Parent Post
Bad management is a
Bad management is a real and significant issue that leads to mass resignation. Yet, managers suffer something akin to the Dunning-Kruger effect. They assume they’re not the problem, their employees are.
This management overconfidence is a trap.
Here are a few steps to avoid it.
Always ask for advice.You
Always ask for advice.
You should always be asking for peer review on a people management problem before you take action, whether from your manager or your HR team.
When you have a performance review to write, talk it through with your peers or boss before delivering it. If there’s someone on your team who’s not performing well, ask for help to coach them differently. The moment you think you’ve really nailed your management skills is when you’re most vulnerable to failure.
Savor your success.Feedback loops
Savor your success.
Feedback loops are fuel for your team’s morale; they positively influence your team’s productivity and power each team member’s happiness and job satisfaction.
Celebrate your team’s successes and let the team members know they’re making an impact. It could be as simple as giving someone detailed, timely feedback on something they did really well or passing along some positive feedback you received from your boss about your team’s recent work.
Don’t blame, own.As a
Don’t blame, own.
As a manager, it’s all too easy to abdicate responsibility and blame the person on the other side of the table when they are not doing as well as you’d like. The fact is that every person you manage is different. Just because one management style worked with the previous three team members and not with the person in front of me doesn’t make it their fault.
Constantly check yourself to make sure you’re taking ownership of the relationships in your team and do everything you can to make things better. If you have any trouble identifying these, go back to step one and ask for advice from your peers.
Great managers build great
Great managers build great companies.
When you stay humble, ask for advice, own rather than blame, and give feedback with empathy, you’re on the path to being a good manager.
Success as a manager breeds complacency, and it’s easy to fall into overconfidence. Once you think you’ve really nailed your management skills, that’s when you’re most vulnerable to failure.
You need to constantly revisit what it takes to be a good manager or risk losing your best people for good.
The best next step
The best next step is not giving “constructive feedback” to someone on your team about their mistakes but requesting feedback on how you can better support them in the future.
Instead of assigning blame to others when things go wrong, try and figure out your role in the situation.
Give feedback with empathy.Giving
Give feedback with empathy.
Giving feedback is your most powerful tool for growing your people and team. It’s also one of the hardest to get right. Do it wrong, and you’ll turn your most proactive tool into something destructive.
Candid feedback could motivate a seasoned engineer looking to step up to the next level but dishearten a recent hire who’s finding it hard to settle in.
Don’t give feedback in a moment where the tone or timing isn’t right. Use your emotional intelligence and empathy. You can always save your feedback for another time and a more private or less stressful setting.
