Think you’re a good Manager

People who are not in a management position simply do not understand how much effort, skill and knowledge is required to do the job and be a good manager at the same time. Whilst being a manager is by and large highly satisfying, it is not easy, it is filled with a huge variety of daily challenges and stresses and takes a particular type of person to do it well. So, thinking about this I decided to write out a list of all the things I could think of that a good manager does in any one day, it surprised me, and I think it will surprise you as well.

How do you rate against this list?

What it takes

Organizational awareness

·       Understands and interprets the purpose of the business.

·       Knows who the customers are

·       Knows the stakeholders

·       Understands and develops various, different relationships

·       Is a chosen field subject matter expert

People management skills

·       Understands that employees are the greatest asset and how you lead, motivate, and inspire them has a huge impact on the success of the business

·       Leads followers by example

·       Inspires others

·       Supports and motivates

·       Shows commitment and passion

·       Is accountable

·       Sets individual performance goals/KPIs, develops a plan to achieve the goals/KPIs

·       Empowers team members so that they can achieve their goals

·       Mentors, assesses performance, and makes adjustments

·       Provides feedback and always give a reason why

·       Has honesty and integrity

·       Exudes positivity

·       Knows how to effectively delegate

Manages one or more teams.

·       Talks to and gets to know team members

·       Manages team members as individuals and accepts differences

·       Works with team members to set a common goal        

·       Knows which people are needed and those that are not

·       Understands an individual's team roles and strengths

·       Has excellent listening and communication skills

·       Builds good working relationships

·       Brings people together to solve problems

·       Builds trust within the team

·       Collaborates bringing people together to do a range of activities

·       Runs meetings

·       Mentors and develops team members

Manages, Organizes and Plans

·       Thinks tactically and strategically

·       Is at least a month ahead of their team in terms of planning

·       Has good time management skills, can effectively manage time and prioritize tasks

·       Is a problem solver

·       Uses various Work management tools like Email, Scheduler, Diary, Team, and Project Management

·       Organizes own and others work

·       Understands budgeting, basic accounting and financial management

·       Is a good decision maker, knows the value of sleeping on it

Arranges files and has a clean desk policy.

Manages unplanned work and surprises

·       Uses various management techniques

·       Establishes work procedures and processes

·       Knows that you can't manage what you can't measure

·       Establishes guidelines

Management Style

·       Traditional, Progressive, or Transformational – always aiming to do better

·       Knows about managing upwards, downwards and sideways

·       Has leadership skills

·       Is consistent

·       Is intelligent

·       Is patient

·       Is part psychologist

·       Is an influencer, persuader and a parent

Common descriptions of good managers:

·       They provide leadership

·       Is supportive and forgiving

·       Motivates and has a positive attitude

·       Has an open door policy

·       Is easy to talk to

·       Provides challenging work

Common descriptions of poor managers:

·       Incompetent

·       Poor communicator

·       Poor listener

·       Rude, abrupt, arrogant, humiliating

·       Shows no interest

Common reasons why people resign:

·       Poor management

·       Lack of advancement

·       Insufficient remuneration

·       Boredom, low job satisfaction

·       Poor workplace culture, lack of respect

·       Better opportunity

Common attributes of poor organizations:

·       See their employees as units of labour, easily replaceable and not worth investing in.

·       Inferior at training their mid-level managers, preferring instead to invest in leadership training for senior executives.

·       Vests a lot of power in individual managers, allowing them to impose their form of control, rules, and regulations just as long as they achieve business goals imposed on them from above

·       Managers are intimidating people in positions of power who are coercive, dictatorial and distrusting.

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