5 Ways To Become A Better Manager

When you run a business, it can be a daunting task knowing what will make your staff happy and in turn, more productive. 

Some businesses struggle to grasp how to harness the power of a successful working environment and don’t recognise the power behind a connected, motivated and interested team. Whether you’re the owner of a small business, or simply in charge of a team of staff, you should use your authority for positive changes and attitudes within your workplace.

By following these 5 great tips on becoming a better manager, you won’t struggle to find the benefits to your business in terms of development and productivity. By stimulating the growth of a good culture within your office, you’ll have a team of people eager and excited to work. After all, a job shouldn't just be for the money. Remember that your staff should be long term investments, and due to this you should aim to work around them as people and apply fluid procedures.

As an authority within a business, use this to your advantage. No one likes to have a dictator as a boss, and it’s unlikely that you would want to come across this way. By getting to know your staff personally and engaging in their personal lives as well as their work, you will gain trust and develop friendships that will strengthen their connection to the business. If your staff care about the well-being of where they work, they will want to work hard to ensure it succeeds. 

If your staff encounter problems, then don’t treat this is something that needs to be disciplined. A lot of larger companies have no choice but to have a set and rigorous policy on absences or time off as there is usually no flexibility in the way the structures are in place. If you run a smaller team or an office where you can be flexible – then do. People are only human, and any problems that are made worse by a harsh workplace can only strengthen dislikes for the job. Be supportive and offer help to staff when it is necessary. If someone needs time off at short notice for family issues or something similar then be understanding to this. This will mean your staff will come back appreciative of what you have done, and wanting to do more in return for this.

Don’t just have 4 walls and desks. Everyone should enjoy coming to work if a business is to thrive and grow the way it should. Make it personal for everyone who works with you and use their interests and lifestyles outside of work to influence your office. Suggest that everyone brings in something to decorate the office with from home, and let people add their own touch to make them feel more at home when working; also make sure your staff have all of the office equipment they need. This will make people more likely to do what they need to do well, if not above the basic standards that you would expect. Make it a living breathing space for a team of people to come together for a common goal. The environment that you and your staff work in can make a huge difference to work done well and happy staff. Pictures, tea bags, newspapers and magazines are all little touches that can show your staff you care about how comfortable they are when they come into work in the morning.

Motivating your workers is crucial if you want your business to grow and do well. Read articles on management tips from forward thinking companies and use this to your own advantage. By showing that you reject the normal acceptance of ‘Boss above workers’ you will likely have a more honest and liked view amongst everyone. You should aim to be a beacon of help and support, not someone to be in fear of if something happens to go wrong. There are alternative ways to deal with problematic staff that instantly jumping to disciplinary conclusions – after all, everything can’t go right all of the time. Remember that point in the event something does go wrong. Regular team chats, even a ten minute talk on Monday mornings to say what everyone got up to at the weekend can make people feel as though they are valued as a person and you take an active interest in their personal lives.

Show your staff that they are appreciated by regularly explaining where everything is going. If staff feel they are stuck in the same 9-5 cycle with no real prospects, this can lead them to tire of working hard for the same results, and inevitably wanting to go elsewhere once the monotonous drone of everyday working has taken its toll.

Keep peoples workload varied if possible, to keep the day interesting. Allow staff the opportunity to work their way into better positions through hard work and effort and you’ll no doubt see fired up and passionate staff. The idea is to get people satisfied with their work first and foremost, with the prospects that they could achieve coming as an added bonus. Everyone should want to work for you and enjoy doing it – otherwise they are simply in the wrong place.

Offering out incentives has always been a sure fire way to get things achieved on time and delivered to the best of peoples abilities. Unfortunately, this management tactic is sadly often used to simply ‘bribe’ staff into working harder in something they don’t like – all for the sake of a reward. This is the completely wrong way to go about things, and staff will be left disappointed if they are left unrewarded because someone who seemingly put the same amount of effort in gets something in return and another does not.

If you wanted to offer out monetary incentives, make it a group task with the monies shared equally. Never make your staff vie against each other as this can cause a good amount of tension between staff members which can cause productivity to crash and burn once arguments and feuds have been fired up. When people feel stressed in their workplace in order to try and gain a bonus and don’t fulfil this – staff can be left demotivated and feeling unappreciated.

Instead of this sort of offer, make incentives a little different. Taking teams out for dinner once in a while, fun days out or simply giving a decent bonus at Christmas can make the difference between staff feeling unwanted and appreciated. The small things will be noticed more, and as they won’t cause any competition, you will have no worries of any animosity being fuelled due to manic workers.

Unfortunately, as with any workplace, being a generous and supportive boss can come with its downsides, which is sadly why many companies don’t like to adopt a laxer culture within a workplace. There will occasionally be potential members of staff who take liberties and push the boundaries between what is acceptable and what isn’t. If you allow staff the perk of being able to come in by 9.30am instead of 9am in case of a problem, then this could pave the way for someone to consistently do this and time will add up.  

Cut the balance between generous and firm. If you have the right staff, they won’t attempt to take their privileges too far and test your patience. If you find that someone is doing this, have a meeting with them to discuss your issues, they may have some of their own that you can help them with, or in some cases they may simply not be right for the job. About the Author: Shelly Flaherty is a blogger and mom of two, she likes helping businesses grow and develop. Office equipment can be a big help in a smooth running work place and she recommends checking you have everything your staff need.