Good management is the right balance of engaging your staff while allowing employees to complete tasks on their own. Too much distance and you are out of touch with your department; however, too much involvement in all details of projects and you are micromanaging. How can you be hands-on with your employees without micromanaging?
Open Communication
It is important to be open with your employees. Let them know about expectations on a project, company missions and goals, as well as your expectations. By being open and honest with your employees, they will be able to complete tasks without you overseeing all aspects of their work.
Delegate
Proper delegation is an important part of effective management. By giving employees responsibility, you are showing them that you trust them and respect them. These employees can also make sure that things are getting done without you having to be involved in daily activities. Then you can oversee the main part of the project and make sure everything is progressing smoothly.
Keep in the Loop
Once you have communicated expectations and delegated some of the authority, you just need to be aware of the daily situation by being copied on emails, seeing copies of reports and viewing progress reports. This way you can step in if things go wrong and complete other tasks if everything is going smoothly.
Know When to Step Aside
You need to help start many projects so that deadlines and requirements are met. However, once everyone understands what needs to be done, you can step aside and let them get to work. Too much interference from management will slow progress on the project and convince your employees you don’t think they are competent. Knowing when to step aside but still be available if you are needed is one of the toughest skills to develop. When a manager is able to hone this skill, he will be able to oversee a productive and engaged staff that is able to complete tasks with little oversight.
Sometimes when deadlines aren’t met or a project doesn’t go according to plan, it isn’t due to poor management or incompetent staff. It may be that your department doesn’t have the resources necessary to take on the additional workload. If that is the case, you may need to hire temporary help in order to allow your employees to focus on the vital client project or big product launch.
At the Job Store, we help businesses with temporary, seasonal and permanent staffing needs in Colorado Springs. Contact us and let us know what you need to help meet that next big deadline. We can search for viable candidates who will fit with your company culture and assist your permanent staff to complete important projects.