How to Properly Manage People

Now that I've had a bit of free time the past week, I've had a chance to think about the many different kinds of bosses I've had over the past 15 years. It's amazing how each boss had a unique style which had varying degrees of effectiveness – let's just say, some did fairly well and others, I often wondered how they got their job.

So, I've compiled a list of some of the traits and habits that I found worked with me – ie, made me a happy and productive employee:

Don't micromanage – some managers want to oversee everything you do and require checks and balances at each stage of your job. The simple fact is, they're perfectionists and can't stand the thought of errors being made. The problem is, being micro-managed can actually cause errors because you get so stressed out and nervous. As a manager, you'll get burned out because you'll end up doing all the work.

Duplicate yourself – similar to 1.) train, mentor than set your employees free. You'll get so much more work done and you'll find that you can be in one place, and your newly-trained and confidant employees can be in another – think of what you'll be able to accomplish.

Never let them see you sweat – as a manager, you should (try) to never blow up and get too angry. This creates an atmosphere of fear and distrust. Recognize that mistakes will be made and things may not always go as planned. I found that as an employee, if my manager freaked out or blew up at me, I lost respect for them and felt my motivation go down the toilet.

Lead by example – employees will look up to you and take cues from your own behaviour. If you frequently say one thing, yet do another, you may lose credibility and your employees will start to lose trust or feel contempt towards your leadership.

Surround yourself with the best – some managers are insecure and surround themselves with people who aren't as smart as they are. I guess it's an ego thing and they need to feel important. I don't know about you, but I want the smartest people to ensure that the best possible job is done. If you hire dumb people, you'll just have to train more and spend your time cleaning up mistakes.

Be Approachable – always have an open-door policy, regardless of how busy your are. If an employee asks for help, stop what you're doing and help them! Obviously, you'll have to set certain boundaries, but a managers job is make sure the employees get the work done. I've worked at places where the manager always said 'not now, I'm busy' and the poor employees ended up frustrated and not knowing what to do.

Without a doubt managing can be a tricky business, especially for people who've never done it before. Managing a task and actually doing it are two different skills. I often see people get promoted who are great at a certain specialty but then fail because they have no people skills.

Just recognize that no one is perfect and 'gets it' the first time.  It takes practice and years of work to be a great manager.  If you keep people in mind, you've won half the battle.

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