5 Things You Can Do TODAY to Be a Better Manager

How to Become a More Effective Manager

Management effectiveness is not just a trendy phrase, but a true attribute and measure of how well managers perform at their jobs. In this case, we’re not just talking about results, but the whole package – essentially, how our employees see us as leaders. We’ve all had some really bad bosses. But, many of us have also had really good leaders that we worked for at one time or another. What’s the difference?

Take a moment to think about the things your friends say when talking about a bad boss. It probably sounds something like:

• “He just pushes problems downhill even though we’re all busy.”
• “My boss never gives me feedback or career advice.”
• “Everything is a priority.”
• “My manager is a terrible listener and communicator.”
• “I never feel my work is acknowledged.”
• “We have big issues that need to be fixed and she doesn’t seem to do anything about them.”

Sound familiar?

So, what are some things you can do to become a better manager? How can we ensure we are not like those bad bosses we once worked for? Finally, how can we improve our own managerial effectiveness? We will discuss answers to these questions, as well as define 5 easy things you can do today that will make you a better leader. These tips are the result of the following true story.

Employee Survey Scores: A Manager’s Reality Check

Our employee survey scores had just come in. The results were about as poor as you could imagine. Employee engagement scored a 58% overall. Communication came in at 50%. Management Effectiveness across the business: a whopping 61%. Only six out of ten employees saw his or her manager as a good leader and motivator. To make it more gut-punching, these values represented a decline of 4 points from the last survey taken just two years ago.

As we reviewed the disappointing scores, my peers were clearly perplexed. “How can employee morale be so low when we spent so much on upgrading our facility?” said the HR Manager. “Maybe because it took us 3 months to get the vending machine fixed?” someone asked sarcastically.

While the other managers speculated, I quietly turned over the sheet in front of me containing the scores from my department, so that no one else could see them. I was proud of what was on the other side. The scores for my team were significantly higher (by about 30% each) than the business averages, which meant my ratings actually brought the overall scores up to their dismal levels.

Many of my peers on the senior staff had been leading teams and managing people for over 20 years. And, yet, the scores suggested that all this experience was still unable to create an enjoyable work environment. The business director stepped up to the front of the room and somberly started the discussion about what we could do to improve.

As I sat back, listening to the conversation, I quickly realized how much my counterparts struggled to come up with sound actions to make improvements.

“I meet with my employees each quarter to get some face time. I’m not sure what else they want” Susan said.

“My team does not have the training or skills to do more, so I cannot give them added responsibility” remarked Doug.

Then there was my personal favorite “All my employees do is complain about their workload. Maybe I’ll give them the action to come up with a plan to resolve it.”

The conversation was disappointing and enlightening at the same time. Did no one else see the obvious gap between what the survey said and the ideas being offered as resolution? Why were my scores so much higher? What was I doing that others were not? Over the course of the dialogue, I began to offer my thoughts on how my peers could be better managers, because as a team, we were clearly falling short.

Here is my list of the 5 things you can to starting TODAY to become a better manager:

1. Set Up REGULAR One on One Meetings

How much time do you truly spend with your employees just talking about their career, their growth and the challenges they are dealing with? The better managers I know – as measured by their employee satisfaction ratings and the results they achieve – remain dedicated to meeting with their employees on a regular basis to discuss how they are doing.

If you want to improve your managerial effectiveness, you can score an easy win by setting up monthly one on one meetings with each of your employees. A monthly touch point gives you ample time to meet with employees over the course of the year, but allows sufficient time to pass between meetings for the discussions to be meaningful.

Maybe the one on one meetings need to be rescheduled from time to time, but the point is that they are scheduled as recurring events. The key to holding a good one on one with an employee is to have just a few agenda items to get things started, and then to let the rest of the time serve as an informal conversation.

FREE MRH DOWNLOAD: One on One Coaching Template for Managers

2. Construct a SWOT Evaluation of Your Team

The best managers out there are constantly evaluating his or her team to identify strengths and areas for improvement. This behavior is not just a once-a-year thing, but a recurring activity. To give you more structure in your team assessment, consider creating a SWOT analysis for your organization.

A SWOT Analysis is an activity in which you critically evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) to your organization, from the perspective of your competitors and customers. From a manager’s standpoint, a SWOT analysis allows you to identify various aspects your team that need improvement as well as target the skills your team needs to bring better value to your customers.

It will also tell you what you do well such that you can stay ahead of the competition. So, how does a SWOT analysis of your team make you a better manager? Simply put, a SWOT analysis acts like a playbook of actions that can take your team to a whole new level of performance.

RELATED: Creating a SWOT Analysis for Your Business

3. Invest in Employee Development Plans

Developing your employees is an essential activity for modern managers. Why? Effective managers know that to get the best results, they need to get be most out of each employee through individual development. Even if you don’t buy into the philosophy that part of a manager’s job is to develop staff, your employees will ultimately demand it (or they will leave).

In the modern workplace, employees no longer see the work they do just as another job. Instead, it is a career that needs to be fulfilling. Your employees want opportunities to learn, develop and grow both personally and professionally. Better managers know this and deliberately carve out plans each year to help employees sharpen their skills and learn new things.

So, talk to each of your employees about their development. Your one on one meetings are a great time to do this. Ask them point-blank “Do you think you are learning?” to get a clear answer.

In order to create a basic employee development plan, take a few simple steps:

• Document employee interests
• Record areas of uncertainty or subject matter where the employee feels they are weak
• Identify desired training opportunities
• Name possible mentors to the employee
• Map out possible career moves and what learning those roles would offer
• Create a timeline for putting plans into place

While more detail is always better, it doesn’t take much to create even a basic employee development plan. Finally, when setting up employee development plans, the 70, 20, 10 rule offers a simple, easy-to-use framework for managers.

4. Reduce Your Focus RIGHT NOW

Unfortunately, many of today’s managers contribute to what I like to call the “overprioritization” of the workplace.

You know what I’m talking about: the notion that everything is important. You have to get your employee’s goals documented. Be sure to spend at least 30 minutes a week cleaning your workspace. There’s the audit coming up that you need to prepare for. You’ve been asked to interview some job applicants over your lunch hour. Finally, your metrics are non-negotiable, but the customer is still #1.

In order to become a better manager, simply decluttering your employees’ calendars and improving focus can go a long way.

MRH

The most effective managers around, though, know that if everything is important, then nothing really is. Further, these leaders know how to set priorities and focus their team’s fixed amount of energy around the top 3 or 5 things that are truly critical to the job. In order to become a better manager, simply decluttering your employees’ calendars and improving focus can go a long way.

How does focus make for a better manager? There are 3 reasons. First, managers who narrow the focus on the few critical items concentrate energy behind a handful of key items. Doing so ensures they get those few key things done, and done well.

Second, in order to reduce the focus, managers must become great communicators and good at managing the expectations up the food chain. The ability to communicate effectively up into the organization translates into an ability to communicate clearly down to one’s staff.

Third, managers who are able to control the focus and prevent employees from getting overloaded build loyalty and trust with their teams. Over time, employees will go above and beyond for these managers out of this mutual respect.

RELATED: How to Improve Employee Productivity

5. Publicly Recognize an Employee TODAY

Finally, influential business leaders and talented managers recognize and embody the concept of recognition.

That said, many managers mistakenly view the notion of recognition as a fancy awards banquet, a company paid vacation or some other extravagant bonus. While such things are certainly motivational, recognition does not need to be elaborate in order to be powerful.

Effective recognition of an employee can simply be the effort you make to publicly appreciate the contribution of an individual, or individuals. Recognition could also be as simple as a shout-out in a staff meeting, a weekly recognition email, or a monthly peer nomination system for an ’employee of the month’ award.

Another way to look at rewards and recognition is to follow a concept called ‘Gamification.’ The general idea behind gamification is that your reward and recognition of employees should resemble that of a game and an acronym known as S.A.P.S. – Status, Access, Power, Stuff.

Just as if you were to play a video game with friends, your quest and motivation is set by the things you can achieve by your performance, such as adding points to your score, gaining special access to things, and collecting the stuff you can find along the journey (items, weapons, food, etc).

The same logic applies to employee rewards. Taking your employees to lunch, earning an extra day off, a promotion and cash awards are all great examples of how you can apply the S.A.P.S. concept to employee recognition.

Great Management Starts with People

In order to be a more effective leader and manager of people, all you need to do is recognize and treat your employees as people. Be respectful, help them achieve their goals, enable them to be successful and recognize them for their efforts. Those little things you do to support your employees and grow your organization can make all the difference in the world.

Looking for More Ways to be a Better Manager? You Might Like…

• Making a Succession Plan for Your Team
• How to Lead Overseas Employee
• Expert Tips for Giving Feedback to Employees
• Managing A Team in Tough Times
• How to Prevent Employee Burnout