Making of a managerThursday, August 28, 2014
A Chinese philosopher had once said, “A good manager is best when people barely know that he exists. Not so good when people obey and acclaim him. Worse when they despise him.” All to prove that being a manager is a mighty tough job.
Plainly put, a manager is the person who manages. Referred to as ‘the boss’, a manager holds the responsibility of working towards the attainment of organization goals. This is achieved through management of people, resources, projects and programs. (Also read: Team Management.)
The manager steers the team to work hard and increase productivity, while ensuring that each member of the team is happy about it. So if promotion is on the anvil for you, read on to understand how you should tread your path to become a worthy manager. (Read: Is promotion on the anvil?)
- Know your people well: For you to work with certain people, it is important that you understand every individual. An understanding of their capability and behavior will help you make certain decisions like objective setting, work delegation etc. (Read: Effective managers.)
- Equip your team: Pulling up your team to ensure quality work is a must, but at the same time it is very important for you to make sure that your team is growing too. Understand training needs for each member of your team and arrange for suitable training. Also, make sure you counsel them enough to make them understand the need for the same and also discuss any other problems that they may have.
- Practice what you preach: It is easy to lecture on things like discipline, performance, behavior etc., and anyone can do it. But the difficult part is to display exemplary behavior and motivate others to follow. Try and inculcate all the professional traits so that your team can follow.
- Listen to the minds: It is very important for all in the team to feel that they are not passive workers but important contributors to the success of the organization. So while planning for a project or task, let everyone share their ideas or plans. Listen to what everyone has to say and then obviously decide on the best. (Read: Getting along with your co-workers) This way the team remains involved and active and therefore, happier.
- Never fail to appreciate: A famous philosopher has once said, “Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.” If you admire someone’s work or behavior, do not forget to mention it. A few words of appreciation can motivate and inspire any individual and drive him/her to go an extra mile.
Shweta Baxi Tyagi