Want to become a better manager? – Here are our top tips – Part Two

Managers are sometimes the unsung heroes of the business world, valiantly translating strategy and direction into clarity and actions for teams to deliver. They are sandwiched between the senior leaders and the workforce, tasked with balancing the needs of both and delivering efficiencies and improvement along the way.

Getting your team focused on the right things and delivering them in the right way is a critical step in helping your team and your business to be more effective. Here are a few tips to help you:

1. Effective division of work

   Given changes that may have occurred in the market, the company’s objectives or in your team, is the way the work is divided up in your team still the best way? Priorities may have changed, people in the team may have gained experience and skills and be able to take on more, new projects may have come up or be on the horizon. So looking at whether the current configuration of the team and workload is still effective, and making adjustments, can be a useful exercise that delivers real benefits inefficiency.

2. The ‘aggregation of marginal gains’

   This concept grew out of ‘Kaizen’ the Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement. It’s not easy to find one big change in a business that will transform performance, no matter how good the leadership. However, Managers are near enough to their teams and the coal face to be able to see small but useful improvements that could be made. Individually, these may not make a huge difference, but their collective impact can be impressive. Taking time to think about why problems occur – not just applying quick fixes, and listening to ideas from those who do a task day in day out about how it could work better are just two ways you can identify improvements.

3. Setting the example

   If your meetings don’t start on time, if your timescales slip, or if 1-to-1s scheduled with your team move, subconsciously you’re giving the message that deadlines or targets are flexible. It’s difficult to legitimately manage others’ performance if you don’t deliver yourself. As a Manager people will look to you to learn how things should be done, so make sure they are learning the right things.

Our team at BHP Consulting all run successful businesses, and we understand that businesses are unique, and our approach involves sharing this experience to improve your business. For an initial telephone conversation or face-to-face meeting, click here.