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Management tips.

CHiLD-0F-THE-BEAT

CHiLD-0F-THE-BEAT

Bluelighter
Joined
Dec 3, 2002
Messages
13,575
Location
Bris-Vegas.
I have just been appointed a sales manager of a small company in the state I am now calling home. It's a big step up from my previous role which was an sales executive / account manager for a large corporation. This new position involves overseeing and managing three sales executives and ensuring they are reaching targets and KPI's.

I am set to start work on the 18th of August and have decided to do some background work on management styles in order to hit the ground running when I start.

Does anyone have any particular tips they can offer when it comes to people management? I appreciate my employer has hired me because they believe I have the skills and motivation to do the job well, but I would love to hone my abilities to be the best manager I can be.

Having worked with some real douche-bags I have plenty of real life experience with management staff to recognise what not to do. Is there anything you would warn me against doing? Anything that has really worked for you in your working environment?

Thanks in advance. :)
 
sleep with the young ones :D

no sorry i have no real advice this is so far out of my conceptual framework...but I can bump your thread haha :D
 
- i find the conventional wisdom of "criticise in private, praise in public" to be true.

- learn to delegate properly. learn to empower appropriately.

- communicate your expectations clearly

- provide feedback

alasdair
 
^As always, you can never argue with Alasdair.

A true open door policy is always good, not a virtual one that you claim is there.

Be consistent in the way you treat people.

Treat people the same way as you would expect to be treated yourself.

Not saying you would, but never strike up a close relationship, or sleep with an "underling", because they'll end up in charge of the office via you.

If a problem arises, get it sorted first before worrying who was at fault. Blamestorming is not the best way to problem solve.

Never swear at anyone, no matter how much they have pushed your buttons.

Always encourage creativity.

Firm but fair at all times.

I work with men who have been through the construction industries all over Britain & abroad. From shipyards, to coalmines, to power stations & I have never met a bunch of *chancing bastards in all my life. However, nothing can compare to a room with women working in it - Not for the faint of heart.

*Chancer - (British slang) An opportunist
 
My advice: is right here. NWS BTW.

My only managerial experience was very low on the ladder, so I doubt that anything that worked for me would work for you. Congrats though, and good luck!
 
^Bwahaa, Dave I like your thinking. I'd be introducing that in my first week if I could - most people who know me irl have heard about how much I love to be naked. :p

In all seriousness, thanks for the replies everyone. Much appreciated. I'm going to take a common sense approach taking my own experiences on board and try to keep praise a public affair and talks regarding performance a more private matter.
I'm scanning the interwebs for interesting and informative articles on management styles. If anyone comes across any others that might suitplease pop in and let me know. :)
 
performance incentives.

This way they have a vested interest in the bottom line.
 
The best advice I can give you is be there manager not there friend. I am a service manager for a big computer company and I replaced the old service manager because he was like that. He was every body’s friend and no one took him seriously because of that. And when he got mad and started to flex his authority every body resented him for it. Everybody was talking behind his back and just didn’t like him anymore and nothing was getting done. When I started there I really didn’t make any friends at work I adopted the mentality that I am there to do a job not make friends. That doesn’t mean that I’m not nice to my co-worker or that I don’t give them respect. But I told them is a staff meeting that I am there to do a job and they are there to listen and learn from my experiences. The second piece of advice I can give you is to never say I don’t know or I’m not sure. These words will make people question your ability’s. I don’t know if you have staff meeting but if you do always start out with what good things have happened in the past week and then go into what can be done to improve performance. And try not to single out people that are not doing that well in a staff meeting that is very destructive to the person and others. Pull them in to your office and talk to them. I hope this helps you. I have been a service manager for 4 years now and these are the things that I have learned through the management course I took and experience. Good luck my friend.
 
Identify team members strengths and how those strengths can be used can be used to complete projects/goals.

Represent work as if it has come from a team, rather than individuals.

Enforce your staff to be clear, respectful and professional towards their collegues/clients in all aspects of their communication. Clamp down on people writting who's only suitable in a social circle.

Listen to them when they are truly having a bad day, but don't let them play fool.

Be sure your department is meeting the needs of the organisation and that each of your members is contributing to that. Your staff will work for the department first, organisation second so be sure in your objectives are the right ones to protect yourself.

Avoid getting into arguments based on hearsay.

Avoid getting into buddy-buddy relationships with staff as it only complicated buisiness. People pleasers are amongst the WORST employees. Others traits are those people who constantly say YES and write things down in meetings/discussions in front without ever contributing, be on the watch out for them as they are very dangerous as they the type of people who are cery underhanded, but put on a show that tries to make them look like they are team players. If someone is constantly doing that, challenge them what it is they are saying yes to.
 
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randycaver said:
don't micromanage
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yes, that is a huge one. it's sometimes difficult to stop yourself, especially if you previously did the job of your underlings. but you must, because everyone has their own little way of doing things, and not everyone is the same as you. as long as the end result is satisfactory, that's what matters.

this has been one of my biggest problems in the past. being a nitpicking perfectionist over minor details is the worst possible use of your time, and you can easily lose your grip on the big picture.

speaking of which, if you can encapsulate your big picture in a couple of sentences, and ensure your staff are fully aware of them, it can streamline your decision-making progress amazingly well.

in my last job, mine was simply 'do what's best for US, the client'. pretty basic and obvious, but sometimes reminding myself of that basic premise made things ridiculously easy. :)
 
bravo-6 said:
The second piece of advice I can give you is to never say I don’t know or I’m not sure. These words will make people question your ability’s.
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i think this is absolutely terrible advice. i don't expect a manager to know everything - i expect them to be able to manage.

alasdair
 
Don't fall into the trap of treating your underlings like a "collective."

Every person under you has their own personality and different things will motivate them. There is no overall winning strategy. You need to learn how to get the most out of each person by understanding what really drives them. An example of this would be a story my girlfriend's Dad told me. He worked for Microsoft when they were first getting started.

One day he made some mistake and Bill Gates came up to him and insulted him and his work a bunch and he said absolutely nothing in return. After that Bill Gates never did it again and whenever he made mistakes he would praise his work instead.

Like, "Oh I see how you made a minor mistake there.. I'm sure it's nothing and the rest of your work is absolutely great! Keep up the good work! You're one of my best employees!" This caused him to feel really guilty because he knew how shitty what he had done was so it actually motivated him more than telling him how bad he was which made him harbor resentment.

Bill Gates knew how to treat his employees to motivate them the most. Some of them would be more motivated by being insulted and some would be more motivated with undue praise or whatever else. You get the idea.

Adopt a different and working strategy for each employee.
 
alasdair,
Obvious you have never been a service manager or been in charge of 10 or more people on a project.
I know of a service manager how almost lost his job because he told a customer that he didn’t know.
Cost the company a $55,000 contract. As for the people who work under you, they look up to you for leadership and a leader always knows even if he doesn’t and then works really quickly to find the answer. I would not work for a manager that did not know as much as I did. Because if I’m smarter them the manager them I should have his job. That’s who I got to be service manager.
 
bravo-6 said:
alasdair,
Obvious you have never been a service manager or been in charge of 10 or more people on a project.
I know of a service manager how almost lost his job because he told a customer that he didn’t know.
Cost the company a $55,000 contract. As for the people who work under you, they look up to you for leadership and a leader always knows even if he doesn’t and then works really quickly to find the answer. I would not work for a manager that did not know as much as I did. Because if I’m smarter them the manager them I should have his job. That’s who I got to be service manager.
Click to expand...

Sounds like both the customer and this managers boss are complete idiots. I'd much rather hear "I don't know but I'll find out" than a bunch of bullshit that ends up being wrong.
 
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