Top Ten Tips on being a good manager

Ahh Managers we all have been one, are one or know one. It’s a complicated business being a manager. You get pulled from pillar to post. You have to make unpopular decisions, work longer hours, be responsible for things that are out with your control, try to get people to work together and lead with respect. Phew it’s a big ask by anyone’s imagination.

So how can you be a good manager? Well today I will share with you my top 10 tips.

1. Be approachable. Honestly you can’t under-estimate how important this is for yourself and for your staff. Try as best you can to have an open door policy…………
2. Say hello. I know your thinking that is obvious but you’d be wrong I can’t begin to tell you how many grievances I have dealt with where their has been a break down in communications between manager and employee and it all starts for the little old place of saying hello which to you and me means acknowledging staff.
3. Take an interest in people. Sure you don’t want to know every single detail but on a Monday ask how folks weekends were, give a little of what you got up to. Trust me this will go a long way.
4. Be honest. I realise this is a hard one to be honest. There will be things as a manager that you will not be able to share with your staff, that is ok. However, when you can share do so, it builds trust and takes away fear and doubt with staff.
5. Know your weaknesses. We all have them but as a manager you will know your own and the best way to deal with that is find people who compliment you and your weakness. Acknowledge your weakness such as ‘analysing stats is not my strength but X is great at it so I have asked them to help.’
6. Make time for having a laugh. I know your running a business it’s not a party and I don’t mean that. I do however, think it is very important that you take time to have a laugh with staff. Not only will it reduce stress it makes for a better working environment.
7. Know you won’t always be popular. Yes its true you will at times make decisions or have to say things that please will not particularly like – it goes with the job, accept it and move on.
8. Trust. To be a good manager you need to get the trust from your staff and you in turn need to trust your staff. Possibly easier said than done but without trust on either side you may well find it will be a bumpy ride.
9. Listen. Listen to what people say, listen to what is not being said, listen more than you speak at times this will be invaluable to you and will let you get an insight into your staff and what they are experiencing.
10. Communication. I left this one for last as its so darn important. Communicate, communicate and just when you think you’ve communicated too much communicate some more. This is the single reason that causes issues in the workplace because there has been a lack of communication. I don’t think I have ever had a member of staff or manager ever complain that they’ve been communicated with too much.

And lastly, give yourself a break your doing a tough job so cut yourself some slack.

What to do when you don’t see eye to eye with your boss?

I see the same old issue time and time again, staff not seeing eye to eye with their boss. I have seen people deal with this old chestnut in a number of ways both positive and negative. So I thought it might be time to share a bit of my wisdom on the subject matter.

Remember how I always say you can’t change someone you can only ever change how you react to them. Well this is case and point, your manager is who they are and that won’t change, no matter how much you wish,hope or pray for it. So you need to move to the next best thing and work on yourself. Work on identifying what your triggers are when you start to get annoyed, anxious or want to react negatively to your boss.

Once you’ve identified your triggers you get yourself into a much better way of dealing with any negatively as you can see it for what it is.

Also two points that once you get your head around them will make your life 100% easier. OK are you ready for it?

1. It’s not about you

Seriously, when someone acts negatively or not in a way you wish to be treated it says way more about them than it does about you. So realise it’s their issue not yours;

and

2. People don’t think about you

Harsh but true, in my experience most people are so pre-occupied with themselves to even give you a second thought. And our minds might have us think that everything our boss does is ALL about you when it most often isn’t.

Anyway I hope you find this helpful, just be mindful of your triggers, remember that folks have a lot going on so often it won’t be about you. And most importantly you can only change how you react to a person.

Difficult Conversations with your Manager – Part 2

In last week’s post part one, I floated the idea with you that you were part of the problem. I know not a particularly easy message to give or I am guessing receive but it’s the truth. Communication is a two-way process and if it’s broken then you are part of the problem. I know it would probably be far easier to think it was your managers fault fully but more often than not that just isn’t the case.

So this week I want to talk about why a working relationship might have broken down in the first place.

1. Your reaction

I have said this so many times and I really think it to be the case that we can only ever change how we react to a situation. We CANNOT change the other person as much as you really might wish too. This to be fair was a lesson that took me ages to learn, sometimes I forget it too, I mean I am only human. What I have found is that it’s an easier situation for me if I realise that I need to be the one to change how I am reacting. Straight away I feel far more in control. This I am sure you will find too.

2. Get perspective

You need to take time away from the situation, whether it’s a walk around the block or a weekend just not thinking about the situation. Doing this really does help to put the conversation into perspective. Now I won’t lie to you this might be that it makes it worse as in you get up getting more and more annoyed with what was and wasn’t said or you will let it go. Either way it helps you onto the next stage and that is taking action.

3. Mis-communication

If I had a ‘pound’ for every time someone came to me and the issue was a clear mis-communication well lets just say I would be sunning myself somewhere hot for the rest of my life. Just because you know what you mean don’t expect others to understand. You need to really explain and guess what if they still aren’t getting it then YOU need to try to explain it in another way. Yes, that is right you need to explain it, it’s your responsibility to get your message across.

4. You just don’t get on

It can be as simple as you just don’t get on with your manager. You may never and that in itself is OK. You do however need to find a way of ‘working with your manager’. Your employment contract requires this. Again for me when I have been in these types of situations before acknowledging this simple fact has really done wonders to helping me come to terms with the situation.

So these are once again points for you to think about.

Until next time……

Difficult Conversations with your Manager Part 1

I see so often how people struggle when they don’t have a good working relationship with their manager. The breakdown in the working relationship can be for many genuine reasons but as we are at work for so much of our life having this type of difficult relationship can really wear you down so I wanted to start looking at how you can reasonably try to make the most of the relationship. So here are some things to think about:

1. Is It You?

You should know by now I will always be honest and the first thing we all have to fess up to is how much of the problem is you? Are you pushing their buttons, have you done/doing something that you know you shouldn’t? Is resentment building up and therefore you aren’t doing your job? Seriously it takes a bigger person to admit their part in a work relationship break down.

2. Communication is a two-way street!

I am of the firm belief that when a relationship breaks down there will be fault on both sides. You need to take responsibility for your part in the situation. When you ‘own’ your part in the situation you are then in a place where you are doing all you can to rectify the situation. Sure it might not always be salvageable but at least you will be trying.

These points are just to get you thinking about your part in the situation. And I am sorry to say you do have a part and you need to take responsibility for it.

The next part will be up next week so keep your eyes peeled!

Sometimes diplomacy works!

When you deal with people and difficult situations everyday like I do you have to become very good at being diplomatic when the need arises. Sometimes diplomacy gets a bad reputation in that people think it’s a way of not speaking the truth or avoiding the situation.

This isn’t always the case. Sometimes if you think through what you are going to say to someone if it is going to hurt or upset them when they don’t need to be then I think diplomacy is the way to go.

In my experience being diplomatic has often brought far better outcomes in the long wrong.

* So think first about the message you are going to give;

* Think about the benefit of the message to all involved;

* Think how you might feel if you were given the message, change it accordingly;

* Always give and show respect in difficult situations. This is what someone will remember more than anything and how you react will be your legacy.

Good Luck!

 

How to Keep Motivated at Work?

Motivation, you either have lots of it or are looking for it. It doesn’t often neatly sit in-between these extremes. Motivation at work – well know we are talking that is a whole different ball game.

Now I could sit here and type that we ALL have motivation to do our job’s and most of the time that will be true but what about the times when your motivation has taken a vacation? Well in this post I am going to give you 5 tips on how to get that back.

Tip 1 – Think back to when you last had motivation

Was it a big project you were working on? Was it after or before your annual review? Was it coming back from annual leave? If you know when you last had it and what the circumstances were then its easier to recapture it.

Tip 2 – What keeps you coming back

I am making the basic assumption that you like your job, if that isn’t the case then you will need to go down another tunnel right now. List what it is about your job that you like, if you’re getting back logged in paper work when you should be out in the field for example you need to identify this to begin with and then tell your manager to see how you can get back to that point.

Tip 3 – Are you Organised

Often the creeping up of paperwork or falling out of pattern can lead us to being less organised. Knowing that each morning you need to go in and ‘sort things out’ is enough to make anyone’s motivation get up and leave. So get organised.

Tip 4 – Are you putting yourself out there?

Motivation and the quickest way to get it is by putting yourself out there! By challenging yourself to do something that excites you and that your deeply interested in. Come on raise your hand to that next assignment.

Tip 5 – Mix it up

Clearly if your reading this post it’s because your motivation has gone. So I can safely say that what you’re doing right now is NOT working for you so change it. Mix it up, try something different/new to re-ignite your passion in your work.

Once your motivation is back it is up to YOU to make sure that it stays there. It’s nobody elses job to motivate you, that basic need is yours and yours alone.

Upwards Bullying – How to Manage It

It is something that isn’t often talked about but it is an issue when you’re in a management position and you feel like your being bullied from above.

I hear about this a lot and normally it is the case that although people will confide in you they don’t want to do anything because in their mind – what can be done?

Here are some things to think about if you find ourself in that situation:

– Communication is key

There can be no substitute for face to face communication. So if you feel like someone is behaving inappropriately towards you if you haven’t already then the first step to dealing with this is to try to talk to them face to face. Give them the first opportunity to be told how they are making you feel?

– Know your organisations processes

Often it can feel like there is no where for you to go in these types of situations. However, you might want to look at your company’s Grievance procedures or bullying and harassment Polices. It might not always be suitable to use these policies but check them out to see first of all.

– Understand what you want

This might sound obvious but think about the outcome you want from the situation. Knowing this will inform the choices that you now make.

– Trust in someone

Sometimes all that you need is to talk, talk to someone who you trust, it could be a mentor, your own manager, someone from HR or indeed someone from your family. Talk things through, understand how you feel and gauge how you are reacting to the situation.

– Realise that it is not an acceptable situation

Most managers I have ever spoken to (read from that ALL) where never given a manual on ‘how to deal with their employees’ and therefore are learning as they go. Often they will get it wrong that is the human condition and often it will be the part of their management role they least like but need to do. However, when all is said and done upward bullying is just as unacceptable as downward bullying it’s just less known and talked about.

Therefore YOU need to be the difference and deal with the situation accordingly.

How to admit you were wrong – with grace!

Yes, I decided to tackle the tricky subject of how to admit that you were wrong! We have all been there but often it feels like we don’t admit we are wrong soon enough and then it can snowball and cause all kinds of issues. So here for the benefit of those whom might at some point be wrong, here’s how to admit it with grace.

•  Acknowledge Even if you’re not at the point where you want to admit you were wrong acknowledging that something has gone wrong can be a great olive branch in the process.

• Responsibility You have to take responsibility for your actions. It is that simple, you won’t be able to move on cleanly if you do not to mention take any lessons learned from the situation.

• Damage Control Think about what YOU can do to limit damage control. It might mean you need to own up more widely or that you can straight away amend what was done. Either way this ties in with taking responsibility for your actions.

• Communication In my experience this is the first casualty when someone does something wrong. They maybe understandably retreat or start to deny. Don’t be that person, take ownership. You will gain respect for having the courage to put yourself above the parapet.

• Learnings No situation is ever a waste if you can take something away from it. If you can learn from what you did wrong.

• Question yourself Ask yourself these questions 1.) what when wrong? 2.) what went well? 3.) what would I do differently? and 4.) what have I learned about myself and others?

• Closure Maybe the hardest part of the process but you need to find and have closure to a situation and move on.

Doing these things allows you to admit you were wrong with grace and most importantly move on.

Do your best!

Sometimes we can doubt ourselves, we can start questioning ourselves on things that previously we took for granted. It happens to the best of us and all of us at one time or another. Doubting ourselves can occur for a number of reasons and normally doesn’t give us warning. So how do you deal with this? Well, you believe in yourself, and when you’re struggling with that you do the best you can do.

Doing the best we can might sound a bit far-fetched but if you think of it that simple act of making sure you, nobody else but you does the very best with everything you do can be such a powerful action that sends doubt shivering to the covers.

Also a great by-product of being the best you can be is that it often inspires others around you to do act and be the same. Not a bad way to shake off doubt!

Get ready for your performance review!

I realise this might be the very last thing on your mind this week but here are some tips that are quick that will help you focus in January when you come to properly preparing for your performance review.

Tip 1 – Make a list
A bit like your Christmas list go through all the training courses you attending this year, the high profile work you did, projects you worked on and write them all down in a list. You can format them in January but think of this like a brain dump.

Tip 2 – Challenges
Make another list that states all the things that challenged you in 2012. Whether it was workload, projects, people or situations. Think about what you did about it, what you would change and what you’d do the next time.

Tip 3 – Feedback
Ask for feedback, at least send the email out this week for people to get back to you in January. Offer in return to do the same for them.

Tip 4 – Development
Think about the type of development you want to get next year. What will stretch you, what do you want more exposure too?

Tip 5 – Training
Is there more/further training that would help you? Now is the time to research courses or at least put the feelers out.

Doing these things will break the back in your preparation for next year’s performance review.