Management Principles from Manager Tools
I found the last 5 episodes of Manager Tools intriguing and a great review for all managers. Both Mark and Mike from Manager Tools have a great way of sharing and explaining strategies that can help all managers. If you are a new manager, a seasoned manager or a senior manager/executive, I would encourage you to listen to the last five episodes, and in particular the four episodes on the Manager Tools Management Trinity. I think these podcast are essential for all managers, and all folks that would like to move into a management role. Here is a sample of what you will find ......
The four most powerful things that managers can do are:
Managers are responsible for the performance of your directs
Managers have a responsibility to build a professional relationship with their directs and one-on-ones help build that relationship. Having a relationship improves communication and builds trust.
To foster teamwork, you need to have trust; you can build trust by communicating regularly.
Communication what managers do with their directs to make both the team and the manager more effective.
Teams trust relationships and the openness of communication.
Feedback encourages effective behavior.
Feedback is about talking to your directs about their behavior.
Good management is encouraging and inspires with hope.
Feedback is all about the future so focus on the future.
Managers have a responsibility to give feedback to their directs because directs often deliver behavior that is effective when they are given frequent feedback on what they are doing and on the results and impacts of their behavior.
Managers are paid for the performance of their directs, and feedback is the tool to use. Using both positive and negative feedback consistently will help both your performance and the performance of your team.
Feedback model helps managers achieve better performance with their teams because it creates regular performance communication between the manager and the direct.
Doing nothing is the same as saying they you agree with what was done.
Managers talking about behavior are really talking about performance and how to improve the performance of their part of the organization which is based on the behavior of the manager and the team.
Coaching encourages improved effectiveness.
Coaching is not just for poor performers.
Coaching helps to develop directs and set the stage for improved performance.
Delegation is needed to grow and meet the ever increasing demand for noteable inprovments in performance.
Delegation helps to grow productivity by transfering work from a higher cost center to a lower cost center.
Delegation leads to paying less for the same output and this is a productivity gain.
Managers should look to delegate part of thier job functions to their team, and look at taking responsibility for tasks that the Managers Manager does not like to do.
After listening to Marks overview of one-on-ones, feedback and coaching in the Delegation podcast, I knew that I was going to write about this because I certain believe in these principles, and strive to meet them every day:
Managers ability to achieve their responsibilities comes from maximixing the effectiveness of their directs.
The Manager is the responsible party of the organization, not only responsible to the oranization but for the organization.
The biggest lever to maximize the effectiveness of their directs is the relationships the manager creates with their directs.
Best way to ensure the day to day performance of directs is to provide feedback, both positive and negative.
