What kind of manager are you? Do you have an open-door policy? Are you a micro-manager, or a strict authoritarian? Most importantly, is your style working for you? If your team isn’t as productive as you’d like, here are six management strategies that can boost your leadership ability and the performance of your team.
- Be a Motivator, Not a Dominator. You may think that in order to lead effectively, you have to exert total control over your employees. But if you’re overbearing and dominating, you won’t earn your employees’ trust—or their best work. Instead, focus on ways to motivate your team, like incentivizing their work, recognizing them for a job well done and making each member feel like they have the power to accomplish their responsibilities and goals.
- Listen. Instead of being a remote authority figure or a one-way communicator, offer your employees multiple chances to share their problems, concerns and questions. Help them find solutions, and you don’t need to be their best friend, but if you know what’s going on in their personal lives, that knowledge may help you build up their trust when helping them solve work issues.
- Express Your Expectations. To be a successful manager, you need to learn how to hold people accountable. Be sure to share your expectations for your team and the consequences for not living up to them. Be clear but reasonable in setting up both.
- Act Like a Human Being. Yes, you need to be impartial and objective, but that doesn’t mean you have to act like a robot. Be yourself—your professional self—and let your personality show. Your employees will find you more relatable and trustworthy.
- Turn Failure and Mistakes Into Learning Opportunities. Instead of penalizing your employees for making mistakes or failing to meet an objective, encourage them to figure out what went wrong and how they can do better next time. When you take a “lessons learned” approach, your team will feel more comfortable and confident working under you—and learning from you.
- Recognize and Respect Your Employees. The best way to motivate your employees is to show them that they matter. Recognize their accomplishments and remember that each of them brings a necessary talent, skill or contribution to the table.
What’s the best management technique you’ve ever learned? Share it in the comments below!