Entries from October 2009 ↓

There are six main responsibilities of a manager, regardless of where they work or who works for them.

1. Hiring – a manager finds individuals that are suited to positions required to complete a job as part of a larger project. The individuals must have the required skills and commitment, or can be coached or trained to succeed in the role.

2. Communicating – with employees. A manager needs to share the goals of the organization and company objectives so that employees know how their role fits into the bigger picture.

3. Planning - A manager needs to plan the works to ensure they are completed by the right people in the right time frame.

4. Organizing – Managers are responsible for ensuring that the right resources are put in the right roles to complete the job. This means deciding which employees do which tasks and means they also have to understand their teams strengths and weaknesses.

5. Training – If there are gaps in the skill level of your team, managers provide opportunities for training for development.

6. Monitoring - this involves monitoring each of your employees and ensuring they are succeeding in their tasks. Managers need to also be aware of the work load of their employees so that they are not bored or snowed under.

One of the great secrets of a successful manager is the ability to listen actively. This is done by asking questions, making clarifying statements and summarising what you have heard to show you have actually been listening to what the other person has been saying.

Remember, you have two ears and one mouth so you should be listening twice as much as you talk.

Why Poor Listeners Fail

Poor listeners love the sound of their own voice and have to let other people hear it as well. Sometimes poor listeners also spend their time thinking of some smart arse remark with which to interject rather than listening to the other person. Poor listeners make poor managers. Remember that.

Some people can comprehend much more per minute through reading than through hearing someone talk (at a comparatively slower rate). This is especially true for speed readers. So when someone speaks, it is only natural they tend to zone out since the speaker doesn’t demand their full attention. This “comprehension gap” is another reason why some people are poor listeners. The amount of people actively listening are few and far between, so it doesn’t really take much to differentiate yourself among other managers by being an active listener.

How To Be An Active Listener

Encourage the other person to talk. Nod occassionally to show comprehension but more importantly look at the other person when they are talking to you. Don’t turn your head away or be distracted by a piece of paper. Stay focussed as much as possible.

Some well-placed comments work well in conversations: “That’s interesting. Tell me more”, “Why do you suppose that is?” To be an active listener you need to send the same signal with all of the following:

• the words you use
• your facial expressions
• your tone of voice

Naturally, when you become a good listener (and therefore a better manager) some people will start coming to you more with your problems. This can waste a lot of your time.

Conversation Terminators

Some managers use verbal cues such as “I appreciate you coming in” or “Let me think about that a while” to indicate that a conversation has come to an end for the time being. More subtle ways I’ve witnessed include a manager placing his hand on the telephone to indicate he is about to make a call when you leave. Sometimes when all else fails a bit of direct communication would not be considered rude given that all other signals have been ignored. Both parties should be actively paying attention to tune in to each other’s signals.

At the end of the day being an active listener means you are more aware of what is happening around you, especially with your direct reports, making you a more effective manager.

Most managers stuff up because they do not give their direct reports praise. One of the reasons they don’t show appreciation may be because they were never shown appreciation themselves.

People Remember Appreciation.

When employees are asked about the best and worst examples of management they have seen, it is nearly always linked to some sort of appreciation and whether it was received or denied. Everyone wants to know that the work they are doing is important. Furthermore, appreciation is free and has the potential to improve employee performance more than a measly salary increase.

Appreciation: The Skill

Remember to be specific with regards to the tasks that you appreciate and want to have repeated in the future. Remember to describe the impact of how that tasks fits in and has helped improve the bigger picture. Don’t overdo it. Too much feedback lessens its impact and can also come across as being insincere.

What People Want

What do Gen-Y employees need from their Baby Boomer managers that Gen-Xers don’t? How does gender affect employee-manager relationships?