Your managers try their hardest, we’re sure, but you know that every once in a while they slip — hard. Here are four things sure to cause an uprise among their direct reports.
It’s no surprise your managers want to do a good job.
But supervisors aren’t great just because of what they do. For some, it’s what they don’t do that’s most important to their success.
How to prevent progress
Here are four mistakes every manager should avoid, courtesy of authors Jennifer Robin and Michael Burchell:
Send mixed messages.
Managers who fail to align their words and their actions can quickly lose their staffers’ trust.
Why? It makes employees unsure of what supervisors really want from them – which can stall innovation and creativity.
Take all the credit.
As the saying goes, ”There’s no ‘I’ in team.”
Supervisors must find some way to acknowledge employees’ achievements. When staffers succeed, managers succeed, and vice versa.
Ignore requested feedback.
Here’s a good way to upset staffers: Ask for feedback on ways the workplace can be improved, then ignore the suggestions.
It’s a great idea to poll staff about what can be done to make the workplace better.
But if managers really want feedback and can’t give staff what they ask for, they at least have to explain why.
Make excuses.
If managers fail to overcome a challenge or meet a goal, they shouldn’t blame it on the size of the organization or a bad review on the Internet.
Instead, the best leaders take responsibility for their shortcomings and find another way to reach a goal. Doing so will earn respect – and hold others accountable for their actions, too.
