Blog
Break Free from the Vicious Cycle of Undermanagement
Managers who are convinced they don’t have time to manage almost always spend lots of time managing people anyway. That’s because whenever a manager avoids spending time up front making sure things go right, then things almost always go wrong. Small problems pile up and grow until they become so big that they cannot be…
Seven Key Aspects of Management With Which Managers Are Struggling
It’s always been hard to manage people. Managers have always been stuck in the middle between the employer and the employee, trying to negotiate their competing needs and expectations. But today, managers are telling us that it is harder than ever before. And it is resulting in an ongoing epidemic of undermanagement. Not only are…
Managing People Is Getting Harder
Undermanagement can be difficult to identify. After all, everyone at work is surrounded by metrics and meetings all the time. It may seem like management is ever-present. But what is missing in most workplaces is the human element of management: managers providing direct reports with the guidance, direction, support and coaching that they need to…
Supporting Employees Means Customizing Your Management Approach
All your employees come to work with different levels of ability and skill: different backgrounds, personalities, styles, ways of communicating, work habits, and motivations. Some of them need more guidance than others. One employee needs the details spelled out, while another has the details memorized. One responds best if you ask questions, while another prefers…
Leaders and Managers: Don’t Be Afraid to Solve Small Problems!
Nobody likes confrontations, especially when it’s a confrontation with an employee you manage. Difficult conversations only seem to make things worse, resulting in hurt feelings or maybe even broken trust. Sometimes, if a resolution can’t be found, you even have to fire the employee in question. And that means yet another, even more difficult, confrontation….
Trying to Hold Your Employees Accountable? You Have to Make It a Process, Not a Slogan
Accountability is a hot watchword in just about every business. But what does it really mean? Simply put, accountability means having to answer for one’s actions. When business leaders chant the slogan of “accountability,” what they are trying to do is spread the following message to employees: behave knowing in advance that you will have…
Help! How Do I Increase Employee Productivity?
If an employee doesn’t get “enough” work done—they need to increase productivity—then there are only three logical possibilities: that employee needs to work either more, faster, or both. Simple, right? Just keep that employee in their chair and keep a fire lit under it. But it’s rarely quite so simple. Here’s what usually happens: Assuming…
Become a Great Delegator: Ask the Right Questions When Handing Off Work
Micromanagement, when it occurs, is usually the result of an anxious manager who wants to make sure that everything is getting done the right way, at every step of the way, by overseeing the project from start to finish. The thing is, managers should make sure that everything is getting done the right way, every…
The Fundamentals Are All You Need
Managers today are under a lot of pressure. The bar keeps being raised. They are responsible for more and more employees. More of the people they manage are working in areas of expertise that the manager doesn’t know much about, or maybe knows almost nothing about. Managing people is getting harder, and it can be…
The Value of Leadership Training
Leaders in organizations of every shape and size can probably list a number of ways their businesses could improve. Employees do their jobs the wrong way. There is too much firefighting and not enough work getting done. Low performers are hiding out under the radar. High performers are thinking about leaving. Resources are wasted. There…