Managing other people has ample rewards when you are able to see how your team is benefiting and growing under your expert governance, but it is just as easy to get it wrong if you do not pay attention to the following managerial pitfalls.
Failure to lead by example
As a manager, you are also a leader, and your team looks to you for guidance. Therefore, you must be careful how you behave in the workplace. You cannot expect other people to behave impeccably when you are not leading by example.
Areas to watch out for are:
- listening respectfully;
- communicating clearly;
- accepting ideas from other people;
- answering questions honestly and willingly.
Delegating clumsily
Try not to give employees the impression that you are pushing unpalatable work their way by failing to explain exactly why you have chosen a particular individual. Team members have specific roles and like to know that their tasks are theirs because they are best-suited to achieving the best outcome. You must allow them to ask questions so they can understand exactly what their goals are. You should also seek their response to the task, which conveys the message that they have the necessary skill set and you value their input.
They may have ideas that can seriously improve their performance of the task at hand. This is all about motivation. If you can link the task to a specific skill they have, and explain this to them, they will be far more amenable. Everyone loves praise.
Ignoring the young blood
This is not only negative for the younger members of the office, it could also be detrimental to the success of your objectives.
You never know where the next big idea may come from, and it may just be lurking in the freshest minds, precisely because they have not had a chance to be weighed down by the pressure (and possibly tedium) of work.
Don’t let personal pride or an ageist attitude blind you to young talent. Spend some time getting to know where the young blood is coming from – how they perceive their strengths and whether they have any great ideas they’d like to share, or tasks they would like to tackle.
Ignoring older workers
By the same token, do not ignore your more seasoned workers. They are the ones who have the most experience. They may also have some fresh ideas to offer, but may not have the youthful buzz to speak up unless asked. Make sure you appreciate their skills, which will have been earned over many years.
The fact that you are able to pretty much leave them alone to get on with things does not mean you should ignore their efforts. Be grateful that they are not a burden to you, and are producing the goods.
Older workers who feel taken for granted may “come off the boil” to a certain extent, and thus you risk losing some of your greatest assets in the workplace. As much as their skills may appear set, try to enliven things by offering alternative tasks that may prompt a renewed enthusiasm.
Ordering people about
It may be within your remit to do this, but this should be reserved for those times when employees leave you no choice but to issue orders, if not ultimatums. Try making suggestions and requests rather than issuing orders. It’s all semantics, really. Your team knows that your requests are actually orders phrased politely, but such subtleties can make a big difference. Remember that your team knows full-well that you have your directives from your own superiors, so will hardly refuse your requests.
If there is a certain latitude in the tasks you are handing out, seek suggestions and encourage employees to share their own ideas on how to best approach matters.
Stifling creativity
Managers cannot let their workplace or their team stagnate. To keep the situation fresh, you should be asking for ideas from your team at regular intervals. This not only spawns new approaches but also shows them that you value their input.
This does not mean abandoning tried and trusted routines that have served the organization for many years; it just means seeing of there are any ways to add a little spice, either with a few new tasks, or with new approaches to old tasks. Businesses thrive on new ideas, and they may even prove to be the impetus to take a business to a whole new level.
Maintaining the status quo
The above need for fresh ideas is also important for managers whose new job it is to head up an established team. The temptation may be to avoid rocking the boat and to keep a low profile, but dynamic leadership may be part of the reason you have been called in. Although you will not want to change routines that the organization depends upon, you should not be afraid of trying a few new working practices to see how they pan out and how they may benefit your team’s productivity.
Storing up problems
This relates specifically to the practice of noting personnel problems in a log to be delivered en masse during staff appraisals. This is detrimental for several reasons. Problems that are allowed to carry on may damage productivity; the team members at fault will resent the fact that they were allowed to continue in error for so long; they may be confronted with a long list of problems that could damage their confidence; and your ability to create trust will have been tarnished, because you failed to communicate the truth when it was necessary.
Far better to deal with issues as they arise to minimize damage, and show the team that you are a sharp manager who will not any situation drift. Staff appraisals are not designed as a delivery system for months of problems; rather they are used to monitor staff behavior and performance over that time, which should include the ability to take on board advice and direction as and when.
Taking high fliers for granted
This is a similar problem to ignoring the young blood and workplace veterans. The danger here is more pronounced, however, because a failure to properly praise and reward your stars may lead to them seeking better and more remunerative employment elsewhere, and these high achievers may be contributing a disproportionate amount of success to your overall figures.
Losing them would therefore be a serious blow not just to your team, but to the entire organization. You do not want to be the one who is blamed for losing your team’s biggest asset. Make sure these people know you value them, and if that means increasing their income, then that will be a small price to pay for keeping them on your side.
Focusing on the negative rather than the positive
Everyone makes mistakes, but concentrating solely on mistakes whilst ignoring the positives is guaranteed to alienate employees. Although you may believe that a job well done is only to be expected, it is always a good idea to praise team members who perform well.
This is the way to encourage more behavior of the same sort. It doesn’t take much effort to congratulate someone, but it can have a huge impact on their attitude. A team member who consistently excels and is not praised may end up losing interest. Where praise is neglected and criticisms leveled, this can be the cause of serious resentment. This does not mean that you cannot point out mistakes, but it is policy to surround the criticism with points that you do admire about that person’s work.
This serves to cushion the negative comment, and also subtly suggests that they should exchange their mistake for further success.
Failing to build a strong team
Managers should remember to nurture a team ethos. Individuals within a team work better together when they are more aware of belonging to a team. A sense of team creates a more powerful force than the idea that a workplace is just a gathering of individuals. This can be encouraged by holding regular team meetings where everyone has a chance to express their views and share exactly what they are doing to contribute to the whole team effort.