We’ve all seen movies where the main character works at a company with a big shot boss who is hardly ever in the office. Frustration ensues as the star is tasked with working nights and weekends while the boss takes bi-monthly trips to St. Barths. Finally, after years of feeling undervalued, the main character quits in grandiose fashion to the audience’s relief and delight.
What isn’t usually included in these movies is a follow-up on how the boss fares after the employee quits. He probably struggles until he finally understands that—aha!—maybe if he switches his style to hands-on management, he won’t have to deal with such devastating turnover again.
Being a hands-on manager doesn’t mean you act as an omnipresent creature peering over the shoulders of every employee. It means the opposite, actually. Here are two ways to be hands-on.
#1. Offer autonomy with a twist
No one likes to be told what to do, so instead of mandating sales staff read off a script, tell them what metrics you’d like them to hit and then ask them to come to you with a detailed action plan of how they will achieve said goals.
This method will inspire employees to work harder because they are working against their own process. Everything will be spelled out before the project even begins, which will make it easy for you to check in with them on how they are doing and for them to know what they have agreed to each step of the way.
#2. Use an app
Online applications can be a tremendous help when it comes to small business management. Take 15Five.com as an example. I found this company (full disclosure: I have no paid interest in the company, I’m just a customer) a while back and now rely on it as a way to check in with my employees on a weekly basis.
Once a week I send out a survey with the following five questions:
- How are you feeling about your job and what do you think about the morale at the company?
- What is going well in your role? Were there any big wins/breakthroughs in the past week?
- What challenges are you facing and where do you need help?
- What one thing could we do that would provide the biggest improvement to your job?
- What roadblocks do you feel are holding you back?
I send this to the people who work directly with me and require them to respond. The survey isn’t anonymous, but my employees don’t seem to care. Everyone appreciates being heard and there have been several major initiatives to come out of the survey campaign.
But beyond surveys and self-prescribed action plans, the key to hands-on management is simply showing that you care. Employees want to feel valued. They also want to see you in the office. By definition, hands-on management requires you to be on-hand. Not in St. Barths.
The post Two Easy Ways to Become a Hands-On Manager appeared first on AllBusiness.com
The post Two Easy Ways to Become a Hands-On Manager appeared first on AllBusiness.com.
