What Makes a Great Manager?
Good managers are eloquent speakers, attentive listeners, and enthusiastic cheerleaders. The bright side is that you can train yourself to acquire these qualities. We’ll outline the traits that all outstanding managers have in common and provide concrete advice for honing your own, from learning to delegate to connecting your team’s work with the larger company goals.
No winning sports team ever existed that didn’t have a competent coach. Most likely not. All teams, even those with the league’s greatest players, require a strong leader who can serve as an inspiration and a pillar of support and guidance.
Consider your workplace to be no different. No matter how hard a team works, they will fail if they don’t have outstanding leaders to guide them. It is your responsibility as a manager to lead your team, make sound judgments, and maintain an approachable and adaptable demeanor.
You have to strike a balance between their wants and the company’s overall goals. The good news is that you can work on honing the softer skills necessary to become a successful manager, beginning with those listed above.
What makes a good manager?
Successful teams are led by managers who have mastered a set of core competencies. If you want to make it as a manager, you need to develop these abilities.
The ability to convey information
The success of any team depends on its leaders’ ability to communicate their goals and expectations to their team members in a way that leaves no room for misunderstanding.
Just as crucial is the ability to hear others out, process their concerns, and act as a go-between when disagreements arise. Good leaders are careful with their wording in order to avoid misunderstandings.
Work ethic
A strong work ethic that prizes effort and excellence is a trait shared by all great managers.
When you give your all on the job, you inspire others to follow your lead and improve their own performance. When managers provide an example of hard work, their employees are motivated to reach their maximum potential.
Goal-oriented
Good managers may set reasonable goals and create tactics to meet those goals. Setting SMART goals is one strategy that uses objectives that are specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and time-based, so they may readily transfer into effective tactics.
By breaking down large tasks into manageable chunks, you may boost your team’s productivity and morale over the duration of a project.
Hold yourself accountable
Your team isn’t perfect, and neither is their work. But ultimately, the buck stops with you—which means that you need to take responsibility for any blunders that arise. This is called accountability, and it’s one of the tougher leadership abilities to develop.
As a team lead, you need to take responsibility for all the work that’s put out, even if you weren’t the one who actually developed it.
There’s an upside to this. By taking the blame for your team’s shortcomings, you have the chance to assist them to learn from their missteps. It fosters trust, which shows your team that it’s safe to explore and take creative risks. Which, ultimately, is how the best ideas are born.
Accountability isn’t just about taking the moral high ground, it’s also the quickest way to find a solution. Problem-solving will be one of your primary duties as a manager, and you can’t start that process if you don’t realize there’s an issue. After you take responsibility, dive into problem management to guarantee that you recognize and stop similar mistakes in the future.
Be confident
Being a confident manager sets the tone for the team and makes it more likely that they will follow suit. Even if you’re a new manager and lack experience, you can reference the hard work that got you where you are to build confidence in your new role.
Recognizing and documenting your achievements can help you feel more secure in yourself. Looking back on your accomplishments can help raise your confidence during times when you’re feeling less confident than usual.
Recognizing a challenging scenario is also helpful. When you’ve finally conquered it, give yourself a pat on the back. You can use the strength you gained through overcoming adversity to carry you through future challenges.
There should be efforts made to demonstrate faith in the team’s talents. Always be there to lend advice when called for, but don’t be afraid to put faith in your team by giving them responsibility for key projects. Hold regular one-on-one meetings with employees to share compliments and highlight their contributions to the team.
Practice flexibility.
They count on you to be the one to take charge whenever it’s necessary. You, as a manager, have the dual roles of dealing with unexpected events and assisting your staff in adjusting to new circumstances. Developing your flexibility will help you keep your cool in trying situations, allowing you to make wiser choices.
Adaptability is cultivated by practicing openness to alteration. To become more flexible, one might train themselves to pay attention to the present moment, maintain an open mind regardless of the circumstances, and constantly test their limits. You can better manage and lead your team through a crisis if you practice being flexible during times of relative calm.
Industry knowledge
Managers should be able to demonstrate an in-depth awareness of their organization and its place in the industry. Managers who keep engaged in professional networks and who invest in their own professional development through courses and seminars inspire their staff to do the same.
Inspiring and optimistic
Managers should try to be inspirational leaders who foster collaboration. In order to encourage your team to achieve success, it is important that they all feel like they matter.
Ask for input and engage your staff throughout the entire process for each project. Strong leaders also provide positive feedback that helps staff understand what they did well while also finding possibilities for development.
Encouraging and supportive
Good managers help team members progress in their careers by giving them credit when they perform well and publicizing their achievements in staff meetings and performance reviews.
As a manager, you may help your staff recognize their strengths and apply their talents to initiatives. Talk with individual team members often about their career aspirations.
Try to be all-embracing
When recruiting employees, it’s important to foster an environment where everyone feels welcome and appreciated. If you want your team to be more productive, it’s important that they know they’re valued as individuals. Maybe even more significantly, a happy team is an engaged team.
So, how do you create a welcoming workplace for all employees?
Increase your EQ by developing your emotional self. Improving your social skills, relationship acumen, and conversational abilities all come together when you work on your emotional intelligence.
Keep in mind that fostering an accepting atmosphere is a continual effort. The continual effort is what will make your team comfortable and honest with one another, and it includes establishing and verbalizing group norms so your team can follow suit.
Participate in ongoing education opportunities provided by your employer, such as workshops on fostering team cohesion and resolving conflicts.
Strategies for Dealing with Conflict
Since every team usually consists of multiple personalities, a good manager needs to have strong conflict-resolution skills. To keep projects on track and morale high, knowing how to arbitrate disagreements and settle the conflict in a way that makes everyone feel appreciated is crucial.
Exemplary Performance
Providing your team with a positive example to follow will provide them with the tools they need to succeed. In order to set a good example for your team, you should demonstrate characteristics like honesty, openness, and a willingness to take on more responsibility.
Taking ownership of your actions shows your team that you are willing to grow from your mistakes. Make careful to give members praise when you see them exhibiting a desirable trait. Team members are more likely to acquire the traits you value when they see them reflected in their leader.
Direct and open
Good managers are trustworthy because they act with honesty and integrity. A trustworthy leader is the first step toward establishing an honest and open environment within a team.
When a boss is attentive and provides constructive criticism, workers feel more at ease voicing their problems.
Very sympathetic and honest
The best managers are results-oriented but also sensitive to their team members’ individual struggles and requirements. There is mutual understanding both in and out of the workplace. Equally as crucial as allowing for flexible schedules to meet family obligations is making sure that employees feel appreciated for the work they do.
A manager who values and encourages a balanced work-life for their employees is likely to see increased loyalty and output from their staff.
Knowledge of how to listen
Leaders that are adept at “active listening” are able to pay full attention to the speaker, take in the information being presented, and respond intelligently. The ability to actively listen and remember what was said is a crucial interpersonal communication skill because it means you won’t need to have information repeated if you forget it.
Trustworthiness
Excellent managers can be relied on to keep secrets. Managers must demonstrate to their staff that they are looking out for their best interests. The workplace might become poisonous if workers don’t believe they have management’s support.
There must be trust among employees that their superiors are telling them the truth. Maintaining the confidentiality of company information and providing open, honest guidance based on what is in the best interest of the business are two pillars on which your credibility rests.
Why Is Good Management Essential
When you have competent management in place, you can rest assured that everything you do will go off without a hitch. All of us can confirm that having a great boss has been crucial to our professional success, but what are the characteristics shared by the best leaders? How are they keeping their employees satisfied while yet turning a profit?
Superior leadership relies on strategic thinkers in the background. These leaders make strategic decisions in a compassionate manner, taking the time to get to know their staff as individuals and focusing on where each one excels.
A competent manager will know their staff well enough to tailor objectives to their needs, and they will be able to expertly arrange things so that the path to success is as streamlined as possible. Great talent can be lost without management even noticing if they don’t use problem-solving, and strategic methods.
Motivation
The morale and productivity of an organization can take a serious hit when employees lack inspiration. Inspiration and inspiration often go hand in hand, and positive word of mouth may be just as effective as a jolt of energy. The two of them together can do wonders for employee morale and productivity in the office.
Managers may inspire their teams with the right mix of incentives, proper appreciation, support, and awards. Making an employee feel valued is of utmost importance because a contented group is more productive.
It is assumed that a leader will have an effect on those they manage through the use of performance appraisals and feedback, and a good manager will also embody some leadership qualities and principles. The employee needs to know where they stand and where they excel and then be encouraged to build on their strengths by their supervisor.
Recognizing employees can have a positive impact, but only if done properly. Managers who are experts in their profession should be able to assess their employees, identify areas of strength and weakness, and offer suggestions for improving their skills.
To avoid depressing the worker and instead inspire them to improve, managers must tackle difficult situations with tact and diplomacy.
Conversation and direction
The maxim that “communication is vital” holds true in many contexts but is particularly pertinent when discussing the role of management in the workplace. Misunderstandings and conflicts can arise from a lack of open dialogue amongst coworkers during the workday.
Also, this is not just about how bosses and employees talk to one another. Managers should have open lines of communication with their peers in other departments to foster a cohesive organizational structure. While interpersonal skills are certainly useful, a business degree’s technical assistance would be much appreciated as well.
When people from diverse roles and departments are able to talk to one another, meetings run more easily. This is where communication and people skills come in helpful because poorly written or vocally delivered ideas, will never truly reach what they mean.
Regardless of how well-rounded a worker may be, nobody is perfect. So getting to know them can save time in the long term. Consider that it would be more productive to devote less time to issues that cannot be resolved and more to those that can be rectified if you knew which staff was better at which tasks.
Creative Methods
An evident aspect of effective management is the use of novel approaches. Besides acting in the realm of productivity, innovations play a major role in the overall company score with respect to other organizations.
Keeping up with the competition in the market requires constant innovation, and any strategy that boosts employee productivity is good for business.
Apart from that, keeping things new and exciting will always assist employees look at the task with a new pair of eyes. Routine can sometimes feel like a burden, and even modest changes can add up to a happier and more active workplace.
Companies creating goods and services for consumers should place a premium on innovation because it is one of the best ways to attract and retain customers. New insights and creative approaches will help you rise above the rest of the pack.
Simply put, managers that are able to think beyond the box will be better able to adapt to new circumstances, both within and without their organization, and will ultimately produce better results.
Combating difficulties
It appears that problem-solving is a highly sought-after soft skill in the 21st century. One possible explanation is that it is applicable to many fields, management included.
A manager’s job is to put out any fires that may arise within the workplace, whether they are the result of an argument amongst employees or an unexpected problem that has cropped up. However, before arriving at the solving point, students should first be able to identify it.
A manager who is adept at finding solutions to problems can head them off before they spread throughout the organization. This can help people feel more at ease and less panicked.
It is the manager’s responsibility to go beyond the surface of a problem and identify the underlying causes so that effective action can be taken. To put it simply, this means being able to devise a plan of action that will hold up in the face of subsequent challenges that may arise. This might save the whole team from repeatedly facing stopping places.
Mission Statement
Reaching a common goal as a group is a fantastic approach to shining a light on cooperation. Although personal objectives are essential to the functioning of the business, group objectives can help employees see the forest for the trees.
The point is to be very transparent about what it is that you’re looking for and investigating. Avoiding boredom in the workplace can be accomplished by the implementation of a system that displays how each employee’s efforts contribute to achieving the overall goal.
With this, everyone can see the big picture and where they are in relation to others.
Setting goals that are too difficult will not motivate workers to put in as much effort as setting goals that are too ambitious. Setting lofty goals might inspire staff to draw on existing expertise or acquire new skills.
Making rapid development over a short period of time can provide them with a sense of pride that would otherwise be difficult to attain.
Affecting Change Through the Power of the Workforce
It is the responsibility of a good manager to instill a sense of agency in their staff. This aspect of the job is crucial because it helps employees develop to their full potential by highlighting their skills and potential.
Workers can feel more in control of their lives if they are encouraged to pursue educational possibilities and given training in areas where they are struggling. They will benefit from it personally, and they will also be helping the firm as a whole.
Good managers empower their staff by seriously considering their input when making choices. A manager can make his staff feel heard and appreciated by encouraging them to voice their ideas openly about the working environment. The result is increased critical thinking and the development of better solutions.
Individuality is emphasized as a part of the empowering process. In addition to making the person in question feel valued, this can also foster an environment where coworkers respect and admire one another’s abilities. The result is increased productivity in the office, as people spend their time doing what they are greatest at.