Becoming a Better Manager: Areas of Improvement for Managers Examples
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Do you possess an innate talent to be a manager? Research shows most likely not. Based on Gallup’s research, only “about one in 10 people possess high talent to manage.” Whether you’re among the 10% or 90%, this article will help you understand areas to work on to become a better manager.
In this context, let’s define a great manager as someone who achieves results. A great manager’s team consistently meets KPIs and other goals.
Gallup’s research suggests there are few who possess an innate ability to manage and only those few are able to become great managers. What I do agree with are some of the actions Gallup mentions great managers take that mediocre managers don’t. While learning about what it takes to be a great manager, there’s a general consensus all great managers excel in these three areas:
Identifying and utilizing employees’ strengths
Keeping employees engaged
Motivating employees
Let's simplify it to: Identify, engage, and motivate.
The areas of improvement list and examples for managers
Identify
Managers are able to obtain great results from their team when he/she is able to identify each person’s strengths and leverage them. Focusing on an individual’s strengths is a benefit for both the team and the individual. This area is vital to managers because: 1. It helps keep employees happy and engaged (which we’ll discuss in detail later) 2. It translates to a positive increase in business.
Gallup conducted a study looking into the effects of strength-based management on more than 49,000 businesses with 1.2 million employees. Here’s what happened to companies in the study which switched to strength-based management:
10%-19% increase in sales
14%-29% increase in profit
3%-7% increase in customer engagement
9%-15% increase in engaged employees
6- to 16-point decrease in turnover (in low-turnover organizations)
26- to 72-point decrease in turnover (in high-turnover organizations)
As you can see, there’s a positive correlation between leveraging employees’ strengths and company’s outcomes. Marcus Buckingham, the head of people and performance research at the ADP Research Institute, provides an excellent analogy in an HBR article he wrote about what great managers do:
“Average managers play checkers, while great managers play chess. The difference? In checkers, all the pieces are uniform and move in the same way; they are interchangeable. You need to plan and coordinate their movements, certainly, but they all move at the same pace, on parallel paths. In chess, each type of piece moves in a different way, and you can’t play if you don’t know how each piece moves. More important, you won’t win if you don’t think carefully about how you move the pieces. Great managers know and value the unique abilities and even the eccentricities of their employees, and they learn how best to integrate them into a coordinated plan of attack.”
Engage
Employee engagement has a direct impact on productivity. It is up to you, as the manager, to ensure your team maintains a high level of engagement.
For clarity: Kevin Kruse, Forbes Contributor and NY Times Best Selling Author, defines employee engagement as “the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals.”
When an employee harbors positive emotions towards an organization, he/she cares more about their work. This then turns to increased effort in work-related activities, boosting productivity.
Managers are at the forefront of employees’ experience within an organization. Thus, great managers are committed to actions that boost employee engagement, while mediocre managers don’t exert as much effort in this area.
Here’s what you can do:
Communicate, communicate, communicate. Learn how to effectively communicate with each person.
Have regularly scheduled one-on-one meetings.
Have some sort of interaction on a daily basis.
Show interest and dedication to individual development by helping set goals.
Get to know your team on a personal level. What interests do they have outside of work?
Share resources based on individual preferences and needs
Motivation
Motivation is what drives people to take action so it shouldn’t be surprising managers need to know how to inspire team members. Discover what external or internal factors influence your team to perform well. Use the information to push your team towards success. Here’s an outline of what that looks like:
Learn what individuals are motivated by: extrinsic or intrinsic motivators.
What does he/she enjoy doing? What tasks/responsibilities get them excited?
Focus on strengths over weaknesses.
People tend to enjoy things they’re good at and dislike the opposite.
Set challenging, but realistic goals and expectations.
Clearly outline rewards.
Show trust by providing some level of autonomy.
Promote a culture of accountability. Recognize their efforts and accomplishments
Remember: Identify, engage, and motivate
Gallup’s studies have provided great insight into the idiosyncrasies of great managers. However, I disagree with their argument that only 10% have what it takes to lead a successful team. If you’ve read Angela Duckworth’s book, “Grit”, you’ll understand why I’d argue against using “talent” as an appropriate factor. However, that’s a discussion for another day. As long as a you’re willing to commit time and practice, you’ll be on your way to becoming a better manager.
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