You remember when you were a 9-5 employee clocking into your mundane, monotonous job every single weekday. You had to literally drag yourself out of bed and make an appearance in the office, simply to make ends meet. This kind of lifestyle was never going to last for you; you felt trapped unhappy and underappreciated. The main reason why you hated your previous workplace was because the management teams were simply terrible.

They weren’t kind, caring, thoughtful or even honest, which you know are all common traits of a good manager. Now that you have taken a leap into the big wide world of business, you hope to make a much better boss than your previous ones. You understand the costs of running a business but how well-informed are you on the amount of time it’s going to take to manage a team?

Becoming a business owner and manager are pretty daunting tasks that require a lot of time, thought and training. You won’t become an amazing manager overnight, but you will need to possess certain skills in order to carry out the job properly. Make your employees admire you and be the best manager you could possibly be.

Explore all of the following ideas and make sure you implement them into your managing styles. You will soon be able to find a balance between firm, but fair managing techniques.

Assessing Each Individual

When you are a manager it is extremely important to build a good working relationship with every single team member. If you aren’t able to track their progress then you won’t know how to help them improve their skill set and grow as a person. Many managers ask themselves on a regular basis, “What Is a Performance Review?”

Well, usually this entails an individual assessment of each member of your workforce. Managers often struggle to balance positive feedback with the areas of improvement. However, if you know how to handle this task in the correct way it can be a simple and enjoyable task for you.

Performance reviews should never be neglected if you are a manager, as they are the perfect way for you to touch base and catch up with all of your team members on a regular basis.

Put Your Trust in Your Employees

A good manager is able to trust their employees through thick and thin. You absolutely have to be sure you are going to trust them before you hire them, otherwise your working relationship won’t be setting off to a very good start. It is extremely important that you avoid micromanaging at all costs.

Employees absolutely hate to be checked up on constantly and they would rather be left to get on with their own work at their own pace. Make sure you put your faith in them to completely certain tasks, get to work on time and submit important projects. Giving everybody some level of responsibility will allow them to grow in confidence within their job, so they can continue to improve over time.

Be Firm but Fair

Let’s say one of your members of staff called in sick on several occasions with varying excuses. You might start to get suspicious of their behaviour, but it is also important to assess the underlying problem.

Perhaps they are worried about returning to work after an illness or they are feeling stressed with their workload. Instead of coming down too hard on them for missing a lot of work, you should try to have an open and honest discussion with them. You might be able to get to the root of the issue quite easily, if you display some compassion and understanding.

The key to being a good manager is to be firm and fair all at the same time. You need to put your foot down when all else fails, but take a gentler approach at the very beginning if possible.

Listen to their Issues and Ideas

Many unpopular managers might hold a staff meeting and only listen to the sound of their own voice ringing through the meeting room. Sometimes there are quieter, more reserved members of staff who aren’t confident enough to speak their mind.

They might have a brain brimming with innovative ideas, but they simply aren’t being heard. As a manager it is your job to open up the floor to other people, without putting them under any pressure. If you remain open-minded and let people air their views and opinions you will have a much more productive meeting and a happier workforce.

Similarly, if you think an individual is struggling with a work-related problem or suffering in silence you should always make time to listen to them. Being a good listener is one of the key traits of being a good manager; work on these skills if you think you are lacking in this department. Listening is the best action you can do in most situations.

Reward People When They Deserve It

There is nothing more debilitating than working your socks off to meet a tight deadline, only to be overlooked, ignored and pushed aside. It is so important to reward and recognise people for working hard and being dedicated to their job. A good manager will always give a pat on the back to an excelling employee. You don’t have to reward people with financial gains all the time; a simple thank you note can often go a long way.

Train Them to Go Further

As a manager you should always want the best for your employees, this means that you have to set them up for a bright future. It is your job to make sure your team has the potential to move further with their career and keep moving up the ladder within the company.

This might involve shadowing, external training courses or even development attachments to other departments. Watching your workforce flourish is one of the most rewarding feelings in the world, so you will gain personal satisfaction from doing this too.

Don’t Set Yourself Above The Rest

You should never assume you are above anyone else in your working environment. Everybody has to start at the bottom at some point in their life so treat the office assistant with the same respect you would wish to be treated with. If you can set a good example and show how important equality is in the workplace, you will have a much more successful workforce.

Every single manager is different and it completely depends on the team that you are working with. Some members of staff may require more of your attention than others, which is why it is so important for you to treat everyone as an individual. Don’t make their working lives a living hell; make them feel exciting to step through the doors every single morning at 9am.

Make sure you are using the correct scheduling techniques, appraisal methods and always have an open door. Every person is completely different so you will truly need to get to know your employees before they start working for you. During the interview process you should be able to gauge whether they with mesh well with the rest of the team.

You can then go on to build a solid working relationship with them, so that you can access what kind of managerial support they might need. As long as you are attentive, thoughtful and fair across all of your teams, you will always come out on top as the best manager they have ever had.

This post has been contributed by Ryan Gatt, it may contain affiliate links