Management isn’t universal. In fact, for most of us out there, it can feel very unnatural at first. You understand the idea of “controlling” other people, but you quickly realise that managing and controlling couldn’t be further from each other. Management is an art form, a juggling act that requires you to constantly attend to dozens of moving parts.
Some of the best advice on management that you’d be keen to follow is simply to take things one step at a time. There’s no one perfect answer to every dilemma. If you focus on laying a solid foundation for those people you do manage, it’s going to make the problems you eventually encounter all seem a lot smaller.
Below, we’ve outlined some of our favourite tips on how to lay that great management foundation. Check them out, and feel free to add your own in the comments below!
1. Hire Great People
You’re not just filling a desk, you’re adding a new member to a community. If that person doesn’t know how to roll with the punches, they’ll inevitably bring others down with them.
2. Take Your Time Hiring
While you may need people to accomplish certain tasks, there’s no bigger mistake you could make that rushing to fill a spot on your roster. If you’re really desperate to get a job done, outsource while you find the best candidate. In the long run, you’ll be really glad you did.
3. Encourage Autonomy
You don’t want to be a babysitter all day. If you’re hiring great people, then you can expect them to do great things, given the space to experiment on their own.
Go ahead, let out the leash.
4. Foster Creativity
In that regard, you should always let your employees try to do things differently. While you can always work towards the best, uniform process, don’t shy away from letting them buck the system from time to time.
5. Put Your Customers First
In all things, your whole team should be most excited about customers. If you’re all putting them before yourselves, then the internal issues will become challenges you can solve together, rather than obstacles to personal success
6. Cast a Vision
You want your team united behind a single goal.
If you haven’t taken the time to specifically outline that, then they have no way to truly unite behind it.
7. Back Up Your Words With Results
You may have a certain way that you want to get things done, but if they’re not working, and the numbers show it, then you have to be flexible. Don’t kid yourself: everyone is paying attention to the results.
8. Put Yourself On the Front Lines
If you truly want to be a leader, then you have to be the first one willing to get into the trenches. Whether it’s showing your staff what good customer problem solving looks like, or what sacrifice truly means, you need to be first in line.
9. Be a Doer, Not a Dictator
If you’re just sitting in your throne, er, chair, and shouting commands at employees all day, respect will quickly fade. Be someone who does their job well, and they’ll want to follow suit.
10. Make Mistakes Openly
You are going to fail. You’ve probably already failed in some way today. That’s OK. It’s not about hiding it. It’s about picking up the pieces, and showing others how you learned from it, and how you’re going to move on. Give them an example of what it looks like to “fail well.”
11. Lead By Example
Every time you institute a rule, you should be the first one who’s properly walking it out. Discipline yourself, and others will strive to be disciplined as well.
12. Keep a Healthy Distance
You don’t have to be your employees best friend. In fact, as much as you may dream of always grabbing the after-work beer, you may not always be part of the gang. That’s OK. It doesn’t mean you can’t hang, and it also doesn’t give you license to never engage. Learn to find the balance.
13. Delegate
You don’t have the power to run your business on your own. You need your team, and that means knowing how to let up off the reins and let others take care of the job for you.
14. Be a Support System
When an employee is distressed, you should be the first one they want to call. Don’t let a heavy hand of punishment deter employees from coming to you for help.
15. Be Solutions Driven
They say, “Solutions, not excuses.” Don’t sit and talk about problems all day, and how they happen. Look forward, and figure out how you’re going to solve it.
16. Practice The Golden Rule
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
It’s crazy what a little respect can do for productivity.
17. Make Time To Listen
Never be too busy for your employees. Create concrete times where you can be accessible to hear them out—and be proactive about checking in.
18. Create a Management Team
Call it delegating on steroids.
You can’t run the company yourself, and you can’t manage it yourself. Hire managers you know you can trust to pick up the slack.
19. Hire Strong Leaders
It doesn’t matter what the role officially entails, you want folks at every level who can be strong leaders in their position.
20. Work on Culture
Culture won’t always come naturally, not even when you hire the perfect combination of people. Put effort into it, make work a place people really want to be.
21. Fire Early
If someone isn’t working out, don’t waste time and resources on them. Hire slow, fire fast.
22. Be Slow To Anger
That doesn’t mean that you should blow up at someone every time they make a mistake. Keep your cool, and always hear people out first.
23. Be Data Driven
While no study can be 100% reliable, data is more accessible than ever now, and an amazing gateway to real, proven results. Listen to it. Ideate, and repeat.
24. Stay Hungry For Results
Never hit your mark. You should constantly want someone new and better from your business tactics. Don’t shoe yourself into one way of doing it. You can always grow.
25. Watch the Money
They say money talks, and it can tell you a lot more than you think. Follow the money where it’s going. Listen to the market, and don’t spend foolishly. Your employees will notice.
26. Remember: Numbers Don’t Lie
At the end of the day, if your numbers aren’t where they should be, something needs to change. You can’t keep doing it the same way and expect different results. That’s just insanity.
27. Be Grateful
Everyone from the custodian to the c-suite is working hard, make sure that you thank people at every turn.
28. Be Gracious
Just like you’re going to make mistakes, so are all of your employees. Make sure that you’re being gracious with them, so that you can expect the same in return.
29. Don’t Forget Your Heart
You’re in this for a reason, and your heart is telling you something. Don’t ever lose touch with that, because if you do, then your relationships and goals will start to break down.
30. Actions Speak Louder Than Words
You can talk until you’re blue in the face about progress and change, but if you don’t actually progress or change, none of that will matter to your employees.
31. Be Firm
If you say something, stick to that idea. Go with it until it fails, and don’t allow yourself to be challenged so easily.
32. Be Flexible
People’s lives are going to get in the way. If you can’t learn to work with them, it’ll cause resentment on both sides.
33. Stay True To Your Word
Let your yes be your yes, and your no be your no. Don’t be afraid to admit when you’re wrong, but don’t go back on your word just because you’re scared.
34. Privilege Execution Over Ideas
Everyone’s got a good idea of how to run a company, but not everyone can actually execute those ideas. Let the execution do more of the talking than the “great idea.”
35. Learn Humility
You will be the point person much more than you’d like to be. Learn how to take everything in stride, remain grounded, and don’t let ego get in the way of growth.
36. Avoid Becoming The Smartest Person In the Room
Strive to learn as much as you can, but make sure that you’re always learning from the people around you.
37. Don’t Seek Approval
Sometimes you’re going to have to make tough calls, and naturally those are going to upset some people. Don’t get insecure about whether people will like you after each decision. Just be confident.
38. Don’t Mind Your Age
Your age does not qualify you for your job. You’re not too young or too old, you’re the person you need to be, so never let that be a deterrent. It will only make you come across as more insecure.
39. Stop Creating Stress
Some people like to use negative reinforcement to motivate employees, but relishing in stress will only cause dysfunction. Keep the small things small.
40. Strive For Clear Communication
In everything that you do, look back and analyse how you could have had better communication. Lock that in for next time, and strive for more clarity every time.
41. Invest in Personal Relationships
You’re not just worker bees in a hive, you need to have some sense of camaraderie in your office. Try to have a buddy or two that you can go to when things get tough.
42. Remain Reasonable
There is always a practical solution to any situation, and sometimes it’s simply admitting that you’re off base, and correcting. No matter who’s at fault, or how bad the situation might seem, strive to remain reasonable and collected.
43. Love Laughter
Laughing can cure most any tension, and seems to always bring us back down to earth when things get a little too chaotic. Never forget that, and never lose your ability to laugh in the process.
44. Lead, Don’t “Manage”
You don’t have to handle these people, you’re simply guiding the ship to be as correct on course as possible. You’ve hired (hopefully!) a capable team of individuals who know how to do their job well. Instead of looking at them as babies to be coddled, see them for their potential as future leaders.
45. Be Intimate With Your Own Weaknesses
Always find the holes in your own performance, and make sure that you check those before entering into problem solving conversations with others.
46. Encourage Transparency
If people feel that you’re being fully transparent with them, then they’ll feel safe to disclose their anxieties and shortcomings. In the end, it will create a more self-correcting group of people.
47. Make Decisions
Don’t let problems hang in limbo. Find a solution, choose it, and keep moving forward.
48. Let Expectations Evolve
Your business won’t look the same today as you exactly envisioned it five years ago—and it shouldn’t! Your vision should always be evolving, so don’t get stuck on one track.
49. Value Objectivity
Surround yourself with people who can step back from a situation and tell you the honest, clear truth. Those people will help you to think more clearly, and keep pride on the side.
50. Let Dreamers Dream
You may be a vision caster, or not, but you’re also going to have people on your team who can go further than you in their vision of the future. Let them get excited about what’s to come, and it may even inspire you.
51. Get Your Employees Invested
Help your employees to have some skin in the game: create opportunities to invest (financially or otherwise) in the business, so that they feel more connected to its success.
52. Create Actionable Goals
A battle plan is important, and it’s also important for people to feel like they’re accomplishing something, even when the ultimate goal hasn’t yet been reached.
53. Clearly Assign Roles
When someone can clearly identify their position, it not only gives them the path to accomplish their job, but it also helps them to know how to colour outside the lines.
54. Build a Bridge To Growth
Create a path for growth, and encourage your employees to pursue it. If they don’t have a tangible way to move forward, they’ll likely just stay in place.
55. Reward Hunger
Seek out those employees that really want to excel and push them harder. Reward those who want to go far, because they’ll help carry you in the process.
56. Don’t Be Afraid To Get Your Hands Dirty
Managing is hard work, and unless you’re ready to dig down into the dirt, you’re going to be very frustrated. But when you do choose to dive in, you’re going to find a team that can produce real results, and launch your business to the next level.