Highest Five

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May 15, 2009

Supervisors and managers are becoming increasingly aware of the strong correlation between productivity and employee morale. Studies continue to show that employees achieve their highest performance levels when morale is up, the problem is, few of those in managerial positions have adequate experience or training in leadership and interpersonal skills, which are essential to successful employee management.

The best managers are those who are passionate about what they do and inspire their employees. Good management is the foundation to a successful business, without it the whole structure falls apart.

The Qualities Of A Good Manager

Being a good manager is having the ability to build and manage a strong work team that is efficient, productive and shows high levels of job satisfaction. Just like an online CRM helps you manage and support your customer relationships, you need to be able to support the internal relationships with your employees too.

A manager’s job is no easy task, and it certainly helps when long term projects are being managed with the help of ETO software. It also means having to be an effective intermediary between supervisors and employees, communicating messages to and from the two parties in a clear and concise manner. It means having to be in ten different places at one time, all the while ensuring that the ship sails smoothly. It also means leading by example, coaching your employees on how to perform as well as transferring your skills onto them so they can be self-sufficient.

A good manager must be able to create and maintain a structured work environment that promotes and enables open communication, the influx of new ideas; where responsibilities and goals are clear, achievable and assigned to the best person for the job.

Being an effective manager isn’t necessarily about being liked. Not to say that your employees should hate you, but what a good manager should really be striving for is gaining their employees’ respect. That means knowing how to hire carefully, as well as being able to fire when need be.

Improving Your Employee Management Skills

Improve your social skills

To be a good manager, you need to be a good communicator and like interacting with people. Offer your employees positive feedback when they do something well and constructive advice when work is not up to par. Be attentive and listen to what your employees have to say. Also, never take for granted how much a smile can brighten up an atmosphere. Being approachable and friendly with your employees can go a long way and will help to promote a cheerful work environment.

Set clear goals

Make sure your employees know what is expected and from whom it is expected. You, your boss, another employee… The more information you give your employee regarding the task at hand the better equipped they will be to execute it.

Know how to delegate

It is incredibly frustrating when a manager is unclear or indecisive. Take the time to ensure that the decisions you take have been carefully considered and that they are assigned to the right person for the job.

Keep micromanaging at a minimum

Frequent check-ins with your employees are important but if you are continuously breathing down your employees’ necks you will create a tense and stressful atmosphere that will significantly thwart productivity. The more trust you put in to your employees, the more ardently they will work to keep it.


1 Comment

  • Posted by McJerzy at 4:43pm on 21:05:09

    i just got promoted to manager at the restaurant i work at. i will def. keep these techniques in mind.

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