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To be a manager, you must first be a team leader before being a manager. You may be asking yourself “What’s the difference?” A big difference!
A team leader is someone who helps his team to succeed. You have to be at the service of your team, and not the other way around. A leader also needs to be following the workplace culture.
How to be a better manager
Syncoria believes managers are the guardians of the culture. A few things managers should be responsible for is:
- Building for the long term
- Optimize for customize experience
- Execute faster
- Recruit, develop, and retain great people
- Innovate and be disruptive
- Keep things simple
Management is doing things right. Leadership is doing the right things.
– Peter Drucker
Onboard new employees
When first getting someone started as a new employee. It’s best to assign clear learning objectives for the next month. Define weekly targets and be clear about the vision and what you expect. Also, don’t treat trainees like trainees. Assign real responsibilities and projects. It’s better for them, and it’s better for you.
Retention
Find what motivates your employees. At Syncoria, we find that autonomy and purpose resonates with employees. Allow your team to work by themself and manage their time in a way that works for them, within reason. Don’t command and control, but trust people and let them express themselves. Let them know that they are valued and serve purpose within the company. Reward and congratulate people. Even when it’s a small task, tell them how useful they are. At the end of the day, they are the ones running your business.
Stay Focused
Good managers can tell you what to do. Great managers know how to remove tasks that burden people so that they can focus on what’s essential. Keep the team focused by sharing a clear direction.
Build for the long term
Syncoria believes good business is a marathon, not a sprint. Invest your time only if it allows your business to grow in the long term. Capitalize on everything you do!
Build a strong company
A good process means helping people to get more work done. A bad process is trying to cover recoverable mistakes. Great managers figure out how to get great outcome by setting the appropriate context. You need to provide the insight and understanding to enable the right decision.
| Context | Control (Avoid) | |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy | – | Top-down decisions |
| Objectives | – | Management approval |
| Clearly defined roles | – | Committees |
| Environment to learn | – | Planning valued more than results |
At the end of the day, it’s all common sense. But sometimes, for no real reason, people behave differently when they become managers, as they would have done in their personal life. Always remember to set appropriate goals, communicate, treat your staff fairly, and recognize good work and achievements when due. If you follow these steps then you’ll be on the right track to be a great manager. Follow our daily blog by visiting www.syncoria.com/blog for more great content!