Overcoming the Challenges of a Manager

Do you end up solving the problems that your team members are supposed to?
Do you finish the unfinished or half finished work of your team members?
Do you allow your team members to delegate their work upwards to you?
Do you check for or chase for progress of work every few minutes
Do you end up saying, "Never mind, I will do it myself."

If you were to watch many managers at work, you may begin to wonder whether the traditional notion of the manager being the one who gets things done through others still exists. The problem is that when an employee’s title changes and now contains the word manager, they are suddenly expected to start to act like managers, yet receive little help and support in making the transition.

The lack of training and mentoring shows up in their struggle to plan, organise, prioritise, delegate and solve problems. More important, it also shows up in their struggle with managing people, especially in influencing them to do what they want them to do.

Learn to give a good brief and allow your staff space to grow

If you need a task done, it is important for the manager to first give his employee a good brief. The brief not only needs to be clear, specific and actionable, it also needs to be inspiring. The inability of managers to set the task against the right context and be able to show the big picture leaves employees confused about why they need to do the job and how it will help them and the organisation.

Managers tend to swing between two extremes in their style of securing results — at one extreme, you have those that nurture their staff and are almost patronising in their style. They are so frightened of not being liked that they are too helpful and eager to give advice and complete the work on the employee’s behalf.

At the other extreme, we have managers who believe that employees learn to swim when they are pushed into the water and therefore offer little support and can come across and condescending and arrogant.

Another common problem is that managers can tend to micro manage their employees in the anxiety for results, thereby robbing them of the elbow room and the opportunity to learn.
All this can be very exhausting and does nothing toward gaining the respect of your team. Get into the habit of taking a step back and allowing your team to grow and perform at their best, asking them questions or opinions rather that constantly instructing them.

Yvonne Bleakley is the manager's mentor, director of http://www.coachuk.ltd.uk and creator of The Silent Motivator System, the proven step-by-step programme to maximise staff and gain true respect and commitment.

Download your free e-book "How to Maximise your Staff and Gain Respect" at http://www.silentmotivator.com

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