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I'm getting a new responsibility at work this year, and I want to do the best I can do, but I have 0 experience when it comes to actually managing people. I was wondering if any of you have some tips and such you could pass along my way, or maybe a resource to look up? Everyone whose worked with me before has always enjoyed it and said i'd be a great "boss", but I just want to do a good job! Thanks goons!
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Apr 6, 2015 23:56
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Allow me to give you some assistance! Don't worry about having little to no experience managing people, most managers have similar qualifications even after years in the position. A few maxims: 1) Learn a fancy management system like Six Sigma. You'll get a formula to work with and won't have to think about anything but that BMW 3 series! 2) Learn how to be wined and dined by vendors! 3) Set up one of your subordinates as a "fall man." You have a 1up in case of any failures you may commit! 4) Keep those bonuses high! Outsource, outsource, outsource! 5) Never be the last person to sign off on something! 6) Cover your rear end! Oh, and if one of your subordinates comes up with a good idea, claim it as your own!
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Apr 7, 2015 02:29
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For real advice, you probably want to include somewhat relevant information to the post, like what industry this is, what kind of work you do, and how many people you'll be managing.
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Apr 7, 2015 02:38
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You have to dress nicer and you get a blackberry
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Apr 7, 2015 02:43
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litany of gulps posted:For real advice, you probably want to include somewhat relevant information to the post, like what industry this is, what kind of work you do, and how many people you'll be managing. Oh whoops my bad; it's in the tourism industry, as the equivalent of a guest check in at a hotel. I'll have a team of like 8ish people of all age ranges and i'll be with them every waking second of every day. That's the part that will be hard I think, I can't like "escape".  .
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Apr 7, 2015 02:46
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Abu Dave posted:Oh whoops my bad; it's in the tourism industry, as the equivalent of a guest check in at a hotel. I'll have a team of like 8ish people of all age ranges and i'll be with them every waking second of every day. That's the part that will be hard I think, I can't like "escape". You're the role model for your employee's behavior. That's crucial when it's customer facing. You'll have to keep them in line and be accountable when a customer gets upset.
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Apr 7, 2015 02:51
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Origin posted:Allow me to give you some assistance! Could you pass the salt?
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Apr 7, 2015 08:38
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Congrats on your new opportunity and kudos to you for asking for help. First thing to keep in mind is that managing and leading are separate but not mutually exclusive skill sets/behaviors/activities. You manage your business and you lead people. IMO (and others much more qualified than I), management practices can largely be taught and learned. Leadership is more natural and some people are better at it than others. In my experience I've known many highly competent operations and business managers that really struggled with people leadership. Really depends on the person, the people and the environment. That said, you can "learn" enough mechanical leadership behaviors to cut it at many levels. It's up to you to figure out where your strengths and development opportunities are. Being self-aware at all times is key and if you don't know what people think about you, ask them. My "Oh poo poo, I'm in charge WTF do I do now" advice is as follows: 1 - Figure out immediately what it means to be successful on a daily basis. How are your customers, leaders and employees measuring you? From what you've said it could be # of rooms cleaned & turned over, room service served, towels folded, whatever the gently caress. Figure that out ASAP and if you don't know, ask. At the end of each day, you need to know whether or not you've made it to your goal or if you've been sailing in circles. 2 - Figure out how to measure & track the stuff in step 1. Hopefully those systems already exist (business intelligence) and if not, get some going soon. 3 - Make sure your team knows what the priorities are, why they're important and ensure that they're working on the things that will accomplish the stuff you identified in #1. Ask them if there are obstacles to accomplishing those goals and if so, break that poo poo down. 4 - If you don't know all the functions you're responsible for, make it a priority to meet with the people who do that work and shadow them etc. People want you to take an interest in what they do and if you do the stuff above you won't have to fake it. Managing and leading are lifelong pursuits that even the most well known leaders continue to work tirelessly on throughout their careers. Don't expect to be Neutron Jack on your first gig. Do plan on making mistakes and learn from them. If your company offers training of any kind, take advantage of it. Listen carefully to everyone. Take the good, leave the rest. There are TONS of books and resources available that you can consume on your own depending on how you like to learn. Find a mentor if you can, even if it's not someone you work with currently. Don't be afraid to approach a senior leader and ask to develop a mentoring relationship. I could go on and this isn't even the tip of the iceberg. That said, don't try to do it all in one day.
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Apr 7, 2015 20:31
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Thanks that all really helps. It's actually a promotion and a "step up" from what i've been doing for years, so I feel fortunate that I have atleast a decent basis to do it. The problem is, my old boss hates me because it was her job, and she was "side promoted" so I have no real support and have to figure it out. Oh well. It's cool to have some basic principles to help out though, are there any good resources for knowing what to do with bad employees? I mean, i'd like to say I can avoid that step but I know it's going to happen at some point and that's what makes me the most nervous.
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Apr 7, 2015 20:50
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OP in terms of resources, Manager Tools is the gold standard in my mind. It's a weekly podcast that walks through the basics on being an effective manager. It's a little daunting to look at all of their content, but there's an easy starting point for newbie managers: https://www.manager-tools.com/manager-tools-basics
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Apr 7, 2015 20:59
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Sometimes it can be like being back at school and you have to resolve everyone's petty dramas. Highlights would include: -Getting an email from a team member asking me to go to a certain meeting room in ten minutes time, where she's already waiting, then she asks me to leave separately to her after she's complained to me about a co-worker so that the co-worker doesn't know the complaint is from her. About half an hour later, the person she was complaining about pulled the same secret agent routine in order to complain about her. -finding out that a team member had unintentionally got his girlfriend pregnant and that she was getting an abortion, but he hadn't told his mum and then being asked what he should do about this - the really awkward conversation where a woman on my team was dressing really inappropriately for work and having to tell her that everyone can see her underwear some days and this kind of isn't appropriate in a business environment. The thing that really sucked for me, more than all this, was it completely changed the dynamic with the team. Previously I was just a specialist but I was still one of the team - but once I was a manager, it was clear there was a Them & Us divide for some of the team even though we'd worked together for years, and I didn't get included in conversations about some topics any more. Also, there was this weird tension because the team expected me to go on nights out that they organised (because otherwise it looked like management didn't care about the team) but then it was awkward because some of them weren't comfortable chatting freely about how much some things sucked around management, and I had to be very careful not to have a drink too much and say anything that you shouldn't say around people you're in charge of. Being aware of the social dynamics in your workplace is really important. You need to be aware of which team members don't get on, who you can be chatty with, who hates smalltalk, who is having trouble at home so doesn't want to be asked about their weekends - all that stuff. Basically, it doesn't matter how unprofessional someone else is being - if you're in charge then you should be professional, in my opinion. At times it feels like being a school teacher - you have to be a role model and also sometimes an agony aunt. Even if you've never had much of a relationship with some of the team, you're the manager so they expect you to be able to manage whatever issues they have, whether they're ones that happen at work or are brought to work. Also, if you don't know a lot about their jobs, the team will probably think you're an idiot. You don't need to be able to do the jobs of your team, but you need to know what they do and what helps them or gets in their way.
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Apr 7, 2015 21:12
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Luckily i've had done all the jobs they've done inside and out and will still have to be doing the job too; I didn't even think about receiving other problems (like the abortion) but I guess I should expect, especially if they consider me a "friend" and like. I've already been told i'll have to have the dress code and awkward talk, so yay for me  How did you manage to deal with that? I guess the best thing I can do is just give it all I got and try to get on. Thank you for that site Wakko i'll listen up.
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Apr 7, 2015 21:37
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Abu Dave posted:Thanks that all really helps. It's actually a promotion and a "step up" from what i've been doing for years, so I feel fortunate that I have atleast a decent basis to do it. The problem is, my old boss hates me because it was her job, and she was "side promoted" so I have no real support and have to figure it out. Oh well. Dealing with poor performing employees (for whatever reason) is no doubt a challenge and can be a major time sink. How you deal with them really depends on culture, accountability and authority. Culture - How is performance managed in your work place? If you've got well defined performance management systems, measurements and standards then you'll probably have an easier time of it. If that's not the case, if poor performers are overlooked, moved around (maybe your old boss?), you have organized labor challenges or other factors, it could be much harder. Accountability - How you deal with people depends largely on what's expected of them AND been communicated to them. Do you have objective, fact based measurements that you can use to deliver an assessment of their performance? If not, start documenting stuff. Authority - Do you have the authority to manage people out of the organization? Talk to your boss, know his/her expectations and don't surprise them. You have to gauge how much your boss wants you to update them on stuff but when it comes to performance management, it's always better to have their awareness and support for everything you do. There are many models for communicating expectations, reviewing results and taking corrective action. If you have some scenarios, we could probably throw out some ideas. My basic rules of the road are to be honest, be direct and don't be a dick. The being a dick part can be a trap though. Not being a dick doesn't mean not being candid and direct. You have to accept that being a leader means making unpopular decisions. People will hate you for just about anything. Conduct yourself professionally and fairly. If you do that, you can live with your actions. Abu Dave posted:Luckily i've had done all the jobs they've done inside and out and will still have to be doing the job too; I didn't even think about receiving other problems (like the abortion) but I guess I should expect, especially if they consider me a "friend" and like. I've already been told i'll have to have the dress code and awkward talk, so yay for me The dress code thing is a pretty common scenario. I got my start in corporate America working in a call center as a rep and then ultimately a manager. With a few hundred people, often younger in age, dress code was an issue. Once or twice a year we did gag fashion shows where people demonstrated the good and bad of business attire, business casual and dress down. It really depends on your environment and how many people you have but the moral of the story here is the best direction to give is often through a visual. That leaves less for people to misinterpret and help get everyone thinking about the same thing. Draw a picture instead of asking people to close their eyes and imagine. Have fun with it. This also raises a good point on addressing issues. Understand the difference between general and specific corrective action. For example, if you have 10 people on your team and 2 of them are chronically late, don't drag all 10 in to a room and lecture them on being on time. You wind up with 8 people thinking, "What the gently caress, I'm here early every day and this jack rear end is on my poo poo." Address it directly with the people who are not meeting the standard. Danger's abortion example is another key one. Be prepared to deal with peoples out-of-work problems. We're all human, have families, houses, kids, crappy cars and all kinds of poo poo. You don't have to solve every problem but people will look to you to relate to them. This HR stuff is a course of its own but be prepared to recognize dangerous stuff (people wanting to harm themselves, being harmed by others, harming others etc.) and know what resources are available to you. Know who your HR consultant is and if you don't have one, how to get in contact with the HR department. Many companies have Employee Assistance Programs (EAP). Be prepared to point people there.
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Apr 7, 2015 22:40
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An excellent post thank you for ALL the help, I noted it all and will keep it in mind. Except we don't have any type of HR department or anything like that. . My boss right now said he does "Employee Evaluation" Sheets when he hires people and goes over his expectations and has them sign it, that way if they break it he has proof saying they agreed to it and has reasonable cause to get rid of them; I was thinking of stealing that idea. As it stands I kind of have free reign over who I can get rid of and keep; we don't have transfers or any of that stuff, as it's a small place. I know that we never really had to deal too much with that stuff but I remember in a prior year a girls boyfriend tried to kill himself and she had to leave work and my bosses solution was just to fire her; just because she didn't like the boyfriend. That's something I'd like to stay away from as poo poo happens. We never really had a system of checks and balances or goals; that's something i'd like to change or try to change within my boundaries. I know myself as a worker that it always felt good to meet a personal goal and to receive praise from people higher up; as that's something i'd like to do. Thank you for the advice though, the whole "yell at the 2 people messing up and not everyone" is great and something I really want to do; my former boss used to always just scold us all and it was really really frustrating.
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Apr 7, 2015 22:59
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Other people have already given great advice so I'll try not to reiterate too much. Having said that, the most important piece of advice I can give is: don't take things personally. People are going to piss and moan (justifiably or not,) they're going to load their problems onto you, they're going to get lovely sometimes because they're people and work can be stressful. Take a deep breath, don't shout, don't snap, deal with the issue in a professional manner. If you get a rep as an unreasonable or emotional manager it's going to be that much harder to get taken seriously by your staff, as instructions you give won't be taken with the same weight as if you have a rep for being firm but fair. Be firm, be honest and most importantly - be consistent! People will absolutely notice if you come down on one person for something, but not another. Related - never chew someone out in front of everyone! It's humiliating and will (justifiably) make people resentful of you. The other really important thing is to always explain why something needs to be a certain way. I've found that people are much more likely to do things properly if they understand why they need to do it that way. If you're confident that you've a) told someone the expected behaviour and b) explained why that behaviour is necessary in a clear and concise fashion it will help you identify who's not doing things properly because they don't give a poo poo vs who's not doing things properly because they don't understand what they should be doing. Be prepared to repeat poo poo over and over again if you have to because some people learn slower/are more forgetful/will try to push the boundaries more than others.
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Apr 8, 2015 00:06
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Abu Dave posted:As it stands I kind of have free reign over who I can get rid of and keep; we don't have transfers or any of that stuff, as it's a small place. As horrible as it sounds, when I was a new manager in a situation like this, I fired the worst guy we had at the beginning of a shift so he'd tell everyone else that he got fired, and it was really effective. This was after multiple attempts to make things right and find a niche for him, but he was super bad. While chewing someone out in public will make them resentful, a termination that isn't directly public but rapidly filters out into public knowledge can be beneficial. From teaching experience, where you can't fire people, public shame can be a powerful tool as well, but that's playing with fire and you've gotta be prepared to handle the fallout. If you're going to resort to public shame due to lack of other tools, you have to build public opinion against the people you're attacking. That can be difficult if the public fears you rather than agrees with you.
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Apr 8, 2015 04:23
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Yeah, i've never tried to be feared by anyone so that will be one of the hard parts for me; but i've always been of the idea that we worked as a team and not as a bunch of minions. I mean, people have always listened to me when I wasn't the manager so I'm hoping that same respect i've earned from them transfers over. Werong you said people will notice if you come down on one but not all; will they notice in a good way or a bad way?
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Apr 8, 2015 15:10
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Ask A Manager (http://www.askamanager.org/) is a good blog. We also have a whole subform dedicated to business, finance and careers!
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Apr 8, 2015 16:33
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I really found One Minute Manager to be useful, if a bit hokey: http://classes.sdc.wsu.edu/classes/cstm301/readings/the%20one%20minute%20manager.pdf
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Apr 8, 2015 17:57
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Genrally a bad way. For example, if I correct Jack for not polishing something, e.g., then I correct Jill for it as well, even if Jack is a chronic non-polisher and Jill usually polishes everything. That way you set the standard (Things should be polished), make sure people don't let standards slip (Well she didn't tell me to polish the things, so I guess it's ok if sometimes the things aren't polished), and avoid the situation where Jack feels like I'm using polishing the things as a way to pick on him - (She always tells me off if the things aren't polished, but Jill gets away with it. She just doesn't like me!) Just try to be consistent, really. And if Jack never polishes the things, consider taking him aside for a private chat about it - it may be that he doesn't know how or doesn't understand why it's important, or it may be that he doesn't give a poo poo. I don't know that people necessarily need to be afraid of you, but they need to know that you will enforce the rules and that there are consequences for not following them. I'm leery of public shaming, for the reasons that litany of gulps stated. It's tricky to do right and at the end of the day you're dealing with other adults, not children. People don't take kindly to being talked down to and it will make dealing with them more difficult in the future.
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Apr 8, 2015 19:16
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Praise in public, discipline in private is a pretty good operating principle.
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Apr 8, 2015 19:56
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Thank you all for the help, i'm going to read that One Minute Manager book as well. I'll keep you guys updated as to how I do. Now to find if there's any little tricks I can do to like, save money etc
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Apr 9, 2015 00:15
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Lead by example, be clear and objective when communicating with subordinates, have realistic and measurable requirements and goals (and these should be separate so, assuming you have the budget/authority for it, you can offer small bonuses such as movie tickets to high performers), be professional regardless of the situation/outcome, document everything to improve long term performance, and don't use run on sentences. Since you will be customer facing, you will also have to take responsibility for fuckups occasionally. Use these as an opportunity to learn and to teach, and remember that even if you wouldn't have done it, people are allowed to make mistakes.
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Apr 9, 2015 20:32
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Definitely, I read once that if you have to like correct someone on something, point out something good they did first that way they're not feeling like you're just a debbie downer on them. I'm already getting my first steps of annoyance; my former boss is trying to steal the employees I had in the past and tempting them with more pay. It's shady as gently caress.
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Apr 9, 2015 22:42
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Everything is your fault.
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Apr 10, 2015 06:52
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Yeah it's happening already haha. I've also learned how annoying and frustrating hiring can be; I basically had to hire a entirely new staff and it was frustrating. My old boss is vindicative as gently caress also and trying her best to make me fail. I wish there was something I can do. How did you guys deal with people who where vindictive?
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May 14, 2015 22:52
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It's difficult to deal with vindictive people tbh. The best thing you can do it maintain professionalism at all times, no matter how lovely they're being. If you have to communicate with them, do it by email as much as possible so you have a record. In what way is she being vindictive? Is she still in a position of authority over you, or do you have parallel positions?
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May 14, 2015 23:51
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Parallel positions. She was refusing to get something done, I went to our boss told him to tell her to do it, he did, and she flipped a lid. Today she yelled at me because I did something that I felt was under my umbrella, it wasn't and she flipped out. She just refuses to work with me, my recourse has been to hire a few people who left because of her in a bid to keep her away from our office. It sucks. Alot. 
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May 14, 2015 23:57
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Welcome to office politics. You've got 2 options here - play the game, or ignore it entirely. I recommend the latter.
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May 15, 2015 08:28
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Nip it in the bud and sort it out face to face with everyone involved and try to make sure you are the only one who dosent start crying.
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May 16, 2015 04:04
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Werong Bustope posted:People will absolutely notice if you come down on one person for something, but not another. Related - never chew someone out in front of everyone! It's humiliating and will (justifiably) make people resentful of you. This is fantastic advice, and in my experience people have always responded better to a manager that is firm but fair , and runs a tight ship. Instead of hearing your manager went out and got sauced with other employees, you will probably be better off distancing yourself socially from those under your leadership. You'll have to change the interaction you have with your employees as well, if there is any display of favorites, it will be difficult to be taken seriously as a leader/manager. Keep rules consistent, and if something changes, be sure to tell everyone in a formal manner instead of a casual conversation. If you have a temper, learn to control it. Managers with a temper that flares up or lashes out on employees in front of one another will only push your staff away, and create churn, instead of them thinking of all of you as a team. You're the coach of this team. Make sure everyone is on the same page and has the same gameplan so that you can claim victory.
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May 16, 2015 11:25
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Take care of your people. If they aren't happy, your quality of work will suffer. I don't know how much freedom you have in giving people time off, or if it's even possible to do, but if you can find a way to send people home early for doing a good job it goes a long way.
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May 16, 2015 15:13
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Abu Dave posted:Definitely, I read once that if you have to like correct someone on something, point out something good they did first that way they're not feeling like you're just a debbie downer on them. This is actually a terrible idea. Don't be a dick when giving constructive criticism (in other words, be polite and make sure that your criticism is indeed constructive), but don't sugarcoat it and try to make it sound like everything is OK. If everything was OK, you wouldn't be having the conversation. Praise when appropriate and criticize when appropriate, but don't half-rear end either in an attempt to salvage feelings. Your job is to be honest with your employees and to find the source of the problem. Use the SLY model: 80% of the time, a Structure is at fault. 15% of the time, a Leader is at fault (due to unclear expectations). 5% of the time, You (the employee) are at fault. In other words, most of the time, it's going to be some process that needs fixing or you need to be clearer about what is expected of the employee. Occasionally, the employee will just not give a poo poo and it's going to be their fault, and you're going to have to do something about it. But when that's not the case, put your focus on the problem and not the person.
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May 17, 2015 00:07
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Closely follow the values on your companies leadership pyramid as they change to a circle then back to a pyramid and then to a wheel
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May 17, 2015 23:16
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Cool thanks guys for the advice. I haven't relaly had to holler at anyone yet, I know I eventually will, but anything ot make it eventually easier to do then sure.
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May 17, 2015 23:57
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:Praise in public, discipline in private is a pretty good operating principle. Qft, and yet, it itself has it's pitfalls - employees often will throw "so and so did this as well, why didn't you whatever to them". You can explain this to them, yet...some get it, others refuse to.
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May 18, 2015 02:11
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Incorrectly use the word hysterectomy as much as possible. Like "all this paperwork is giving me a hysterectomy "
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May 18, 2015 04:57
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ZoneManagement posted:Qft, and yet, it itself has it's pitfalls - employees often will throw "so and so did this as well, why didn't you whatever to them". You can explain this to them, yet...some get it, others refuse to. This is the very example of bad management. "So and so did this, I did this, he didn't get fired, but I'm getting fired?" that can lead to a huge lawsuit even in "at will" states. you have to be able to prove consistency in court, and if you can't you're hosed. Doesn't matter if A went above and beyond and did ___ while B did just the requirements and did ___, if you can't show a solid pattern of "this was the reward for this, this was the punishment for this", you're going to screw yourself hard. Be fair and consistent with everyone, you're going to have some kiss asses, and you're going to have some slackers, but once you start playing favorites and disciplining/praising people based on how much you like them as an employee outside of their set guidelines, you're in for a rocky ride.
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May 18, 2015 09:33
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Lots of good advice so far. I would add that correction needs to be Specific (what was done wrong and why it was a problem), Personal (what you saw and know of, no anonymous sources) and Timely (within 24 hours if possible). If you are getting gossip and chirp about things, then note it, but don't act on it. not reacting can be the hardest part.
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May 18, 2015 12:53
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What would you guys suggest if someone else saw something and reported a co worker for doing it? My old boss told me I should "reprimand them that it's not okay to do their nail polish at work", but if I didn't see it, and they don't do it when i'm there, then I feel like I shouldn't yell at them unless I have a more reliable source. That said, it seems almost impossible to tell young people to stop using their loving cellphones. It's like they can't go a hour without checking facebook. It's insane.
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May 19, 2015 22:23
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