Four Simple Steps To Becoming a Better Manager - [website] Published: 29th of Jun 2011 by: (c) Staff Training Reporter
Being a good manager means being able to motivate and evaluate staff, delegate work, communicate well and manage a team, all while having a firm grasp on the business itself.
However, many managers and people in senior positions are promoted based on performance rather than their ability to do the job (based on the skills it requires), resulting in managers who look great on paper but who are unable to grasp the finer points of management.
I’m sure at some point or other we’ve all come across someone in a senior position at an organisation who clearly lacks the people skills to be in the job, and through either a lack of screening during the employment process or a lack of post-promotion training they perform poorly in many aspects of the job.
While being a good manager is an ongoing, involved process, the following tips can help ensure you are on the right road and headed in the right direction.
Get to know your staff. A good manager knows his/her staff well, knows what their weaknesses and strengths are, whether they are dependable and where their talents lie. Knowing your staff well helps you delegate more effectively, which is essentially a large part of a manager’s job.
Keep reading. Often managers fail to educate themselves on good management techniques, and thereby fail to improve on themselves. Staff Training has compiled a short list of great management books including The Instant Manager (Cyril Charney), The One Minute Manager (Kenneth Blanchard) and McCormack on Managing (Mark H McCormack) which all contain invaluable information for all new and existing managers.
Learn to listen and empathise. Understanding your staff is an important part of being a manager, and is unfortunately one of the areas in which many managers fall short. Do yourself a favour and read up on Emotional Intelligence (EI) and see how you can improve in this area. You can also read our article on EI here.
Keep learning. Jump at any opportunity to improve your managerial knowledge and figure out what you don’t know about managing, then make a plan to research it. Also, attend any workshops you think might make a better manager out of you. Many companies already offer management development courses or outsource for the training – find out if yours does.
