information on how to be a good delegator, see page 54 of The Manager’s Answer Book.