Functions of a Manager

Functions of a successful manager: In every major organization, there is a hierarchy of management that keeps the whole work running at a smooth pace. A good manager can join his team from the background and help move the work forward in a better way by making the necessary small changes in the actions or methods. Being a good manager means leading by being an instance. Being a manager is one of the most difficult things – on one hand, you have to manage the expectations of other people but it also gets the least acceptance. Despite this, many business tricks will help you manage all your responsibilities with passion and style.

Method 1: Motivating your employees

1. Motivate People: Why Do You Have Employees Here? What is it that keeps them in your organization and doesn’t allow them to go anywhere else? What makes good days good? What keeps them in your organization after a bad day or a bad week, the reason is money. Don’t think that most people are much more complicated than this.

• Remember, our values are what keep us “motivated”. If you respect and manage your team’s values, they will show you their best performance.
• Regularly ask your employees how they feel about their jobs. Encourage them to be honest with you. Then take action according to what they have told you.
• Offer perks that your employees appreciate. If health is important to them, give them time to go to the gym, do aerobics, and work out. If their family is important, respect the time it takes for their kids to drop off from school in the morning and back in the afternoon.

2. Make People Feel Good: A successful manager has a good sense to recognize the good things and strengths of his employees and appreciates them for these things from time to time. This is because good managers know that happy people are productive. Make an effort to appreciate the abilities of your employees, both in public and private.

• For example, in a meeting with your boss, mention something that one of your workers did very well. If your boss tells the worker that you said something nice about him, he will feel that you appreciate him and will try to maintain that appreciation. Such compliments do not go unnoticed.
• Personally praise the things your employee does well. Whenever you have time, tell them this in detail. Small, however, private conversations can have a positive effect on their morale, which will result in increased self-motivation.

3. From time to time keep telling your employees how much you praise them. Just go to them and say it. Ask them to come over for a cup of tea and tell you which qualities you admire in them: he is hardworking; He inspires others very well; They can learn new things easily; They are disciplined or put in extra effort, and they always encourage you, etc. Don’t hesitate to say the words — say them straight away. An employee who knows how much he is appreciated will work harder, enjoy his work more, and will spread this mental happiness to other employees.

 Method 2: Setting Goals

1. Do fewer promises, give more (Under-promise, over-deliver): This idea can be tried in many different areas of life, but it is a great managerial spell. Do you want to be the person who has wildly optimistic goals that people will never be able to accomplish, or do you want to be the person who sets measurable goals and the results come so much more? Although it is about the image, the image is much more important.

• Don’t be the type of person who never tries to make a hole in the sky. Measuring your goals doesn’t mean you should always be conservative, and never aim high. A manager who never sets goals that exceed his potential can be considered less ambitious. Even conservative people know that they should give up their orthodoxy at the right time.

2. Make Sure Every Employee Knows what is expected from him: Having concrete goals enables your employees to stay focused and competent. Have a clear format of what you expect, what the deadline is, and what you will do with the results.

3. Offer goal-oriented feedback: Providing employees with quick feedback that focuses on their work can encourage improvement. Meet people in small teams or one-on-one, and elaborate on your point or opinion.

• Create a schedule for feedback. Provide feedback regularly so that your employees know when they are going to receive feedback and take time out of their work.

4. Hold yourself to the supreme Standards: We all know managers who constantly shout or complain badly when they make mistakes, but ignore them when they make mistakes. Don’t be this type of manager. Ideally, be harsher to yourself than to your employees. This can have a very positive effect: Employees will see how you set goals and standards for yourself and they will want to be like you because they look up to you.

 Method 3: Assign Responsibility

1. Delegate work: You are a manager because you are good at your job, but that doesn’t mean you have to do all the work yourself. Your job as a manager is to teach others how to do a good job.

Start small. Give people tasks that can be corrected when they go wrong. Embrace the opportunity for your employees to learn and become empowered. Then gradually as you start to understand their strengths and weaknesses, assign them more responsible tasks.

Learn to anticipate problems that employees may face while working so that you can teach them before they start working.

2. Give your employees tasks that they need to work hard Do it. You are not only finding out how much work your employees can handle, but you are also making them more valuable to the company.

3. Treat employees’ fault as your own: When a subordinate makes a mistake, don’t pass it on to them; Even if technically the mistake is not yours, still accept that mistake as yours. By doing this you are creating a culture where your employees will feel comfortable making mistakes and learning. This is a very important concept:

• Doing so will allow your employees to try something new and, eventually, learn to grow. Workers who learn from their mistakes become better workers; Expect those who miss making mistakes mostly try to be very safe, and are afraid to dive into deep water.

4. Don’t take credit for employees’ accomplishments: Let them take credit for their achievements. This motivates them to keep striving for success. An effective manager is like a director who coordinates the music so that each part produces its natural music and all the parts together give rise to a piece of common collective music. A good director teaches people how to get a job done while still being in the background.

• What will happen if you’re the manager who “steals” someone else’s idea and pretends it’s his or her own? You give the message that you only care about your image and are so ruthless that can sacrifice the interests of others just to move ahead. That’s not a good image, and it certainly doesn’t encourage those below you to work harder.
• You might be thinking – take responsibility for other people’s mistakes and don’t even take credit for what your employees did; “What do I get from this”? If you do a good job and are an effective manager, you shouldn’t worry about showing off your miracles. People themselves will recognize the work you do. Even more important, they will be impressed that you inspire your employees, know how to be polite, and not get in anyone’s way. If you work hard, you will get its fruits.

 5. Acknowledge Your Mistakes: When things don’t go as you expected, understand what you could have done differently and talk to your employees about this understanding. It shows them that you also make mistakes too, and it also shows them how to handle their mistakes.

• Whenever you are doing something right after making a mistake once, let the person who is watching see you. For example: “I know I have to press this button because it happened to me when I started, I made the mistake of pressing the blue button, thinking that ‘this will shut down the system, and the problem will get solved and I found out — this painful method — that it might make matter worse!”

Method 4: Communicating Effectively

1. Keep the doors open: Always remind people that if they have any questions or concerns, you are eager and ready to listen. Keeping one way of communication open will help you get to the point of the problem quickly so that you will be able to settle the issue as quickly as possible.

• Don’t be one of those managers who unintentionally make their employees feel like they are bothering them when they bring a problem or concern to them. Don’t see this as a new crisis to solve, but as an opportunity to show your employees how much you want to make this organization a more enjoyable and workable place.
• Never downplay or dismiss your employee’s concerns, and always make sure you have fully answered their questions.

2. Take interest in your employees: Don’t limit every interaction you have with your workers to just work or business. Talk to them about their well-being and wellness, talk about yourself and build a personal connection.

• Being aware of your employees’ lives even outside of the office can give you a premonition of times when someone may need extra support or help from you, for example, if they have to leave suddenly for a family funeral. or need time. If you can be attuned to the upheaval in your worker’s personal life, they will feel good about being loyal to you.
• Know your limits. Don’t go overboard and question your employees on a very personal matter, such as religion, politics, or personal relationships. You can have a friendly relationship with them without being aggressive.

3. Don’t mix positive and negative feedback: Let’s say you are giving feedback to one of your employees in a performance review. You start by talking about what a great person he is to work with and mention a couple of other things he has done very well. Then you start talking about their shortcomings — ”Sales down this quarter,” “Profits down,” etc. What do you think your employees will listen to more carefully, positive or negative?

• When you mix negative and positive feedback, damage occurs in both areas. The positive is overshadowed by the negative, and the negative cannot affect the other with all its might. Of course, there may be situations when you have to communicate this, but on the whole, it makes communication less effective.
• When you keep positive and negative feedback separate, then positive feedback becomes more effective and negative becomes essential.

4. Listen: Listen to your employees and coworkers. You don’t always need to be the operator of meetings by dominating the podium and keeping others out. Always try to be honest, but take utmost care in the following situations.

• When employees are actively sharing ideas. Don’t interfere just to mix your voice with everyone. It can be like throttling that idea.
• When feelings are turbulent or furious. Allow people to express their feelings in a safe and controlled environment. Suppressed feelings can turn into rancour, and your work relationship can crumble. Likewise, feelings not given enough attention can cause trouble in rational discussions, which should be the mainstay of your work environment.
• When teams are developing relationships or negotiating. Listen carefully to your employees as they build relationships and be creative.

5. Clarify what you are hearing: A good manager not only tries to make his point clear but also tries his best to make the people around him understand. Use this technique when you don’t fully understand what the other person is saying.

• Instead of saying this to your co-worker, “I’m sorry, can you repeat what you said? I don’t think I understood.” Say something like “You’re saying we can increase productivity by offering better incentives. What exactly should this be like?”

6. Ask questions: Well-advised questions show that you can follow the flow of the discussion and ask for or clarify things when necessary. Don’t be afraid to ask questions just because you’re worried that you might sound “stupid”. Effective managers take care to understand the important things; They don’t care what they have to do or need to do to understand it. Also, be aware that others may have questions and may not raise their own. If you ask questions for them, you can play a supporting role for them and raise your team’s level of involvement in the discussion. This is a true sign of a manager.

Method 5: Embrace  Equalitarianism

1. Treat everyone equally: Most of us are not as egalitarian as we would like to be. Sometimes, the bias remains at a subconscious level. We tend to give more positive recognition to those who in some way remind us of who and what we are, rather than those who contribute the most to the organization. In the long run, the people in the latter group will be the people who will make the most progress in achieving the organization’s goals, so monitor your behaviour carefully and make sure you’re not petting them, even if they feel like you. Give that your positive respect doesn’t affect them. Some people are hesitant to accept positive feedback yet praise them.

2. Treat your employees well: If you are nice to your workers and they are happy with their work, they will pass on this kindness to the customers and elevate your company’s image to a priceless level or they will treat their subordinates the same way and maintain a positive corporate culture.

 Advice – To be a Good manager

1. Be nice to your team. You cannot be successful without them.

2. Don’t scold the whole department for doing wrong to one person. For example, if you see that Vijay is often late for work. Instead of sending a group mail warning everyone to be on time, talk to Vijay in private.

3. Celebrate success with the team, whether it’s a pat on the back, taking them to lunch, or giving them a half-day off.

4. Avoid staying longer than the normal working hours of the employees. Respect their time and personal commitments and they will repay it with great results for their manager and organization.

5. If the removal/termination is necessary, don’t automatically make bad references to the employee just because of this. Maybe that job is not right for him. Emphasize the employee’s good qualities and skills.

6. Consider transferring the employee to a different department before taking drastic measures like removal or termination. He can perform well in different environments.

7. Never publicly reprimand any employee, no matter how big the mistake.

8. Whenever there is a conflict between employees, intervene immediately. Don’t ignore the problem, or suggest that they sort it out together. In such a situation, an employee often feels trapped or powerless, especially when the other employee is higher in rank or has higher seniority in the company. Schedule separate meetings with both employees, then meet with them together. Call the company’s intermediary if necessary. Focus on the specific problem or problems rather than general complaints. “I’m angry with Vijay because I help him when he’s left behind, but he never does it for me” is a typical problem. “I don’t like Vijay’s attitude” is a common complaint.

9. Being a good manager doesn’t mean being a people pleaser. If an employee repeatedly violates their boundaries or does not live up to expectations, use feedback or nonviolent communication to rectify the situation. If that doesn’t work, consider removing them.

10. During bad weather, if the employees are concerned about their children. Daycare centres or schools may be closed. Should you allow employees to bring their children to the office during such weather? Inquire with your HR department as there may be issues with security and insurance etc. It is very important to respect the time and personal life of the employees.

Good Qualities and Skills of a Manager

You may also like: 

• Importance of Customer Satisfaction
• Retrenchment Meaning, Reasons and Problems
• What is Brand Loyalty and How to build it?
• Requisites of Effective Market Segmentation
• Customer Satisfaction Meaning and Determinants