Good, (or Bad) Management Flows Downhill

Good, or Bad Management Flows Downhill

How your management or supervisory team handles your employees, whether good or bad, flows downhill and impacts your whole company. As a business owner, you have the choice and responsibility to train your managers so you can be confident in what flows down to your employees, and has a positive and not a negative impact on your business.

We’ve prepared 4 areas where your management should be proficient:

Leadership 

Being a good manager requires an understanding of, and a devotion to, human development

A good manager believes that individuals are capable of more than they realize, and through proper leadership, encouragement and mentoring, can empower a team to be far more effective and productive.

An bad manager does not understand his/her team's individuality, nor the differences within each team member, with their own strengths and weaknesses.

Teams are far stronger when managers recognize not only the power of the team working together, but also the contrast between individuals and knowing how to blend those differences together.

A good manager:

• Plays to strengths of team members and does not focus on weaknesses, but encourages growth
• Promotes creative thinking and doesn’t try to make all the decisions
• Keeps communication positive and forward thinking in order to encourage growth
• Helps individuals and the team take ownership of problem without micromanagement
• Is Creative in finding solutions to challenges, but ensures solution is understood and agreed to by team and that they are part of it
• Doesn't "Lord" over the team with one's authority but also doesn't try to be everyone's "friend"

Communication

To effectively communicate, managers must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive situations and flexibility is key to success

A good manager should communicate clearly and with a constructive spin, ensuring each team member interprets what is said clearly. Listens for feedback and acts appropriately based on that feedback

A bad manager’s communication is one way only and leaves instructions open for interpretation and ignores employee's input or concerns.

A good manager:

• Sets clear expectations and avoid ambiguities, leaves nothing to interpretation
• Uses positive body language & facial expressions
• Doesn’t procrastinate on difficult conversations
• Is approachable, listens and responds appropriately to each individual

Performance Management

Managing employee’s performance for maximum impact takes a plan, effort and follow-up.

A good manager clearly sets expectations, establishes a path to achieve them, and follows up to make necessary adjustments based on outcomes.

A bad manager expects employees to simply get the job done without communicating expectations or assisting them to meet their goals.

A good manager:

• Sets clear, measurable goals – short and long term
• Documents progress – keep confidential notes
• Reviews results - what worked, what didn’t and what is needed to improve?
• Resets goals and assigns status check dates

Counseling Employees

Managers must be able to communicate with employees in difficult situations one-on-one without emotional swings or passivity.

A good manager seeks to resolve challenging situations directly and prepares ahead with a plan and goal to create a positive outcome, while simultaneously setting forth a path towards a potential termination that reduces employer liability.

A bad manager allows employee problems to become personal and becomes emotionally involved or remains passive when situations require confrontation.

A good manager:

• Avoids emotional involvement
• Creates the best environment for the employee to succeed
• Keeps the focus on the behavior or performance, and does not make it personal
• Communicates the steps to improvement clearly without room for interpretation
• Follows up to be sure situation is resolved

These traits above are not inherent in every person or manager, it takes training and a plan to ensure your managers (or yourself) are up to the challenge of making the most out of your employees and limited payroll dollars.

Infinium offers online Leadership Training designed to teach and support your managers in becoming the most effective managers they can be.

Please visit the link below if we can provide you more information.