Now that I had been working for 3 years and even tried my hand at setting up my own enterprise, here is my take on BAD MANAGERS. A manager can single handedly create a team that is 200% productive or a team that just piggy back on other teams. During these 3 years I had chance to come across managers from different walks of life and different parts of the world.
I came across managers who would walk into office and everybody is tense. Forcing, pushing everybody to work harder. This made the deadlines being met, but staff learning curve was flat and attrition very high.
Then there were managers, who were missed by the team - the rare breed. Managers who could brighten up the dullest moment with their high energy level and keen interest in their work. These managers were the best, among the managers I came across. Under them whole team functioned as a single unit rather than fragmented groups. Innovation and creativity was at its peak and all the deadlines were met and nobody was tense – everything flowed smoothly. Nobody left the team in last 5 years. Well these types of managers are difficult to find.
Some Dos:
1. Connect with your staff and understand if they need to be pushed or they are go-getters.
2. Do not stereotype and get involved in office gossip.
3. Keep your distance while connecting with the staff. Everybody should know that you are the
I came across managers who would walk into office and everybody is tense. Forcing, pushing everybody to work harder. This made the deadlines being met, but staff learning curve was flat and attrition very high.
Then there were managers, who were missed by the team - the rare breed. Managers who could brighten up the dullest moment with their high energy level and keen interest in their work. These managers were the best, among the managers I came across. Under them whole team functioned as a single unit rather than fragmented groups. Innovation and creativity was at its peak and all the deadlines were met and nobody was tense – everything flowed smoothly. Nobody left the team in last 5 years. Well these types of managers are difficult to find.
Some Dos:
1. Connect with your staff and understand if they need to be pushed or they are go-getters.
2. Do not stereotype and get involved in office gossip.
3. Keep your distance while connecting with the staff. Everybody should know that you are the
boss.
4. Set a career path for every employee and convey this to them.
5. Keep your team updated with latest information.
6. Accept inputs from the team.
7. Give chance to lead and innovate.
8. Lead by example and set new standards for benchmarking with own efforts. This will also
4. Set a career path for every employee and convey this to them.
5. Keep your team updated with latest information.
6. Accept inputs from the team.
7. Give chance to lead and innovate.
8. Lead by example and set new standards for benchmarking with own efforts. This will also
lead to respect and not FEAR.
9. Let go off the staff happily if they are looking for change. I can be 100% sure that in future
9. Let go off the staff happily if they are looking for change. I can be 100% sure that in future
they will come back to the company if they had real good time working there.
Don'ts
1. Do not shout at your team members.
Well I will add to this list more things as and when I come across them.
-Thinking Thinker
Don'ts
1. Do not shout at your team members.
Well I will add to this list more things as and when I come across them.
-Thinking Thinker
1 comment:
Good to be writing on your blog after a long absence. Nice post. Your list of dos set me thinking that in order to be a good manager one has to have the quality of empathy, the ability to put oneself in other people's shoes and think about their needs from their perspective. Empathy is something so much in short supply today, don't you think? Lots of corporates are sponsoring their employees for courses in "vipassana"? How much is it so with the software sector?
Post a Comment