As a manager, you may not always be happy with the performance of your employees, but it’s also important to remember that the performance of your employees is often a reflection of your own performance and managerial style. How you interact with your employees and the strategies you use to motivate and mentor them may need a tune-up. Here are some ideas to help you improve your management and keep things moving at a good pace for your business.
Get Personal
Try to get personal when communicating with and engaging your employees. You will not only need to create a vision that can unify your team as a cohesive whole, but you will also need to understand what your team wants, so you can then use your team’s goals to motivate them. Give your employees a sense that they have influence over the decision-making process. For example, invite some employees to participate in brainstorming sessions and share ideas generated by staff members. Even if these ideas may not work out, they may lead to ideas that would be worth your firm exploring.
Understand How Teams Work
To be an effective manager, you will need to have a strong understanding of how teams work and function within your company. As you are forming a team, you must strike a balance among a wide range of personalities and skill sets. You do not necessarily need to have a team that consists of people who always agree with each other, since disagreement is often where great ideas are generated.
Get A Degree in Your Field
If you are managing a specific type of team, such as a group of engineers, it is a great idea to get an engineering management master’s degree or at least hire a project manager who has one. There are some industries that are difficult to manage, and you will need to be provided a toolkit by teachers who are experts in this field. Make sure the higher ups are well-versed in what their employees are working on.
Focus on The Strengths of Each Team Member
To make your team more successful, you will need to focus on the strengths of your team and how you can improve upon them to achieve your business goals. Also, rather than trying to improve upon the weaknesses of your tribe mates, try to focus on helping your teammates become as outstanding as possible in a few areas while delegating responsibilities to others if they are an employee’s weak area.
When you have the right team and when you train them properly, they will partially manage themselves. However, there will always be ways in which you can improve yourself as a manager. Use these tips to improve your style of direction from the inside out.
Eileen O’Shanassy is a freelance writer and blogger based out of Flagstaff, AZ. She writes on a variety of topics and loves to research and write. She enjoys baking, biking, and kayaking. Check out her Twitter @eileenoshanassy.