What the World’s Experts Say: 9 Specific Activities You Should Do to Become an Amazing Manager!

Yes, there are 3 such lists. We just aren’t aware of them.

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What if I told you the world’s experts — experts who have rigorously researched what makes a great manager and leads to highly engaged teams — have come out with a list of 9 specific activities you should do to become an amazing manager?

Wouldn’t you gain a surety, a relief that there is a finite list!

A small list of activities you need to do, and you are done — You are an Amazing Manager!

I don’t know about you, but I would certainly give a sigh of relief.

No more reading tens of articles like — 7 Signs of a Great Manager | 8 Things Smart Managers Don’t Do | 9 Qualities of an Exceptional Manager | etc.

These articles, while well written, nevertheless come from an individual’s perspective.

Then, there are articles with advice from industry leaders like Bill Gates or Elon Musk. While insightful, they are in the form of life guidance and so lack the specifics we need for everyday work.

What we need is an all-encompassing, well-researched, and yet actionable advice.

Luckily, there are such lists of what all an amazing manager should do.

In this article, I share 3 such reputed lists and my recommendation at the end.

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The Contenders

1. Gallup Q12® Statements

Gallup Inc., an American analytics and advisory company, started the trend of measuring employee engagement in the late 1990s.

After analyzing nearly 1 million employee and manager interviews, Gallup has come up with 12 statements that it says best predicts employee engagement.

Gallup first stated these statements in its book — First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently (1999), authored by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman.

They are :

1. I know what is expected of me at work.
2. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
3. At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
4. In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
5. My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
6. There is someone at work who encourages my development.
7. At work, my opinions seem to count.
8. The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.
9. My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
10. I have a best friend at work.
11. In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
12. This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.
13. At work, I am treated with respect.
14. My organization cares about my overall wellbeing.
15. I have received meaningful feedback in the last week.
16. My organization always delivers on the promise we make to customers.

Gallup calls it the Employee Engagement Survey.

Initially, it was just 12 statements.

But, because of the sudden and widespread adoption of hybrid and remote work in recent years, Gallup has added the last four items (13–16) to the original 12, creating the Q12+ as above.

My View

The questions are comprehensive — they seek to know the entire ecosystem around the employee.

Admittedly, the questions require answers from an employee perspective, on a 1 (Strongly Disagree) — 5 (Strongly Agree) scale.

But indirectly, it also shows what a Great Manager is supposed to ensure!

If you exclude statements 8,10, and 16, the rest are things that a manager has direct control over.

As such, you (as a Manager) can significantly affect what an employee experiences at work, and in the process, become an Amazing Manager for the employee!

2. 8 Statements in the book, Nine Lies About Work

Marcus Buckingham, co-author of ‘First, Break All The Rules… after leaving Gallup, continues his research.

He is now with ADP Research Institute, where he heads people and performance research.

In his book, Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World (2019), co-authored with Ashley Goodall, Cisco’s Head of Leadership and Team Intelligence, Buckingham shares his updated understanding of measuring employee engagement.

Importantly, he has now come up with 8 statements — named ‘Engagement Pulse’ — that he says best predict an engaged team. They are:

Purpose
1. I am really enthusiastic about the mission of my company.
2. At work, I clearly understand what is expected of me.

Excellence
3. In my team, I am surrounded by people who share my values.
4. I have a chance to use my strengths every day at work.

Support
5. My teammates have my back.
6. I know I will be recognized for excellent work.

Future
7. I have great confidence in my company’s future.
8. In my work, I am always challenged to grow

Buckingham gives a good background on the 8 statements in the book.

For example, he refers to the odd-numbered statements (1, 3, 5, 7) as ‘Best of We’ questions, and the even-numbered statements (2, 4, 6, 8) as ‘Best of Me’ questions.

The authors state that the team in which an employee works is more important than the company. So the questions are structured around that - they measure individual and team experience.

Summing up, the authors write, “What we see in the eight questions is a simple way of measuring experience-at-work, and one that you, the team leader, can do something about.”

My View

On the face of it, the 8 statements look similar to the Gallup G12+ statements.

But coming from Marcus Buckingham, it is worth viewing it independently.

And like the Gallup Q12+, the statements require answers from the employee. But indirectly, it also shows what a Great Manager is supposed to ensure!

The Winner

3. Google’s list of 9 Activities that an Amazing Manager should do.

This is straight from Google.

It is detailed in the book, ‘Work Rules!: Insights from Inside Google That Will Transform How You Live and Lead (2015), written by Laszlo Bock, Google’s former Head of People Operations.

Bock writes that after much internal testing, survey, and assessments — the People and Innovation Lab (PiLab) at Google found teams that had great managers had significantly lower employee turnover, better team performance, and so on.

At the same time, the People Operations team at Google realized it would be too much to expect — “… any leader to be a product visionary or a financial genius or a marketing wizard as well as an inspiring manager.

But if we could reduce good management to a checklist, we wouldn’t have to invest millions of dollars in training … We could just change how they behave.”

With that in mind, and combining what Googlers mentioned about the managers they thrived under, they have come up with a 9-point checklist as to what makes an Amazing Manager.

They are:

1. My manager gives me actionable feedback that helps me improve my performance.
2. My manager does not ‘micromanage’ (i.e., get involved in details that should be handled at other levels).
3. My manager shows consideration for me as a person.
4. My manager keeps the team focused on our priority results / deliverables.
5. My manager regularly shares relevant information from his / her manager and senior leadership.
6. My manager has had a meaningful discussion with me about my career development in the past 6 months.
7. My manager communicates clear goals for our team.
8. My manager has the technical expertise (e.g., coding in Tech, accounting in Finance) required to effectively manage me.
9. I would recommend my manager to others in the company.

As per Bock, “The (above) survey itself is the checklist. If you perform every behavior on the list, you’ll become an amazing manager.”

My View

On the face of it, there is nothing earth-shattering about these 9 statements.

But that is what it is.

Employee requirements are universal.

They want — an opportunity to discuss their issues, appreciation, feedback, a chance to learn new things, guidance on priorities, freedom to do the work (no micromanaging), and rewards and career growth commensurate with the work they do.

I also like this 9-point list because it is specifically geared towards the goal — the activities that an Amazing Manager should do. That was the goal of Google in coming up with this list!

This is unlike the Gallup G12+ or the 8 Questions of Engagement Pulse, which are overarching — they seek to know the entire ecosystem around the employee — some of which are not in the hands of the immediate manager.

I am from a banking sector / non-IT background. Still, Google’s 9-point list makes sense to me.

How to Implement

This is how I would implement it.

Step 1

Get your team in a room.

Make them comfortable.

Give everyone the 9-point list on a piece of paper, with answers to be ticked as — Yes, No, Neutral.

You can start with, “I want to become a better manager for you. I am giving you a paper with some statements to understand myself better. Please express your views about me freely — as Yes, No, Neutral.

The survey is anonymous, so be rest assured. Take 10 minutes. Once you complete the same, please drop it in the box in the middle.”

Don’t explain the 9 statements further. Let them interpret as they deem fit.

Once everyone has completed the same, you can close with “Thank you. I will go through the results and strive to be a better manager. Hopefully, you will see it in my actions going forward.”

Thereafter, you can collate the above and average it for each statement.

The survey will show where you stand today on the 9 statements.

Step 2

Next, you can start working to become an Amazing Manager.

The best way to implement it would be to use the 9-point checklist as a guide in your 1-to-1 with your team members.

A 1-to-1 should have employees taking the lead.

(If you are an employee, you can read this article where I detail what to discuss in your 1 to 1 with your manager.)

But if the employee is not taking the lead - or even otherwise - you, as Manager, can use the 1-to-1 as an opportunity to get better on these 9 points.

Before and during the meeting, scan through the 9 point list to see if you are addressing them in your discussion.

I have made a small checklist to help you implement the same.

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With time, you can add more preparatory questions to the above.

As an aside, now, as manager, you have one more reason to diligently have 1 to 1 with your team member, every week. It gives you an opportunity to become an Amazing Manager!

Conclusion

We like things in black and white.

We prefer certainty.

This starts here. This ends there.

Do this, and you are done.

Management is tricky in that sense.

There is no dearth of articles and books on what managers should do / shouldn’t do.

But it also leads to the question, why can’t we decide once and for all, what all a manager should do to become an Amazing Manager!

If we have come around to agreeing on workplace standards like the — Best Place to Work / Best Companies to Work for / Best Employers for Diversity / Most Innovative Companies, etc. - why can’t we also agree on — Do this X number of things, and you will be an Amazing Manager!

Thankfully, there are 3 such lists, as detailed above.

It is just that they haven’t got the necessary publicity.

Now that you know, you can use it to guide your everyday interactions with your team.

Put some time into imbibing these, practicing these 9 points. Once it becomes a default for you, it will give great returns throughout your career.

P.S.

Admittedly, there are other things that a Manager can do or should be good at, such as, Strategic-Thinking, Execution-focused, Networking, Organization Savvy, etc.

However, from an employee and team viewpoint, the above list gives it a sense of completeness and closure.

Disclaimer
I have no personal interest in stating or recommending any of the above options or any of the books mentioned, for that matter.

Having said that, all the 3 books quoted above are a great read.

If you are in an Individual Contributor role, or a new Manager, I have created an eBook ‘How to Get a 5 (Excellent) in Year-end Appraisal’. Download your copy here.