Tips on How to Manage People

Tips on How to Manage People
Compiled and prepared by Dr. Al Moez Al Husseini

A manager's most important, and most difficult, job is to manage people. You must lead, motivate, inspire, and encourage them. Sometimes you will have to hire, fire, and discipline or evaluate employees
Whether you are a first time manager or a manager starting a new job there are things you need to know and do on your first day. This article summarizes them for you and provides links to additional detail for those items you choose for more in depth study.
Look like a Manager
As a manager, you have a certain amount of authority by virtue of your position. However, you can reinforce that by the way you dress. The Dress Code for Managers varies depending on industry, location, company culture, etc. The one constant is that a manager is expected to dress "better" than those he or she manages.
If you are new to the company, rather than having been promoted to this position from within, you should have figured out the company dress code during your interviews.
Think like a Manager
Your job, as a manager, is to make your group more productive than it would have been without you.
Focus your energy from the first day on the things that only you, as the manager, can do.
• You are the leader.
• You are responsible for training and developing your people.
• You are responsible for building them into a team.
Act like a Manager
You need to get to know your people and they need to know you. I like to do that with a short meeting on the morning of Day One.
You need to set the ethical climate from day one. Whether it was good or bad before, you need to establish that you will tolerate only the highest ethical standards, both for your group and for yourself.
The most important part of your job is to motivate your employees. Start that from day one. Give them positive feedback when you can and negative feedback only when you must.
Work like a Manager
It has been said that a good manager doesn't DO anything. A good manager manages to get things done through others. You may have been the best accountant in the company's history, but as the Accounting Manager it's time to put aside the balance sheets and focus on leading and motivating your department. From day one, show them that you are here to help them, but don't do their work for them.
For your team to be successful, you need to build alliances, friendships, and personal relationships. These will be with your boss, first of all. Then with your peers. And finally with any other organization inside or outside the company that can benefit your team.
What Not To Do
Equally as important as knowing what to do on your first day knows what not to do

Top 10 New Manager Mistakes
Managing can be a little daunting at first. A recent poll found almost 50% of managers received NO training before starting the job. Here is a list of the most common mistakes new managers make so you can avoid making them too.
1. Think you know everything.
If you were just promoted to Production Manager, you may feel you know everything about production. Even if that were true, and it isn't, you sure don't know everything about the most important part of your new job, managing people. Listen to the people around you. Ask for their input when appropriate. Keep an open mind.
2. Show everyone who's in charge.
Trust me; everyone in your group knows who the new manager is. You don't have to make a big show about being "the boss". You do, however, have to demonstrate that, as the boss, you are making a positive difference.
3. Change everything.
Don't re-invent the wheel. Just because the way something is done isn't the way you would do it, it isn't necessarily wrong. Learn the difference between "different" and "wrong".
4. Be afraid to do anything.
Maybe you didn't ask for the promotion. Maybe you are not sure you can do the job. Don't let that keep you from doing the job the best you can. Upper management wouldn't have put you into the job if they didn't have confidence that you could handle it.
5. Don't take time to get to know your people.
Maybe you worked alongside these people for years. That doesn't mean you know them. Learn what makes them excited, how to motivate them, what they fear or worry about. Get to know them as individuals; because that's the only way you can effectively manage them. Your people are what will make or break you in your quest to be a good manager. Give them your attention and time.
6. Don't waste time with your boss.
Since he/she just promoted you, surely he/she understands how busy you are and won't need any of your time, right? Wrong. Your job, just like it was before you became a manager, is to help your boss. Make sure to budget time to meet with him/her to both give information and to receive guidance and training.
7. Don't worry about problems or problem employees.
You can no longer avoid problems or hope they will work themselves out. When something comes up, it is your job to figure out the best solution and get it done. That doesn't mean you can't ask for other's input or assistance, but it does mean you are the person who has to see it gets taken care of.
8. Don't let yourself be human.
Just because you are the boss doesn't mean you can be human, that you can't laugh, or show emotion, or make an occasional mistake.
9. Don't protect your people.
The people in your group will be under pressure from every direction. Other departments may want to blame you for failed interfaces. Your boss may want to dump all the unpleasant jobs on your department. HR may decide the job classifications in your area are overpaid. It's your job to stand up for your people and make sure they are treated as fairly as possible. They will return the loyalty.
10. Avoid responsibility for anything.
Like it or not, as the manager you are responsible for everything that happens in your group, whether you did it, or knew about it, or not. Anything anyone in your group does, or doesn't do, reflects on you. You have to build the communications so there are no surprises, but also be prepared to shoulder the responsibility. It goes hand-in-hand with the authority.


General Tips
1. : You have to make a difference. The group you manage has to be more effective, more productive with you there than they would be if you were not. If they are as productive without you, there is no business sense in keeping you on the payroll.
2. Anyone can steer the ship in calm waters. What will set you apart in your career is how you perform during the tough times. Don't become complacent and relax just because things are going well. Plan ahead for the downturn.
3. Don't Limit Yourself. The difference between leaders and managers is that leaders do not set limits on themselves. There are enough people trying to limit what you can do. Don't be one of them.
4. Leaders create change. If you lead, you will cause changes. Be prepared for them and their impact on people within, and outside, your group. If you are not making changes, you are not leading.
5. Practice what you preach. To lead, you have to lead by example. Don't expect your people to work unpaid overtime if you leave early every day. Don't book yourself into a four star hotel on business trips and expect your employees to stay in the motel off the freeway.
6. You Can't Listen With Your Mouth Open. Your associates, your employees, your suppliers, your customers all have something of value in what they have to say. Listen to the people around you. You will never learn what it is if you drown them out by talking all the time. Remember, the only thing that can come out of your mouth is something you already know. Shut up and learn.
7. Change or Die. Your business must change to survive. As much as we wish it would, nothing stays the same. Some industries change faster than others. Some markets are more fixed. To stay in business, you need to watch both and change as they do, or before.
8. Appearance Does Matter. It may be a sad commentary on our superficial society, but appearance does matter. Whether it's the packaging on your product, the first impression you make when calling on a new client, or your company's web site people notice how things look. They care about how things look and make judgments about you and/or your product based on appearance.
9. Get your people involved. It's a lot easier to get employees to stand behind a company decision if they have the opportunity to participate in the discussion. Management still has to make the decision. But if they have had the opportunity to make their point of view known employees are more apt to stand behind the ultimate decision, even if they don't agree with it.
10. People Aren't Mushrooms. Mushrooms grow very well when kept in the dark and fed horse manure. People, on the other hand, function better when they are kept in the loop and given straight info.
11. The Best Product Doesn't Always Win. Just having a better product is not enough. You have to let your customers know about it and why it's better. Then you have to convince them it is better.
12. Dare to Dream You can't move forward if you are always looking back. You can't find new solutions if you believe 'it can't be done'. Have the courage of your convictions and go after it.
13. Train Your Supervisors The key to your business success is the productivity of your employees. The key to employee productivity is their perception of their immediate supervisor. Invest in training your supervisors and managers. It will pay off.
14. "Early to Bed, Early to Rise... Work Like a Dog, and Advertise." With apologies to Poor Richard's Almanac, this adage reminds us just how important advertising is to the success of any business. Hard work isn't enough. Customers have to know your product or service is available.
15. Work On Your Weaknesses First. In any position or job you find yourself, there will be things you do well, some you do okay, and some you don't do so well. To improve yourself, and increase your value, work first to improve in those areas that are your weakest.
16. Know Your GPM. In engineering, gpm is gallons per minute, a design criterion. In Management GPM is an acronym for Goals, Plans, and Metrics. To achieve your goals, you must first determine what your Goals are. Then you have to develop a Plan that gets you to your goal. Finally you need Metrics (measurements) to know if you are moving toward your goal according to your plan
17. Set an example. "One of the most significant parts of a manger's job is for them to become a positive role model that can pull a team together and deliver the level of service expected from their customers."
18. Focus your energies. There are a lot of demands on your time, but your time and energy are limited. Focus on what is important to you and do that first. It is better to do a few key things well than to do lots of things, but none of them well.
19. Listen to your employees. It doesn't make any sense to spend all that time and effort to find and hire the best people if you are just going to ignore their input.
20. Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals. Goals you set for yourself, or others, should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-based.
21. Learn from the mistakes of others. You can't live long enough to make them all yourself.
22. Keep the flame alive. When people join your organization they are all fired up and ready to do great things. Over time we all too often wear down that enthusiasm. Instead, do what you can to fan the flames of their enthusiasm and you will be amazed at their output?
23. Under-promise and over-deliver. This goes beyond the old adage 'don't promise what you can't deliver'. Instead, deliver more than what you promised. It's a good way to build customer rapport - both outside and inside the company.
24. Your greatest resource is your people. You can have the best, high tech, equipment available. But, without the people you have no business. Treat your people with the same, or greater, care as you do your equipment Keep your focus external. Stay focused outside your company so you watch your customers and competitors. Don't get hung up on internal processes and procedures if it keeps you from looking outward.
25. Structure follows Strategy. When you develop your company's internet presence, or any other part of the business, remember that what you want to achieve (Strategy) has to drive the design and implementation (Structure). Don't get it backwards and let technology obscure the business purpose.
26. Do Your Homework. Whether it's a proposal to a major client or a meeting with the Shop Steward of a union, you will do better if you are prepared. Collect the facts; think the problem through, talk to the others involved. Take the time to do the "up-front" work and the "downstream" work will be easier and more rewarding.
27. Delight the Customer. It is heard a lot, but seldom practiced. Today I saw a production supervisor straighten out a mess and, in the process, calm an irate customer. When I heard her tell them to put two mugs with the company's logo into the package being sent to the customer, I knew she understood what "Delight the Customer" means.
28. Don't Get Lost in the Steps. Stay focused on what it is you need/want to accomplish. Don't focus on the steps involved. Be more concerned about your ultimate goal than about any individual step along the way.
29. Don't Be A Demotivator. Your job as a leader is to get and keep your people motivated and working toward the common goal. Demeaning them, to their face or to others, erodes their motivation. So does dismissively telling them that their ideas "are stupid". Watch your own actions to be sure you aren't defeating your own efforts by demotivating your people.
30. If you're not #1 in your market space, define a new market space in which you can be Number 1.
31. Don't DO Anything. Your job as a manager is to "plan, organize, control and direct." Don't let yourself waste valuable time by falling back on what you did before you became a manager. We know you enjoy it and you are good at it. That's why you were promoted. Now you need to concentrate your efforts on managing, not on "doing".
32. Manage the function, not the paperwork. Remember that your job is to manage a specific function within the company, whatever that may be. There is a lot of paperwork that goes with the job, but don't let that distract you from your real responsibility
33. 'Quality' is just conformance to requirements. You get the behavior you critique for, so set your standards and then require conformance to them. Quality will come from that effort, not from slogans, posters, or even threats.
34. Don't get caught up in 'looking good'. "Work happily together. Don't try to act big. Don't try to get into the good graces of important people, but enjoy the company of ordinary folks. And don't think you know it all. Never pay back evil for evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honest clear through."
35. Measure Twice, Cut Once. This old carpentry adage applies equally well to business. Take the time to plan and check your plan so when you do act, the work is done right. (See the tip below as well.)
36. Ready, Fire, Aim. Don't get caught in 'analysis paralysis'. Figure out what you want to do, make a plan, and then GO. You can always adjust after you have started.
37. Doing it right costs less than doing it over. Have you ever been asked "Why is there never enough time to do it right, but always enough time to do it over"? Save the costs, including customer dissatisfaction and lower worker morale, by concentrating on doing the job right the first time.
38. Delegate the easy stuff. The things you do well are the things to delegate. Hold on to those that are challenging and difficult. That is how you will grow.
39. It's not how hard you work; it's what you get done. Anybody can work hard, and most people do. The really successful people focus on accomplishing results not on effort expended.
40. Continuous Incremental Improvement. You don't make your product or service better by getting a committee together to study it. You improve it by making it a little bit better, in some way, every day - continuous incremental improvement.
41. Your first obligation is to the customer. Without customers you don't have a business. Treat them with the same respect you expect when you are a customer. Make sure everyone in your organization understands the importance of customer service.
42. Lead by example. If you ask your employees to work overtime, be there too. Just because company policy allows it, don't fly first-class if your associates are in coach on the same plane. Be a leader - it's tougher than being a manager, but it's worth it.
43. Get out of your office. Management by Walking around (MBWA) does work. You make yourself more approachable. You get information first-hand. You find out what's really happening.
44. You get what you pay for. Yes it is an old saying, but it is still true. Whether you are paying for machinery, software, advertising, or people you ultimately get what you pay for. Always buy the best you can afford. Quality always comes through.
45. You never have to make up for a good start. If a project or a job gets off to a bad start it can be difficult to catch up. Do your planning up front so you get a good start and you won't regret it.
46. Be on time for ALL your appointments. If you schedule a meeting, set a time to visit with a client, or tell a friend you'll meet them for a working breakfast you have to be there at the time you set or you will lose their respect. If your dispatcher tells a client the serviceman will be there at 1pm, make sure he is. It's just common courtesy, but it will really help your business.
47. Stop and smell the roses. Believe it or not, you will do a better job with your business if you let your mind wander once in awhile. Take a break. Recharge your internal battery. When you go back to work you will be more creative as well as less stressed.
48. You Are Not Smarter Than Everybody. You may be smarter than anyone, but you are not smarter than everyone. Seek input from the group, and LISTEN to it. You will be surprised at what you can learn.
49. Dare to Dream. You can't move forward if you are always looking back. You can't find new solutions if you believe 'it can't be done'. Have the courage of your convictions and go after it.
50. You have to make a difference. The group you manage has to be more effective, more productive with you there than they would be if you were not. If they are as productive without you, there is no business sense in keeping you on the payroll.