Staff Management Tips

Sounds like a dumb question but it is bad management to have bad managers. Bad managers are everywhere. I’m sure if you look around your office you could put at least one or two in that category. What classifies someone as a bad manger and more importantly, do you see yourself in any of the following? If you do, then maybe it’s time to do some soul searching and change your ways.

According to Jim Sirbasku, co founder of Profiles International, there are five reasons for management failure:

1. Poor interpersonal and communication skills
2. Ineffective team leaders
3. Resistance to change
4. Disappointing results
5. Inability to see beyond their functional silo

He says the most common one is poor interpersonal and communications skills. The trick is off course to identify the symptoms which are:

1. always feuding or fighting with someone in the organization

2. has a reputation for being aloof, cold,arrogant and insensitive

3. avoids direct communication

4. sends bad news via email or text message

5. exhibits a hostile attitude towards others

6. other employees either love or hate him

If you fall into any of these categories, then you need to do something fast. If you know of someone who is like this and you have to deal with them every day, then firstly you have to understand the true root cause of the conflicts that go on with that person. You also have to get an understanding of the management style of that person and you have to help that manager understand his own communication and management style as well. Sounds like a lot but letting things go can be a lot worse in the long run.

The term ‘innovation technology’ should be on the lips of every business person particularly in management. If your business doesn’t keep up with the latest trends in business and technology, you will be left behind as a company and also as an innovative manager.  Your company should always be an early adapter to new technologies that are emerging. You should always be reading that latest reports and reviews on new business technology.

A good example of a company keeping up with business technology was a company I worked for about 13 years ago. They had branches all over Australia and all the state managers  got together once a month at a state branch to discuss the progress in each state. The airfares back then were about $5-600 return. Then there was accommodation and car hire not to mention food and drink expenses. A very costly way to gather information I think. Then new business technology made it affordable for companies to get everyone together in the one room without leaving their office and still see each other on a monitor. Yes, the age of web-cams and video conferencing was upon us. The company ended up saving tens of thousands of dollars a year with this simple yet very effective business technology. The manager who came up with that idea sat very pretty on the corporate ladder for quite awhile I can tell you.

Keeping up with state of the art technology for your company will earn you points for being an innovative manager.

Let’s face it. A company is only as good as the people it has hired. An innovative manager spends the time to recruit the very best in what they do. In doing so, they find innovative people as well as lateral thinkers. There is no harm in employing people from other industries as they can bring with them new ways of thinking and a fresh prospective on your industry. Obviously, as a innovative manager, you will find ways to measure their achievements  reward them accordingly. The question remains then, does your recruitment process hire the best salespeople?

Probably one of the most important thing you need to keep in mind when coming up with new and innovative ideas is to keep the customer in mind. They are your bread and butter and all the good intentions in the world mean nothing if you have disgruntled customers. You need to keep their needs in mind first and the needs of your company second. You have to encourage your staff to understand this point and create opportunities to listen closely to clients, take ownership of any concerns or problems they might have and to identify any new products or services they might want or benefit from.

Remember, being a leader means creating change.