Everyone has different management styles, but I believe there are some fundamental things that when done could strengthen the relationship with your team.
I’ve had managers in the past that were annoyed by the situations here, but I do try my best to embrace them because they build trust and at the end they help build better teams.
1. Using the 1:1s for anything that’s going on
I have 1:1s with my team weekly, and that’s their time to share what’s happening with their work, life, or anything that’s going on. There’s no outline, no template for the conversations, and they are different conversations with different people.
This time is allocated for you, and we can talk work, life or anything in between, and if you think there’s not much I can help you with, that’s ok too, we take the 30 mins back and chat the following week.
2. Protecting your time from unnecessary meetings
You’ve got work to do, and sometimes meetings get in the way. If you are not really needed there, and you are not getting anything from it, it’s ok to leave and take the time back.
Recurring meetings are often killing your focus, clean them up, just make sure you are there where you’re needed.
3. Disagreeing with me
If you think I’m wrong, please say so. I don’t have all the answers and if I’m heading in the wrong direction I’d much rather be proven wrong quickly than finding out late.
4. Giving honest straight feedback over polished one
Providing feedback is very hard for us and we struggle a lot to find the right words or the nicer way to say it.
Feedback requires trust, the trust you place in me when you tell me what I could do better, and I always would appreciate that trust and the feedback that comes with it. It helps me grow, and makes us a better team.
Don’t let finding the perfect words stop you from saying something important.
5. Telling me no
I have many ideas, good or bad, and I’m always sharing them with the team. Take my ideas just for what they are, ideas. Ideas offer a great opportunity for discussion, but please, not because I ask you of something you need to take it as an obligation.
So please, say no if you don’t have the bandwidth to do something, or if you already have higher priorities, even if you just consider it’s a bad idea.
I’d take a NO now any time over a YES that won’t work out.
6. Asking “Why are we doing this?”
So many times we have improved things just by asking that same question. And you are probably already familiar with the typical answer, “I don’t know, it’s how we’ve always done it”.
So, please ask. It invites to the conversation and there’s nothing like knowing the purpose of why things are the way they are.
7. Reaching out before burning out
Things don’t need to escalate to a burnout for it to be uncomfortable or bad, and I do believe the having conversations early can help us achieve better outcomes.
I totally get it, work is demanding, life sometimes is too much, and things sometimes put us to the test.
If you’re ever overwhelmed, need a break, or are worried about a deadline, please reach out asap. You don’t need to wait until things become unmanageable before we talk.
As a manager, it’s also my responsibility to notice if you are overloaded, check if the expectations are reasonable, and help adjust priorities or find workarounds.
What would you add?