5 Ways to Be the Best Manager

You did it. You’ve been promoted and are no longer an individual contributor. You have a team you’re managing and you’re the one responsible for their productivity and development. It’s an exciting challenge. Congrats!

Here comes the hard part. Being that great manager. We expect you have gotten the advice to read those long, tedious management books. Good luck with that! If you don’t have time to read 300 pages about “The ONE Thing You Need to Know…”, we’re offering these five simple ways you can start being the best leader for your team.

Cut the Routine

Avoid assigning mundane tasks when possible. Focus on challenging your team with bigger picture priorities that engage them creatively. If something is being done simply out of ritual, cancel it. For example, if your team members are submitting weekly project update reports that aren’t being read or don’t contain valuable insight, then time is being wasted that could instead be used on taking action on deliverables.

Improve Time Management

Your effectiveness as a manager is very closely tied to how well you manage you and your team’s time. Think about how tasks that take a lot of time to complete can be sped up or eliminated altogether. Weekly 1:1 meetings are time-consuming, for example. Consider how those can be streamlined to facilitate a smoother updating process.

Make 1:1 Meetings Actionable

Speaking of which…. Sync meetings are typically a dreadful affair that everyone involved suffers at the hands of. The worst part is that too often nothing comes out of them aside from running down a checklist of projects to “ensure everything is going OK.” Review each item on your team’s to-do list ahead of time and determine what everyone, including you, can do to move things along.

And, don’t forget, 1:1 meetings are meant to benefit both you and your team equally. They aren’t just for downloading updates and getting direction. How can you motivate and inspire them during these sessions?

Be a Leader. Not Just a Manager.

Your team is looking to you not only for direction, but, for motivation. And, they both need to happen together. Stay out of the minutiae, give your team space to perform and guide them to success. Managers simply supervise what others are doing. Leaders inspire their teams and generate innovative results. There are plenty of the former. Be the latter.

Automate As Much As Possible.

Invest in tools that liberate you and your team from manual tasks. Find a well-rounded, simple software tool that removes the labor of keeping track of your team’s progress, and facilitates better, more proactive communication.

Now, don’t you feel more prepared to be the best manager out there? Good luck!