If you want to elevate in any career, aspiring to management is a means to that end. A manager is a must in any business. But there is a right and wrong way to be a manager. Being a manager doesn’t mean that you have to be horrible to the people working underneath you. Most people will talk about hating their jobs, but it’s not usually the job that they hate, it’s the person that they have to work for. The saying goes that people don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad bosses. And that’s absolutely true.
Nobody wants to work with somebody who acts like a dictator, or who micromanages, or who makes it known that they believe they are better than the team working for them. A manager is supposed to lead and guide and make people feel good in their roles. But if they are not making you feel that way then you have to leave. When you have been working for other people the entire time, whether that’s on a rotational work schedule or you have been working as a full time employee. It can mean that you are in the right position to make change when you step up into the management role.
Good managers are so much more than just cogs that help a business machine to keep going. They solve problems. They keep the peace and they maintain balance. It’s not an easy position to be in to manage a team of people, but that doesn’t mean you can’t. If you want to make changes and be the manager you always wish you had. Then you need to know what makes a good manager and then how you can be a top one. Let’s start by discussing the traits of a great manager.
Leadership Skills
Great managers are able to harness their leadership skills to actually lead people. Remember, as a manager you need to be in the thick of it with your people so you all have a shared goal rather than pulling people along and letting them follow. It should be something that you naturally have if you want to be a manager because you need to have the patience to be able to lead people without them feeling like they are being pushed or bullied.
Motivational Skills
One of the biggest traits of a manager is that they are a good motivator. You should want the people working underneath you to succeed, but you have to motivate them into it. Without that motivation, they are not going to produce any work that is of good quality.
Trust
A top trait of a top manager is trust. Not only do you have to trust yourself that you are doing a good job, but you have to trust that your employees are there to do a good job too. You have to trust that if they are working remotely, they are doing the right thing and getting on with their work day. You have to trust them as adults to do the job that you are paying them to do. They wouldn’t be there otherwise.
Communication
Have you ever had the kind of manager who lets you walk around on egg shells and makes you feel like you’ve done something wrong all the time? Most of us have had a manager like that at least once. That can not only be intimidating, but it can be quite frightening. People in your workplace shouldn’t feel like they are working under someone like that. If you have a high turnover that could be why.
Actively Listen
Your employees are going to share their thoughts and ideas with you. To be effective in your role, you have to get to know them on a personal level as well as a professional one. This will help you to understand what they could need from you. If you are a committed manager, then you should be actively listening to them when they speak.
Be Empathetic
Emotional intelligence is important when it comes to being a manager. However, one of the biggest things that you need for that is empathy. A sound level of empathy will ensure that you are able to relate to people in your workplace, and you’ll be able to resolve disputes and conflicts a lot better. Empathy is also a very valuable trait when you are talking about workplace performance.
Now that we’ve gone through some of the top traits for a manager, you have to learn to understand exactly how you can improve the way you manage other people. Let’s take a look at some of the ways that you can better manage and leverage your processes in your organization. As well as understand your people in your organization.
Be Consistent in Your Practices
Having set processes and procedures is important in a business. Because then everybody can use it as a benchmark of how they’re supposed to act and how they’re supposed to behave. If you then optimize those processes, you can then allow for better efficiency. This is a huge benefit for our manager and once you have everything tightly in place, things can run seamlessly and smoothly for your people. This is why they want to be able to work for a good person in the business.
Be Able to Make Adjustments
Most managers are afraid to change things. Especially if they are new to a business. They go in and they think that changing things too much will upset the people currently working. Sometimes that can be the case. But is there anything wrong with that? Sometimes a business needs a shake up for it to be worth it. If you can’t make the adjustments that your people may need, then you’re in the wrong business. You don’t have to keep things the old way if the old way just doesn’t work anymore.
Innovate Where You Can
A top manager looks for ways to improve where possible. Sometimes that means the difference between a profitable business and a business that’s failing. Product innovation gets the bulk of the attention in a business, but that doesn’t mean you can’t innovate with the processes and with the way that people work.
Be Flexible
If you’re responsible for overseeing the number of employees, you need to make sure that you are flexible in the way that you handle them. Not everybody works the same way or wants to work the same way. It’s important that you understand that so that people can understand that you are the kind of leader they want.
Learn How to Motivate People
A top manager knows how to keep people’s fires burning on the job. Nobody wants to spend eight hour days in any workplace if they can avoid it. But we all do like the feeling of being appreciated when we are productive. If you know how to motivate the people working underneath you, you’re going to be able to see that effect ripple through the company. Everyone will be happier and healthier for it.
Get Feedback
Ask your team what they want. If you want to improve the processes and the happiness levels among your team. You need to ask them what they want the most. People work better when they feel like they are being heard. If you ask them what their goals are, you can then help them to achieve them. This is massive for people working for you. It makes them feel like they are being heard, which is all that people want when they are working for a particular employer.
Don’t Forget to Give Feedback
If someone is doing something wrong. You’d probably be quick to tell them, correct them and tell them what they could do to be better. That can sometimes bring down morale, especially if it’s not fed back in the right way. If you want to make sure that people are working well, giving regular performance updates can really help. You need to be able to measure the progress towards their goals and your goals. Further, you have to communicate that progress to everybody involved in the project. Performance updates help people to stay on track. It also helps you to guide them with their goals and development.
If you’ve never been a manager before, it can be overwhelming to step into that role. The thing is, you can still be a good person and a great manager without being a horrible boss straight out a Jason Bateman movie. You can be effective and empathetic without being overbearing or somebody who micromanages. There is no need to be a bully in a management seat to be able to succeed. You just have to know how to interact with people well enough that they want to continue to interact with you. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there into a management position if you believe you are ready.
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