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10 Fundamental Principles of
Managing People
Managing People
When I start a coaching programme I ask my client how they would like to benefit from the coaching programme. Often they answer by saying that they’d like to improve their skill and ability in managing people. As “managing people” is a very broad subject, to help break this request down into bit-sized chunks I’ve identified what I believe are the 10 fundamental principles of successfully managing people. If you’re good at most of these, then you’ll most of the time you’ll succeed at getting good performance from the people you work with.
1. Be a boss not a buddy.
Too many inexperienced managers are too concerned about being liked by their staff, and seek to win affection by being too nice. For example: giving favours, allowing too much flexibility, and tolerating unsatisfactory performance. Unfortunately this only results in the manager being seen as weak or malleable, and means that they do not earn the respect of their staff. Many research studies have shown that what people want from their boss is, well, a boss. Not a buddy. So do the boss stuff: hold people accountable for their performance, give clear direction, set clear expectations for performance, and do it with confidence. Then you will be respected, which in turn will mean that most of your people will like you most of the time.
2. Define what success looks like.
Very often I find that what a manager expects from a subordinate is rather different from what the subordinate thinks their manager wants. So it’s no surprise then that the manager is dissatisfied with their subordinate’s work, and the subordinate wishes their boss would make up their mind about what they want. So spend some quality one-to-one time with each of your staff discussing, explaining and agreeing exactly what you want from them. Listen to their point of view too. As well as covering the hard performance targets, be sure to agree upon some behavioural standards too. Things like their relationships with peers, and what you mean by ownership and responsibility.
3. Provide lots of prompt feedback.
Having defined what success looks like, reinforce this by praising what’s good and highlighting what’s bad. Be sure to praise not just good outcomes, but also good behaviours: “I really liked the way you handled that situation with Fred. You stopped it escalating into an argument”. And don’t avoid discussing unacceptable behaviours and outcomes – be a boss not a buddy. The more that you highlight and encourage “good”, and highlight and discourage “bad”, the more “good” you’ll get and the less “bad”. The phrase “Praise in public, rebuke in private” is almost universally true, but do remember that some more introverted characters find public praise rather embarrassing.
4. Be very good at your job.
Would you rather work for a manger you respect or one you disrespect? A rhetorical question really. It’s an unfortunate truth that a manager’s performance is constantly in the spotlight and subjected to frequent and sometimes petty criticism. So don’t invite this criticism by being unpardonably bad at certain aspects of your job. The things that will annoy your staff most are being disorganised, forgetful, inconsistent and therefore unreliable. More importantly though, your people want to have a boss they admire and respect, so take this responsibility very seriously. Work hard on being good at your job, and be the kind of manager who makes coming to work worthwhile.
5. Be emotionally resilient.
Accompanying the salary, status and power of a manager’s role is a bigger package of responsibilities. One of these responsibilities is to provide resilient leadership to your staff. When the you-know-what has hit the fan, and emotions are running both hot and cold, your staff will look to you to for guidance. What they do not expect is to find that you have lost your cool too. So as a manger you must learn how to remain cool, calm and collected at all times. If your temper is frayed your “fight or flight” instinct will have taken over and you wont’ be using your intelligent faculties to make decisions. You’ll be barking and growling too. So keep cool and allow yourself to use all of your intelligence, knowledge, skill and charm.
6. Give work meaning.
Ever heard of mushroom management: keeping people in the dark? Well instead of that let your people know how their job fits in with the bigger picture. Show them how their role contributes to the overall success of the business, and how their good work improves customer satisfaction. Show them what “tooth” they are on what “cog” and how that tooth and that cog are a crucial part of a “machine” that works better because of their contribution. When our work has purpose and meaning beyond paying the bills, we are motivated to put more effort into it. Although it is not always apparent, we are all more fulfilled by living a life driven by meaning and purpose. So, work with this basic human instinct and give work meaning.
7. Communicate a lot.
Ensure that your people have all the information they need to do their job to the best of their ability. As a manager you will access to lots of contextual information that your staff typically don’t have access to. You will usually have a better appreciation of the bigger picture, and perhaps more than you realise, it this kind of information that guides your decision making. So if your people don’t have access to this information you shouldn’t expect them to come to the same conclusions that you do. Does this explain why you don’t always get the performance and outcomes that you expected? So communicate a lot and ensure that (as much as commercial sensitively allows) your people know what you know.
8. Know your people as individuals.
I know of a successful businessman who commanded legendary loyalty from his many staff, and it was often said that people would “walk over hot coals for him”. When I asked his staff why this was, the main reason given was that when he walked into any of his branches he knew the first names of most of his staff and could hold a conversation with them based upon some knowledge of their personal life. Consequently his staff felt important and appreciated; they felt that they were much more than just an employee and more like a valued member of the team. So what do you know about your staff? Do you know where they live, how many children they have, and most importantly their name? And do you hold real conversations with them about something other than work?
9. Admit to your weaknesses and mistakes.
You’re not perfect, so don’t pretend to be. Your staff are not fools and they will be able to see straight through any attempts to position yourself as infallible. A pointless attempt to deceive or conceal will only undermine your trustworthiness. We all have more limitations than strengths and we all make mistakes. Being a manager does require you to be many things, but perfect isn’t one of them. The more that you can be open and honest about yourself, the more you’ll come across as an authentic trustworthy person and therefore a boss who is worthy of respect.
10. Be strengths orientated.
Managers are often too preoccupied with weakness at the expense of being able to recognise strengths. And yet it is absolutely true that we are all able to contribute more when we play to our strengths. A preoccupation with weakness also causes us to believe our people are less capable than they really are, and means that we delegate less than we should. Consequently the manager becomes the bottle-neck to better performance. So focus on the strengths of your staff, stretch and develop them through delegation, put them in roles that bring out the best in them, and utilise the ability of your team to the maximum. The more you do this, the more you’ll show you value them, and the better they will perform.
So there we have my 10 Fundamental Principles of Managing People. Undoubtedly, there is more to getting the best out of people than this. Concepts such as casting a vision for the future, and communicating with impact all have a role to play. But in my opinion these belong to the realm of leadership. These 10 fundamental principles are the basics. Leadership is the master-class and is something that will be covered in a future article.
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