Two recurring themes for managers: Time & People

Often, team members end up in management positions because they’ve demonstrated loyalty and are great on the frontlines: serving customers, excellent workmanship, consistency, going the extra mile and so forth.

The thing I continue to see in my coaching work is that being on the frontlines doing the work, is very different to managing others who are doing the work. A different skill set is required for the latter.

Here are two major areas that managers would do well to continually progress in, and the greater the mastery, the greater the effectiveness.

Time and Task Management

1. Take the time, to plan how you will use your time.

2. Plan tomorrow today, next week this week.

3. If you use a to-do list, ensure it is prioritised employing an A, B, C system or similar.

4. When the wheels start spinning, STOP, and go back to point number 1.

5. Learn to chunk bigger projects down to smaller, achievable targets and then methodically go about finishing one thing at a time.

6. Do the hardest things when your energy is higher; the more mundane tasks when energy and concentration are lower.

7. Don’t underestimate the power of quiet thinking time.

People Management

1. At the core of leading others is the person in front of you. You will generally get more out of people by taking a personal interest in them.

2. Use delegation to equip and train for the future.

3. Flexing, according to the behavioural / personality style of the person you are leading, helps build and maintain connection.

4. Leading by asking questions activates a more solution-oriented process.

5. While autonomy has its place, ensure it is surrounded by the guardrails of accountability.

6. Use performance metrics and outputs to gauge success rather than the inputs of time.

7. Don’t underestimate the power of chit-chat. You find out a lot about people in doing this.

My recommendation is that you choose one point from each category and then seek to progress your learning and development accordingly.

I love love love coaching people in these areas, so if you could do with some help, feel free to reach out.

Ray

Rayism of the week: Managers don’t struggle because they lack effort, but because time and people demand a different level of skill.

To read and watch more in these two areas, head to my free Resource Bar.

In my book (pictured below with a link) are two chapters related to each of these areas. You can either purchase the book or hit me up here and I will send you the PDF version of the chapters.

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Online courses with 20% off until 31 January.

The Emergent Leader - Ten sessions over ten months.

Ruthless Productivity - Six sessions over three months.

Moving Others - Six sessions over three months.

Let me know if you and/or your team would like to participate. Starting early February.

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