How can someone be an effective manager?

Quite often it is the manager who can make or break the working life of their employees.
There is a saying “People don’t leave businesses, they leave managers.”

The morale and success of the team is directly impacted by the relationship between a manager and their direct reports. It is easy for a team to lose its motivation, energy and focus (and therefore productivity) when there is a lack of proper management.

A good manager will support their employees. The relationship is in a good place such that there is open and constructive communication and feedback between manager and employee. By assisting employees to deal with their frustrations at work, their morale improves and this has a positive result on their productivity of the team as a whole.

An effective manager understands the strengths and talents of their employees, and is able to offer guidance in how to develop other areas that are required. Leadership comes hand in hand with management and in order to lead employees effectively, managers have to operate at a high level of communication and emotional intelligence.

Here are some traits of an effective manager:

• Great communication skills
  The ability to delegate tasks, manage conflict, motivate and inspire and building relationship all require good communication skills.
• Listening to your employees
  Communication is a two-way street. Managers need to listen to their employees in order to properly support them in their roles and working in a team. By listening, you understand the how each individual team member is functioning and if they have any concerns about the work.
  It is important that each person feels that their opinion is heard and that they are part of the team.
• Being decisive
  For a manager to be effective, they have to be decisive in their decision making. A manager’s decision-making skills have an impact on how a project goes forward, how certain issues are solved and the direction the team will take. This is important for instilling confidence within a team because the team will be hesitant to carry out the decision if the manager is not confident in their own decision.
• Be a good role model
  Employees will naturally look to their manager to set the standard at work. When a manager sets a high bar for themselves, the employees tend to have professional respect for the manager. In this way, managers are able to inspire their employees to pick up the good habits and disciplines a manager displays.
• Protect the team
  The success and failure of the team falls on the responsibility of its leader/manager. A good manager shares both the successes and failures of the team. Sharing of credit and giving recognition where it is due is an important motivator for employees.  A good manager will show the team how to take responsibility as a team for any failures or mistakes.