Step 1: Clarify, negotiate, and commit to your role as manager.
- Many management jobs will have changed priorities in response to the current economy.
- Check with your manager that you are doing what is best for the organisation.
- Check with your conscience that you are doing what is best for you and your team.
- Check that you are prepared to do the work that will help others to be outstanding.
Step 2: Understand the results you are expected to produce.
- If you are to be recognised as an outstanding manager you need to know what excellence looks like.
- At the moment you might be expected to drive costs down while producing more value.
- Watch out for mediocrity. Expect excellence. Don’t let the current climate be an excuse to cut corners.
Step 3: Know your business.
- Know what excellence looks like. Recognise the behaviours and habits that lead to it.
- Recognise behaviours and habits that undermine it.
- Understand the metrics that are relevant to your part of the business. Use them to get better.
- Understand what your organisation needs from you – now.
Step 4: Build a great team.
- Recruit, develop and retain people who will take responsibility and work independently – within parameters agreed with you!
- To make sure you retain your best staff in difficult times talk to them – give them control – give them the chance to shape the organisation and their future in it.
- Build a team that you can lead – not a flock that you have to herd.
Step 5: Ensure your team knows what excellence looks like.
- Feedback, feedback, feedback.
- Coach, coach, coach
- Delegate, delegate, delegate
- If you are not sure what constitutes excellence in your business – FIND OUT QUICKLY!
Step 6: Plan – with flexibility.
- Review and revise plans on a weekly basis.
- Expect progress on a weekly basis.
- 121s are ideal for this.
Step 7: Get out of their way.
- Help them to do great work.
- Listen to them.
- Understand what stops them from being great.
- Get barriers out of their way.
Step 8: Be engaging.
- Be positive and constructive.
- Smile a lot.
- Be energetic and hopeful.
Step 9: Proactively manage progress.
- While change IS inevitable – progress is not.
- Make sure that everyone knows what constitutes progress and has their own plan to make it.
Step 10: Leave a legacy: develop people and the organisation’s capacity to produce results.
- better meetings
- more focus
- more knowledge and skills
- more professionalism
- better execution
- higher standards
This post was inspired by Lisa Haneberg over at Management Craft.