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1. Don't ever be afraid to fire someone. People who
constantly call-in sick, show up late for work, are not productive, or
show poor attitudes and are not punished for these actions will only
decrease the morale within the workplace. Remember to write
reprimands for these individuals to show a record of poor work habits so
that they will not be able to collect unemployment insurance.
Managers should never let these types of chronically poor workers stay
employed at their workplace. It only causes the good workers to
questions your decision-making ability. 2.
Take the time to update your skills by taking
classes at your local university or community college. Changes in
technology and management styles make it a necessity to keep in touch with
new and emerging ways of doing business. Subscribing to magazines or
professional journals is another way of staying current with your
industry. Managers who fail to keep their skills up-to-date may find
themselves in danger of losing their jobs or have difficulty in finding a
new job to those with knowledge of the most current trends, theories, and
technology. 3.
When deciding to hold a staff or committee meeting,
make sure it has a real purpose. Write a clear outline of what will
be spoken about at the meeting and what its intentions are before you
decide to chair one. Too many managers have meetings just to have
one or they have them without a real purpose. This is a waste of
time and staff members end up leaving the meeting mumbling words about how
incompetent the manager is. Meetings shouldn't happen just because
it's Friday. Meetings should only occur for a real reason -- solving
a problem, announcing changes in organizational procedures, or to explore
new sales ideas. Don't waste everyone's time with useless meetings.
Make sure they mean something. 4.
Keep an open-door policy with your employees.
Make them feel that they can talk openly with you about problems, ideas,
or any questions they may have. The last thing you want to do is
make your employees feel fearful of talking to you. Many of them
have questions and new ideas that they never discuss because so many
managers either don't want to be bothered or take the time to do so.
But it is worthwhile to listen to them. They have great ideas and
many of their questions may provide insight into the types of training
that might be required in your organization. Listening also builds
trust and respect. Listening is an important skill that we all need
to work on. 5.
Cross-training your employees is imperative in
today's work environment. This is especially important in small
organizations or businesses. Absenteeism, employee turnover, and
long-term sickness can create various problems in your organization if you
do not have a staff that can do various jobs if needed. Make sure
that you implement an organized training program that emphasizes
cross-training. This also enables flexibility in scheduling and
keeps employees from getting bored of their own usual tasks.
6.
One of the most oft-looked aspects of management
occurs during the hiring process. Be sure to verify references of
possible new-hires. While some organizations have very strict
guidelines for hiring including verifying references, background and
credit checks, and even fingerprinting, too many small organizations fail
to do any follow through during the process. This can be a
cost-effective and successful process in screening potential employees.
While there are many legal implications involved in this process, it is
still an important one that can help in determining if the applicant is
worthy of further consideration. Verifying references can save you
time and money in the long run by ruling out applicants that do not have
the skills they claim to have, possess poor work ethics, or have been let
go by other employers for absenteeism or theft. Take the time to
verify references and you will feel better about your decisions later.
7.
Learn to relax so that your work life does
not interfere with your personal life and family. Though this is
easier said then done it is something that you have to learn to do to have
healthy relationships with your family, friends, and co-workers.
Being a workaholic is not healthy for anyone. Stress is one of the
largest reasons for poor health in individuals in the United States.
Relaxing might include forcing yourself to leave the office after ten
hours each day instead of twelve or it might mean joining a gym to
workout. Work has become such a pressure-filled part of our lives
that we must separate ourselves from it to keep it from becoming that
which destroys us or before we begin to hate it.
8. A manager does things right. A leader does the
right thing.
9.
When dealing with your employees remember that they
all have individual needs and value systems. What may motivate one
employee may not motivate another because of these different value
systems. For example, while monetary incentives or rewards may
motivate many employees, others would rather have personal praise from
their manager or be able to leave work early on a Friday in July in order
to go on a long weekend vacation. Also, while many employees desire
to be promoted and become managers some day in their work career, others
are completely happy doing what they are doing without any desire to climb
the corporate ladder. These individuals still need recognition for
their work and need motivation but the idea of a promotion or managerial
title is not necessarily the means of doing so. So in order to
handle these individual needs and wants it is the job of you as a manager
to get to know these individuals so that you are aware of what motivates
them and use this knowledge to do so. Sometimes it is a long process
but it is well worth the time when you can use the proper motivational
tools to increase productivity. |
