As statistics show, the state of management in corporate America is bleak.
More than half of managers are disengaged from their job, possibly because 58% of them never received management training. This leads to many problems in the workplace, including low morale, high turnover, increased legal problems, and wasted resources.
In short, a bad manager can negatively impact your business in a major way.
Fortunately, becoming an effective manager is possible with the right training and tools. With the right motivation, you can turn a manager who is prone to bad decisions into a valuable member of your team.
If you are a manager or want to improve your executive team, here are the common mistakes in management to avoid.
1. Hiring the Wrong People
As a manager, it’s important to hire the right people for the positions you are filling. While you may like or connect with a certain applicant, if they don’t have the qualifications or skills for the job, hiring them will create more problems.
Not only is hiring the wrong person costly, but it also disrupts the workplace, results in low employee morale, and slows production. Make sure you are hiring the right person to avoid these problems.
2. Not Providing Feedback
Part of a manager’s job is to provide feedback to their employees. Feedback is valuable, it helps your employees improve and results in better productivity overall.
Unfortunately, many managers do not provide feedback, or the feedback they provide is not actionable or constructive. This causes employees to feel unsupported and unsure of their performance.
You should be providing construction feedback regularly. Focus on what the employee has done well, along with what the areas they need to improve.
3. Making Friends With Your Employees
Many managers make the mistake of becoming friends with their employees. This is a mistake because it can cause you to be biased with how you treat your employees, and how you distribute assignments for employees.
Building friendships can also cause resentment within your team, both toward you and the employees you are friends with. While being friendly is fine, make sure you keep a professional distance to avoid problems within your team.
4. Being Reactive Instead of Proactive
A common mistake many managers make is being reactive instead of proactive. This includes failing to plan for the future or anticipate problems that can happen in the workplace. Being reactive leads to making poor decisions when problems arise, which usually makes the situation worse for everyone involved.
Instead of failing to plan, you can create a connected workplace to not only handle problems better but to also avoid many common problems in the workplace. If you are interested in creating a connected workplace, you can read more here.
5. Not Setting Clear Goals or Expectations
Have you have ever been lost without any tools to help you find your way? This is how the average employee feels when their manager doesn’t set clear goals and expectations. This is a common problem, especially when managing remote teams.
As a manager, making sure your employees succeed is your responsibility. Your employees need to know what’s expected of them and they need milestones, or goals, to help them along the way. Otherwise, they are are going to feel overwhelmed and their productivity will suffer.
Meet with your employees and create goals and a plan for success. Give your employees all the support they need to reach their goals.
6. Taking Yourself Too Seriously
Being a manager comes with a lot of serious duties and responsibilities. To be good at your job, you have to be focused and serious, however, many managers take themselves and their jobs too seriously.
Not only do they take things too seriously, but they also expect their employees to do the same. This is a mistake because even the most dedicated employee has a life outside of work. Expecting them to make the job their top priority is not only unreasonable, but it also will lead to your employees disengaging and eventually, quitting.
Find a balance between being focused and committed and creating a positive and healthy environment at work.
7. Micromanaging
Micromanaging is one of the most common problems with managers in corporate America. Many managers feel as if they need to control and monitor every aspect of their employee’s work. They do so by hovering, checking in constantly, having too many meetings, requiring several progress reports before deadlines for assignments, and more.
Micromanaging your employees results in a host of problems, including loss of control, loss of trust, lack of creativity and innovation, and significantly decreased productivity. When you micromanage, your employees feel smothered, as if they are losing their autonomy, and as if they are not a valued member of the team.
Ultimately, micromanaging leads to high employee turnover and all of the costs associated with having to consistently staff your company. You can avoid micromanaging by hiring the right employee, trusting your instincts and their abilities, and reasonably monitoring their progress.
8. Not Delegating
Trying to do everything by yourself is noble but it’s also a waste of time and resources. It’s also a mistake many managers make.
As a manager, delegating is part of your job. You have to trust that your employees can handle tasks on their own and contribute to the team. While it might be hard to let go of the control, you have to learn to delegate so your time is free to manage and work on the business instead of working in the business.
These Are the Mistakes in Management to Avoid
By avoiding these common mistakes in management, you can have a more productive team overall.
Start by hiring the right people for the job. Avoid micromanaging, not providing feedback, or letting your ego get in the way of your decision-making. Set clear goals and expectations for your team, be proactive, and take feedback as constructive criticism. Ultimately, know that you are a manager, not a friend, and your employees work best when they feel valued and heard.
Follow these tips to improve your management skills.
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