7 Bad Management Habits to Kick ASAP
Posted February 23rd, 2016
The success or failure of your team is really dependent on only two things – your staff’s performance, and your performance. Even if you have a group of talented professionals with a lot of drive and determination, you can’t expect them to succeed if you’re not managing them correctly. That’s why managers must be self aware and self reflective, looking out for bad habits that could be holding everyone back. Here are seven that you need to kick ASAP:
Not Following Through on Promises
As the manager, it’s your responsibility to set an example. How can you expect your team to trust and respect you if you routinely fail to follow through on promises? This quickly ruins team morale and breeds a culture that lacks accountability.
Tolerating Poor Performances
You can respect your team without glossing over poor performances. When bad work is routinely tolerated it creates a disincentive for your best performers. Why go above and beyond, after all, if all performances are basically treated the same?
Not Meeting Enough
Meeting with your team face to face is essential for sharing ideas, tracking progress, and utilizing a sum that is greater than it’s parts. If you hold meeting erratically or occasionally, you miss out on a big opportunity and signal to your team that open, regular communication is not a priority.
Dismissing the Ideas of Others
If you only rely on your own ideas exclusively you’re not harassing the power of your team. You’ve hired these people because of their skills, experiences, perspective, and potential. Put that resource to good use, and let your team run with its own ideas.
Managing Over the Shoulder
The temptation to micromanage is strong, especially when you have tight deadlines or benchmarks to meet. But this heavy handed approach is always unwelcome by your employees and rarely produces better results. Make sure your team has the resources it needs then trust them to do things the right way.
Acting Like Too Much of a Boss
No one likes to feel lorded over. If in your position as manager you adopt an arrogant, domineering, demeaning, or overpowering attitude you will alienate a lot of your employees. Rather than making yourself king of the office, be a leader, facilitator, and mediator.
Failing to Delegate
As we have established, your staff is your greatest resource. Use that to your advantage and delegate responsibilities in a smart and consistent way. Assigning too much responsibility to yourself, or to the wrong team members leads inevitably to setbacks.
When you have the right staff to work with it’s easy to manage effectively and enthusiastically. Before your next hire, contact Bayside Solutions.
