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How to Improve Your Managerial Skills

Around the New Year, many of us resolve to get better at our jobs.

For managers, improvement doesn’t necessarily have to mean taking a class or consulting an expert. Improvement can come quickly and easily by adopting good habits. For instance, a manager could simply put more thought into how they interact with employees. By taking a few simple steps, a better manager can reduce turnover and increase productivity – making themselves look better in the process.

Be yourself

Some managers may be tempted to emulate the manager that held the position before them. This is bad decision if that person had a very different personality and skill set.

If you are looking to develop a more personal managerial style, consider the effective supervisors you enjoyed working for in the past and identify what it was they did that gave you that feeling. Also, think about supervisors you didn’t enjoy working for and determine what made you feel that way. These two exercises will give you a basic structure for your own effective managerial style.

Lay out clear standards and follow them!

Employees want to know what is expected of them, and as a manager, it is your job to explain what the objectives are for each member of your staff. A good rule of thumb is to make sure your employees feel challenged, but not overwhelmed.

Furthermore, effective managers don’t undercut themselves by being hypocrites. Make sure you are following the guidelines and expectations you set for others. For instance, if you want your staff to feel comfortable openly communicating with you, don’t withhold information from them.

Give regular feedback

Nothing builds trust in a staff than being honest and open. With that being said, it is important to be sensitive around how and when you provide honest feedback. If you can avoid it, don’t criticize someone immediately after they have made a mistake. Allow them to cool down for a bit before offering constructive criticism. Remember, you are criticizing their actions, not the person.

In addition to telling your employees when they are doing something wrong, you should also be telling them when they get it right. In either situation, be as specific as possible. For instance, you might say, “I especially liked the way you settled down that angry customer by empathizing with them.”

Empower your staff

Your job is to manage other people doing work, not to do the work yourself. That would simply make you an overpaid front-line worker.

You should be leveraging the skills and expertise of your staff to achieve the goals set out for your department. This includes empowering them to make some decisions for you. When you include you staff in the decision-making process, you’ll find their take more ownership of the department’s result and boost their productivity accordingly.

At Career Concepts, we support managers at our client companies by supplying them with customized talent acquisition solutions. If your department is currently in need of such a solution, please contact us today!

Blog published date

Dec 28, 2016
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