Being recognised as a great manager is something to which anyone in that position aspires.

 However, to get there requires more than just possessing the right qualifications or the necessary years of experience within an organisation or business sector. Often the biggest roadblock to becoming a great manager is learning how to become a great ‘people’ manager. This will be something about which the New Liberal Democrat leader, Tim Farron will be more than aware. The new leader’s immediate task will be to rebuild the party after a disastrous general election that left them with just eight MPs.

So even if you are not in politics, here are 5 top tips from Creativedge for managing people that any supervisor or team leader can help to up their game:-

1.Lead the way

The role of a manager requires you to be a role model and set yourself apart; be firm but fair and treat people as equals, make tough decisions and take responsibility for your people’s actions, not just your own. Your people will always learn what behaviour is acceptable by observing your actions.

Role models in the workplace are often characterised by credibility and have built trust by doing what they say they will do, or being upfront if they are not able to keep their promise for any reason.

2.Managing people is a skill

You may be a great supervisor but without strong ‘people management’ skills you’ll never become a great manager. On their own, the things that probably got you promoted to a manager will not be enough to survive on in the future. It takes more than just your core technical skills.

A new, higher level position doesn’t give you automatic permission to order people around and watch their every move. Would you have appreciated that in your previous role? On the other hand, as human beings we are often conditioned to seek out the approval of others, so many new managers experience internal conflict in trying to maintain harmony. Their desire to be approved interferes with their ability to maintain and make confident decisions.

Your people are relying on you to be their manager, which means that generally you can’t be their best friend. Providing clear direction, making the tough decisions and being respected by your people are the hallmarks of an effective manager.

Managing people well is a skill that can be learned and much will come through time and experience. So if you are not so good at it just yet, keep at it! The rewards you reap on a professional level will more than repay your extra effort!

3.Make your people’s success a priority

It’s a very simple concept: if your people do well and succeed, so will YOU!

If a manager becomes known for being a great talent spotter – and talent nurturer- then they become an even more valuable asset to their organisation. A great manager discovers their people’s individual goals and then does everything they can to help them achieve these goals. Your role now involves managing a team of people with different styles of working, decision-making and communicating. Whilst your team’s individual styles may not be the approach you might take, if the results are good then you will need to accept these differences.

Get to know your team, making an effort to spend time with them both as individuals and as a group, and this will help inform professional and personal growth plans as well as establish the ground rules of team communication.

4.Guide first, coach second

When dealing with people, a great manager guides first. If a specific issue arises that needs to be addressed, if something has to change, they coach their employee about how to do that.

Discipline should always be a last resort, something that occurs when the employee has still not delivered the action that was requested, discussed and understood.

Make clear agreements – your people may not be enthralled about every goal they are set by you, however a great manager makes sure that they set out clear targets right from the outset, so everyone knows what is expected of them.

5.Be productive, not busy

Many managers rush from one crisis situation to the next or from one meeting to another.  They work long hours, mistakenly thinking that’s what a manager is expected to do – they become busy fools!

It’s not about how many hours you work in a day, but what you actually ACHIEVE in those hours whilst you there.

Remember that 80% of your results come from just 20% of the things you do. So prioritise tasks, learn to say ‘no’ and make sure you do those critical things first.

Delegate – you can’t do it all by yourself, and you shouldn’t even try! You have a team now and you are responsible for what you can all achieve, together!

Every single person in your team needs to feel useful and valued. Okay, roll your sleeves up, get stuck in and do your fair share of the work, but certainly don’t think you need to do it all. Think carefully about the tasks you a) must do yourself, or b) could do yourself – then begin to delegate the latter. Keep your valuable time free for things that you, as manager, really must do.

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