What Makes a Good Manager?

July 6 2021 - The manager within any business is like glue holding everything and everyone together. It’s certainly not a role that everyone can carry out successfully, and it’s not a role that everyone will want to carry out. You need to be able to ensure that everyone is working together and that everyone is happy. You need to know exactly what to do for the best at any given time. There is a lot of responsibility connected with being a manager, but if it’s something you enjoy and want to do, then it can be an extremely rewarding career.

Yet being a manager is one thing; being a good manager is quite another, and the difference could be the difference between success and failure of the business. With that in mind, here are some of the ways you can be a good manager and take your business to the next level.

Know Your People

When a manager really knows the team they have working for them, they will know everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, and they will know what they are passionate about, such as being involved in local politics and sending out election campaign text messages to potential voters (technology which could even be utilized within the business - this is why it’s always useful to know where passions and skills lie), they will even know their own preferred working habits and style.

Understanding all of this information isn’t just something that might come in useful; it’s always going to be helpful. When you have this data on hand, you can ensure that everyone is doing the job that suits them best and working in the way that makes them most productive. You can arrange your team so that each employee is working with the skills they have.

If you can balance out one person’s weakness with another person’s strength, you will have a fully rounded team that can work in harmony and produce fantastic results. Understanding how all of these concepts go together in the best way is one of the things that makes a good manager.

Commit to Communicating

Something else that all good managers have in common is the ability to communicate in a clear, concise way. Being a manager isn’t just about talking to people in presentations; it’s about engaging with people through discussions. When you do this, you can show the expectations you have for the team and for each individual member of that team and explain exactly what their work entails and why it is important.

For an employee to work well, they need to have well-defined goals in front of them. Having this information means they understand what they are working toward and why. This makes a huge difference in their motivation and their happiness at work. It is the manager’s job to pass on that information and keep everyone on track.

Focus on Performance Development

The most engaged employees are the ones who have the most professional development opportunities. That could be training, the chance to undertake additional learning online, secondments, or even those who are able to spend time on a second career with their manager’s blessing.

A good manager will allow for as much professional (and potentially personal) development as possible. It will not only enhance the employee’s wellbeing and happiness, but it could be a benefit to the business as well.

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