To have a successful career in any business you must know how to build relationships as part of leadership and management training> Effective leadership and management training are an essential part of building a business.
And the most important relationship is between the manager and their direct reports. The strength of this relationship can have a direct result on the success of a team. Yes the relationship between the manager and their staff must be ‘open and ‘trustworthy, that's a given – but what else should you expect from your staff as their manager?
During my 20 years plus management and consulting career and leadership and management training, I've observed and experienced that certain behaviors, on the part of both the staff and the manager, are conducive to productive and rewarding relationships.
Here are a few tips on how to increase productivity in your business:
Get involved
Successful managers know how to delegate. But even more important, they know when a situation calls for their immediate involvement, whether it's in redirecting resources to a major crisis or visiting their staff at a remote site. If you see a problem rising, there is no excuse for not taking responsibility. Great leaders take the blame for things that go wrong and give credit for positive developments to their employees. That is part of being a manager – take the blame but praise the staff/team when things work out well.
We teach as part of our leadership and management raining that it is the manager's judgment call to know when your involvement is necessary and will have the most impact on the business. I have found that effective managers generally get involved when one of these three types of circumstances arise: when somebody is falling behind in their commitments; when important personnel matters arise and in a crisis.
Generate ideas
A person who is innovative and creative is rare. As part of our leadership and management training to encourage individuals to come up with ideas. Listen to what they suggest and say. Decide together which ideas are taken forward and implemented.
Be willing to collaborate and share
The number of people I come across who resist collaboration or sharing credit amazes me. Individuals think by keeping ‘things to themselves' they will become infallible or irreplaceable. As part of my leadership and management training I teach that the team, department, company can achieve improved results if individuals share their good ideas, practice, ways of working. Encourage regular team talks rather than meetings and implement processes which force senior members to share their knowledge continually. At some of my clients one hour is put aside on a weekly basis where staff members share success stories and exactly how they were achieved.
Be willing to lead initiatives
I love change and as a consultant and coach, I am always impressed when someone volunteers to lead new initiatives. It shows courage, confidence and flexibility. New initiatives often means new skills, new relationships and new environments, for the individual who volunteers. Most individuals won't put their hand up to volunteer because of the unknown. All I can say, is that those that do, it will be their careers they will accelerate and their profile will increase tremendously.
Develop your staff as you develop
You need to manage your own development. However, even more important is the development of your staff. Early in my career, I worked for a great manager. He told me one day, he was going to do everything he could to help me reach my potential. From that moment on, he was more interested in my development than in his own. He went out of his way to criticize or praise me when I needed it. I'll never forget him; he played a very meaningful role in my career. It was of course not surprising that our division was continually the best performing division in the company because he did the same with all his staff! I teach this in my leadership and management training.
Drive your own development
Keep your own skills up-to-date. Your business may not offer all the development you need. You may have to do your own research. In my career I have read many management/leadership/business books (some bad, some good, some excellent) and have done my best to action most of the lessons in my leadership and management training. I have also had many mentors and role models to whom I turn in times of uncertainty. Ask your boss and peers for feedback. Get yourself a mentor (inside or outside the company). Accept and volunteer for new types of work – learn from the new skills, relationships and environments. Book yourself on at least one or two seminars a year which you pay for yourself.
Remember your own development is your responsibility.
A last word…..
25% of all staff don't know what their boss expects of them. As a manager, make sure 100% of your staff know what you expect of them on a regular basis. If they do, you will see an improvement in your team's service.
If you would like your team to increase their effectiveness then contact us for our leadership and management training. We are world leaders in enhanced management effectiveness from leadership and management training and we have done this for most of the corporates in South Africa.
