Michael’s Guide to Management
Success is built one day at a time.
That means focus on getting your goals for the day done, and the long term goals will take care of themselves. If you focus on three weeks from now, you lose focus about the tasks you are working on now. You then fall behind on those tasks. Falling behind today will then compound itself till three weeks from now you will still be working on what you are today and wondering why it is taking so long. Focus on the target, not the reward.
The good, the bad and the ugly.
It’s the feedback stupid. More on this later, but my point now is reward your people with positive feedback when they do a good job. Small words of encouragement go a long way. Like in the story of The Ugly Duckling, if you are only told you are a poor performer, then you will begin to believe it too. Still correct employees when they make a mistake, but try to point out the good things as well.
Hypocrisy is management's worst enemy.
Nothing breeds more discontent than hypocrisy from management. If you expect your people to do a job, then you better know not only how to do that job, but be able to do it better than any of your people. You are the expert, show them.
If you want your employees to show up on time, then you show up early everyday. If you expect them to come in when they are a little sick, then you damn well better come in if you are sick. Lastly, if you expect your people to have a flexible schedule and work extra hours and days to fill business needs, then that starts with you doing the same.
It all starts and ends with you.
It is as simple as learning the art of the Mea Culpa.
We all screw up. Some people more than others, others less than most. It’s expected, and to use a tired phrase, to err is human. What separates good leaders from the shift manager at Taco Bell is the ability to not only recognize your own mistakes and shortcomings, but also apologize to those you have harmed with your mistakes. If you talk down to an employee for not taking care of something you told them to wait on, then apologize for your mistake. Do not try to shift the blame. Employees see through this and you lose any respect you may have had.
Everyone is fallible, those who recognize and apologize for their errors can become great leaders and managers.
Your people have great ideas too.
Just because someone has never had the opportunity to lead people does not mean they do not have good, valid points about being led. They have been led, and they know what they do and do not respond to. And just because they have an idea outside of their department does not make it irrelevant. Do you really think the inventor of the microwave was looking to cook left over pizza fast? Of course not, this is thinking outside of the box, and everyone can participate.
Feedback can be a bitch.
Getting feedback from your people is vitally important not only for your own growth, but just as important for you to meet their professional growth needs. If you know what they want and need, you can get those tools to them to help accomplish their goals, which meets the business goals. And they need the feedback to develop their skills to better meet the company’s needs and goals. If your office receptionist does not know how to transfer a call to a sales person’s cell phone when they are on the road, and you don’t tell them they need to know this process, then it will never happen and your business is worse off for it. Likewise, if your receptionist does not inform you that they hate when you email reminders to them even though they have never been late getting these tasks done, then you can never adapt your process to meet their needs. That is why you need to both give and solicit feedback on performance, and not just once a year when it is time for raises.
Six in one, half dozen in the other.
Basically, don’t micromanage everything. Let your people do their job, and if they get the job done, then leave them alone. It may not be exactly the way you wanted it done or in the same order, but if the end result is the same it just doesn’t matter. Now, some people do need to be micromanaged, but you still have to let them try and fail or they will never learn to do it themselves. Like the proverb says, give the man a fish and he eats for a day, teach the man to fish and he eats for a lifetime (or something along those lines). Who cares what fish they catch as long as it is caught.
Personal pet peeve.
Work is not like college. We do not all start in the fall at the same time. So it is inevitable that new people will come in only a few months before it is time for the end of year reviews and raises. People also get promotions all year long, oftentimes in the middle of a review period. From a management standpoint it is extremely difficult to judge people with just a short time in their position. However difficult it may be (I have been on both sides of this issue), you cannot short change peoples performances just because you don’t know if they can keep it up over the long haul. Or worse yet you promote someone because they were doing a spectacular job and then penalize them for not being in their new position long enough. Now, obviously performance reviews are what pay raises are based on in most companies, so there is a need for fiscal responsibility to the company. So the best solution I have come across is where you judge the performance based purely on the review period without an eye towards the raise, then prorate any raise to fit into budget. It is a far more fair and equitable approach that has virtually the same affect on the bottom line, but gives the positive re-enforcement that we all need and desire.
The bottom line.
Earning the trust and respect of the people you are in charge of leading, that is what being a leader is all about to me. And being a good leader will make you a good manager. Now, sometimes being a good manager means you promote and hire people you may not like, but if they are the best person for the job then you must make that business decision over your personal objections. You may even need to support a promotion of a subordinate to be your new manager if they are the better candidate. In the end that is what will make the company better, and will lead to future success for you.
Good manager’s keep the good employees, and that is what will boost the company’s bottom line.
Success is built one day at a time.
That means focus on getting your goals for the day done, and the long term goals will take care of themselves. If you focus on three weeks from now, you lose focus about the tasks you are working on now. You then fall behind on those tasks. Falling behind today will then compound itself till three weeks from now you will still be working on what you are today and wondering why it is taking so long. Focus on the target, not the reward.
The good, the bad and the ugly.
It’s the feedback stupid. More on this later, but my point now is reward your people with positive feedback when they do a good job. Small words of encouragement go a long way. Like in the story of The Ugly Duckling, if you are only told you are a poor performer, then you will begin to believe it too. Still correct employees when they make a mistake, but try to point out the good things as well.
Hypocrisy is management's worst enemy.
Nothing breeds more discontent than hypocrisy from management. If you expect your people to do a job, then you better know not only how to do that job, but be able to do it better than any of your people. You are the expert, show them.
If you want your employees to show up on time, then you show up early everyday. If you expect them to come in when they are a little sick, then you damn well better come in if you are sick. Lastly, if you expect your people to have a flexible schedule and work extra hours and days to fill business needs, then that starts with you doing the same.
It all starts and ends with you.
It is as simple as learning the art of the Mea Culpa.
We all screw up. Some people more than others, others less than most. It’s expected, and to use a tired phrase, to err is human. What separates good leaders from the shift manager at Taco Bell is the ability to not only recognize your own mistakes and shortcomings, but also apologize to those you have harmed with your mistakes. If you talk down to an employee for not taking care of something you told them to wait on, then apologize for your mistake. Do not try to shift the blame. Employees see through this and you lose any respect you may have had.
Everyone is fallible, those who recognize and apologize for their errors can become great leaders and managers.
Your people have great ideas too.
Just because someone has never had the opportunity to lead people does not mean they do not have good, valid points about being led. They have been led, and they know what they do and do not respond to. And just because they have an idea outside of their department does not make it irrelevant. Do you really think the inventor of the microwave was looking to cook left over pizza fast? Of course not, this is thinking outside of the box, and everyone can participate.
Feedback can be a bitch.
Getting feedback from your people is vitally important not only for your own growth, but just as important for you to meet their professional growth needs. If you know what they want and need, you can get those tools to them to help accomplish their goals, which meets the business goals. And they need the feedback to develop their skills to better meet the company’s needs and goals. If your office receptionist does not know how to transfer a call to a sales person’s cell phone when they are on the road, and you don’t tell them they need to know this process, then it will never happen and your business is worse off for it. Likewise, if your receptionist does not inform you that they hate when you email reminders to them even though they have never been late getting these tasks done, then you can never adapt your process to meet their needs. That is why you need to both give and solicit feedback on performance, and not just once a year when it is time for raises.
Six in one, half dozen in the other.
Basically, don’t micromanage everything. Let your people do their job, and if they get the job done, then leave them alone. It may not be exactly the way you wanted it done or in the same order, but if the end result is the same it just doesn’t matter. Now, some people do need to be micromanaged, but you still have to let them try and fail or they will never learn to do it themselves. Like the proverb says, give the man a fish and he eats for a day, teach the man to fish and he eats for a lifetime (or something along those lines). Who cares what fish they catch as long as it is caught.
Personal pet peeve.
Work is not like college. We do not all start in the fall at the same time. So it is inevitable that new people will come in only a few months before it is time for the end of year reviews and raises. People also get promotions all year long, oftentimes in the middle of a review period. From a management standpoint it is extremely difficult to judge people with just a short time in their position. However difficult it may be (I have been on both sides of this issue), you cannot short change peoples performances just because you don’t know if they can keep it up over the long haul. Or worse yet you promote someone because they were doing a spectacular job and then penalize them for not being in their new position long enough. Now, obviously performance reviews are what pay raises are based on in most companies, so there is a need for fiscal responsibility to the company. So the best solution I have come across is where you judge the performance based purely on the review period without an eye towards the raise, then prorate any raise to fit into budget. It is a far more fair and equitable approach that has virtually the same affect on the bottom line, but gives the positive re-enforcement that we all need and desire.
The bottom line.
Earning the trust and respect of the people you are in charge of leading, that is what being a leader is all about to me. And being a good leader will make you a good manager. Now, sometimes being a good manager means you promote and hire people you may not like, but if they are the best person for the job then you must make that business decision over your personal objections. You may even need to support a promotion of a subordinate to be your new manager if they are the better candidate. In the end that is what will make the company better, and will lead to future success for you.
Good manager’s keep the good employees, and that is what will boost the company’s bottom line.
