Want to become a better Manager? Here are our Top Tips

Is there a difference between management and leadership? This has long been a subject for debate, and depends largely on the difference between thinking and doing.

Important leadership skills centre around the ability to look ahead, to create a vision for success, anticipate market developments, to innovate, and to formulate strategies that will successfully deliver your vision.

The abilities of managers to achieve this vision are sometimes overlooked, but they’re also critical. Core management skills include being able to focus effort and resources on the ground in the most effective manner so that those plans can ultimately be delivered.

In SMEs, it’s perhaps more crucial than in larger enterprises for managers to be able to pull off an effective leader/manager combination. On the one hand, they have to provide long-term leadership and direction. On the other, they need a management approach that creates an optimal environment where the efforts and effectiveness of their teams can be maximised.

We can offer you a couple of tips to help you become more effective.

1. Clarity

Clarity is vital if you want increased efficiency, less duplication, and better cohesion of your team’s efforts. Your team needs to know what their goal is so they can work more effectively towards it. They also need to understand clearly their individual role in its delivery. Clear job roles are essential to galvanise your workforce and focus effort in the right place, as well as regular feedback. You should also provide carefully structured inductions, not only to new hires but also when people are promoted.

2. Prioritise

Stephen Covey, a successful business strategist, said in his hugely popular book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, that “the key is not to prioritise what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities”. As a leader, effectiveness is a critical factor and one which directly impacts your management style.

The best leaders are those who surround themselves with the best possible teams so that they can focus on what is more profoundly important.

This means that you shouldn’t just slavishly follow a ‘to do’ list, but instead take the time to assess what tasks are critical to the successful delivery of your core objectives and make these clear to your team.

To prioritise effectively, you should also distinguish between items that are urgent and those that are important (though some maybe both). Taking time to think will help you re-focus your energies on those tasks that will actively drive progress and get you results.

Whether you’re a leader, a manager, or both, considering these strategies and challenging yourself successfully can have a transformational effect on your business.

 

All of our consultants have successfully run businesses and our practical approach to supporting our clients enables us to share our real-world experience to positively impact on the performance of your business

 

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