Thoughts For A Young Manager
This week I do something a little different. I put down some thoughts I have on being a relatively new manager and the lessons I have learnt. Some of these were harder to come by than others. But they might be some tips for. those out there. These apply to life and dealing with people as much as they do management in the work world.
Focus on Outcomes, Not Methods
Getting people to do things all exactly the same way. What a folly. People have radically different experience, methods and skills. Worse still, you could get someone to do things the way you determine is 1) best 2) most efficient 3) clearest. This is an easy trap to fall into. Folks have many ways to get to the same result. As long as you focus on the equitable part of work being the outcome, you will have much more success than trying to squeeze folks into moulds that simply do not fit them.
Do Your Role, Not Someone Else’s
It is easy to do some things for someone else, then convince them why/how to do it. Right? Wrong. Don’t do it for them. It is a way to cement you will always be doing it for them. Worse still, you won’t be doing what you should be doing. The first thing that comes to mind is the Critical Alignment Model, that tells us we should be doing work “above the line”. As a manager you should be developing processes and supporting folks to do their job done easier, and any time you aren’t doing that, is not helping them - our yourself, long term.
Be Clear when Delegating
The clearer you can be when delegating tasks, the better. Ask open ended questions when determining if folks understand your task delegation. It will be better if you ask them to repeat it back, and to see what they have trouble with, instead of “did you get that?” - where they inevitably say “ahh yeah” - when they don't.
Be Direct, Authentic, and Never Lie
Don’t let your message be lost. Let people know what you mean in the clearest terms you can. If you have the best intentions of the folks in front of you, you will come out ok. Lying, to protect people will not lead to success either. It will beget further lies, and if people find out you are lying, even for the right reasons, you will lose their trust. Being your authentic self can be the best option also. Being a manager is tough, you are balancing the business, the workers and the product. So being you and explaining how you came to decisions is your best bet.
Policy and Data Support Strong Hunches
If I have a hunch, I always look to policies and data to back them up. To help bring people along with why they should listen to your decisions, it is always best practice to back them up with policies and data. If policies are there, stick to them. If data presents an image that context backs up, then go with it. Don’t work around these for the purpose of ego or your hunch.
Listen
People always provide context and bring forward ideas that help your vision. They also help give hints on how to communicate with them. It is a good social thing to do. Just do it, always. Take the nuggets of gold from what they say, to make your decisions better.
People Need to Learn Their Own lessons
There has been countless times I have tried to teach people lessons about best practice and mistakes I have learnt in the past. Generally, I find that people need to learn thing themselves to really make concepts stick. A better thing to do is to have a plan to mitigate damages soon those mistakes and to let them down softly.
Make Equitable and Equal Decisions
Sometimes you must make decisions that mean everyone gets the same equal measures. Sometimes you must practice equity to make sure everyone can be given what they need to succeed. Remember this.
Don’t Break the Chain
The chain of the tiered support model is something that I have discovered that changed the way I think about management. Each level of worker in the management chain, has a view that means they are the master of the realm they look after. They make decisions and have perspectives based on what they see looking up and down the chain. Each of these folks have a perspective that means they have understanding of their level the most, and a little less each way they go up or down the chain. Hence, the decisions they make will have the focus of that domain of excellence. Sometimes they might not understand the decisions that you make, being for an equal large group of staff. Understand how your actions or decisions may set a precedent that impacts your colleague. When people go above and beyond you or others in the chain they inadvertently break the chain. When they get upset for making decisions that don’t immediately impact their domain, the chain is broken. Breaking the chain means that the environment of your work, all falls apart.
