Management Training:
New Manager Management Seminars - 7 Landmines To Avoid
If you are a brand new manager in either the corporate arena or the nonprofit sector, this article is for YOU. Becoming familiar with the following seven pitfalls and then doing your best to avoid them can propel you toward the success you desire FAST:
1. Developing close relationships with selected staff
Don't do this. And don't allow employees to tempt you to do it. It's a recipe for potential disaster, often when you least expect it. Understand that, while you may go out of your way to keep these special relationships hidden, other staff figure out what you're doing. When they catch on, they tend to resent it. Resentment is not something you can manage, believe me. So you don't want to kindle it in the first place. Once the rest of the staff resent you for choosing others and not them as your confidantes and/or social buddies, they may resort to backstabbing, undermining, passive aggressive behaviors, and efforts to oust you from the position. This is not a pretty picture. Don't go there. What should you do instead? First, steer clear of inviting one or two people to occasional social outings. Invite your entire staff or don't invite anyone. Second, determine the shining skill, attribute, knowledge, and/or experience each employee possesses. Then think of staffer A as your "go to person" for X, staffer B for Y, staffer C for Z. In short, let each be special to you for a particular reason-and let everybody know it. If you practice this on a regular basis, you can never be accused of having a few favorites because all of your staff are favorites.
2. Deciding you can wait to get the training and mentoring you need
The truth is you can't wait. You're new to a management position and you don't yet have the knowledge and expertise you need. It's that simple. Don't overestimate your abilities and capacity for succeeding on the job. Sign up for classes, workshops, teleseminars, webinars, and even individual mentoring/tutoring early in your tenure. Be proactive. Find out what's available and what you can afford. If organizational funds can support your education, by all means take the steps necessary to get permission to use them. If you have to spend personal dollars to acquire what you need, make that investment. Keep in mind that it's an investment in YOU and your future. You aren't wasting money. Too often people talk themselves out of doing what would reduce their frustration, increase their skill set, and boost them into the position with strength. Don't make that mistake in judgment. Investing up front can make all the difference between a slow, embarrassing start and a credible, confident start. Your reputation as a manager depends on it.
3. Using a dictatorial management style
While many folks are still using this outdated style and approach to management, know that it really doesn't work in the long run. It doesn't build loyalty, increase productivity, grow staff, or enhance your credibility among the people you supervise. The only thing it does is shout who's boss, as if you were using a megaphone. People already know you are the boss; you don't need to rub it in their faces. Instead of a dictatorship, establish a reasonable partnership with your staff. Of course the buck stops with you, and the workplace environment isn't a democracy. But create a high functioning team whose members know they provide value to the whole operation. They know this because they get to do it over and over again-and receive recognition for their contributions. What are the keys to designing a viable partnership? Discover what people do well, and go to them for those things often. Ask them for feedback and input regularly. Demonstrate your trust in their abilities and judgment. Allow them to see your weaknesses occasionally. Over time you stand tall in their eyes.
4. Allowing a culture of stagnation to flourish
A work culture where folks aren't growing and trusting each other is poisonous to everybody. One of the reasons we hold jobs is to develop ourselves as individuals. If we aren't growing and developing, we may as well be dead. Actually, we are dead in a sense. So your biggest responsibility as a manager is to inspire your staff to do great things. Not merely to get the task done by 4:30 PM, but to get it done in a way that sparkles and makes them sparkle inside. Most managers can't pull this off. Or they don't bother to find out how to pull it off. Take the time and make the effort to learn how to do this. When you master it-or even start to do it with some results-you set yourself a part from thousands of persons in management positions. Get people excited about what they do, the role they play in the larger picture, and the possible contributions they can offer to the company. Use a strengths-based model of management. Focus on employee strengths more than you pay attention to their areas of weakness. Give people opportunities to utilize their strengths most of the time, and you will see happy staff. This isn't rocket science. It's just common sense.
5. Paying little or no attention to details
Regardless of what you may think or what others may tell you, details matter. Yes, as a manager you need to be aware of the big picture and view your world from a helicopter. But you also have to study the details of situations, projects, meetings, tasks, and even one-on-one conversations. Management requires you to develop a consciousness of both the macro and the micro levels of things. Sometimes I hear a manager say, "I'm just not a detail sort of person." Well, treat it like any other weakness and take steps to change that. Failing to notice the details can cost you money, time, energy, and success in general. You may lose a golden staffer because you missed the signs of his chronic frustration. You could overspend a line item in the budget because you didn't review the most recent balance sheet. You may not hire the best candidate for a staff position because you didn't read all applicant resumes thoroughly. You may not realize that a big project deadline needs to be extended because you didn't review the related meeting minutes. Learn to pay attention to the details without getting bogged down in them.
6. Failing to ask enough questions and/or the right questions
As a manager, it's your duty to ask questions. Lots of questions-and the right ones. Don't take everything you hear at face value. Drill down to the root cause of a problem, to the truth of a matter, to the real reason behind something not going well. When an employee tells you he will take care of a certain delicate situation tomorrow, ask him how he intends to do that and why he intends to wait. Get the specifics. Get the details. If his answers leave you confused, dissatisfied, or unnerved, ask more questions. Don't just walk away because you're afraid you'll offend the person by wanting more information. It's your job to know that this situation will be resolved in a timely, appropriate manner. Let the staffer do the work, but give him the opportunity to walk you through the process he has chosen to use. Become a boss who's a good sounding board, and notice how folks come to you for a listening ear, advice, and feedback. A word of caution, however: avoid asking questions just to hear yourself talk or to feel important. People pick up on that quickly. It's a turn-off.
7. Trusting only one person in your work environment
Learn to trust different people for and with different things. For example, you may discover that you can depend upon Susan for comprehensive project reports, John for creative ideas in a pinch, and Tina for tuning into her intuitive sense. Once you know this about each person, then go to Susan for those reports, John for his save-the-day ideas, and Tina for her intuitive reads on particular situations. Failing to tap into this form of wealth is foolish. By doing so you create a "win" for yourself and for the staff. Susan, John, and Tina feel valued, and you get the information, products, and insights you need. If you depend solely on Susan for what John and Tina do exceptionally well, how does anyone benefit? Find out early in the game where each employee excels, and then rely on him/her for those things. Trusting one staffer for everything puts a huge burden on that person, and it also puts you at risk for a big fall. Trust everyone for something, and you'll build a strong department where folks feel like they make much needed, much wanted contributions.
Sylvia Hepler:
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Management Seminars
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