Whether you’re stressing out over account and project management or trying to keep your internal team on track, a great strategy for leading people is absolutely essential. Good management will make you, your clients, and your team feel happier. It will lead to greater productivity. It is, just like the books and sages say, one of the biggest secrets of successful businesses and people.
I’m no CEO, but I’ve spent enough time leading (and being part of) teams to know that there a few good rules for managing people well. These cross industry and disciplinary boundaries, and are what I think of as the basics.
If you boil good management down to its essential components, I’m sure the following tips would be included. They’re not exhaustive, but I’ve found them very helpful over the course of my career. Here goes nothin’:
Be Accessible.
As a manager you can’t always be accessible to everyone, but being generally reachable in some way or another (as your job description requires) is key. Being accessible is especially important during the biz dev process.
When you’re trying to win a client or massage a lead, you need to be the easiest person in the world to get in touch with. The more quickly you answer emails and provide information that your potential client can actually use (like, direct answers to direct questions), the better. Being quick to respond and answering questions succinctly and directly plays a huge role in achieving transparency and building trust. Your clients, bosses, and co-workers will all love you for it.
Set Proper Expectations.
This one is super simple: Be honest, direct, and up front; don’t say you can do something you can’t; don’t rush into a project without assessing your current resourcing situation; always be thorough with your explanations; and don’t strategically leave out important information because doing so might give you a temporary advantage.
By now we all know that your experience working with a client hinges on fit. The better matched your interests, expectations, and goals are, the more successful the project will be.
It’s All in The Follow Through.
When you say you’re going to do something (like send an estimate by 9 am the following day), do it. No questions asked. Unless you’ve turned inside out and can’t see straight, you need to meet the expectations you set.
Good follow through involves a number of skills, including strong personal organization. Little things like knowing where important files are and having emails easily accessible are essential. But if you’re one of those people who isn’t naturally good at staying organized or if you have a hard time remembering things, not to worry: even slight adjustments to your current strategy can work wonders. Work on your organization incrementally, and you’ll notice big differences in the long run.
Be Disciplined.
We all face days when we’re less productive than we’d like to be, and it’s important to realize that nobody’s perfect. But in general, you need to show up ready to work smart every day. This will require discipline on your part, but it’s completely doable if you:
Intelligently limit distractions. I’m not suggesting that you stop reading blogs or talking over IM and twitter. Both are important for professional development and being happy in general. But I do think that activities like these can toxically splinter our attention, so I’m basically with Jason Fried and everyone else on this one: You need long, uninterrupted periods in which to work. When your day gets chunked into smaller and smaller bits, your productivity is zapped and you lose.
Stay positive. Being negative has this awful way of seeping into your mind and influencing your workflow. Getting distracted by or dwelling over office politics, annoying things that happen during the day, or other peoples’ bad attitudes will heighten frustration and inevitably lead to diminished productivity. It will also eviscerate your job satisfaction over time.
When in doubt, do the most difficult task first. Don’t save the hard stuff (like talking to a client or co-worker about a sticky issue) for last. This is the same as not procrastinating, and we’ve been hearing it since 3rd grade. It’s important to practice this one and get it right.
Being productive will make you feel better and will make your clients respect you. And respect leads to a better working relationship and happier days at the office.
Don’t freak out.
Seriously. Even if the walls are caving in and toxic sludge is rising from beneath, you need to stay cool. There are times when letting loose might be appropriate (like at home, over a few martinis), but for the most part meltdowns and externalized stress attacks should be kept to a minimum.
If you need to clear the air about a touchy subject, act fast: search for appropriate, reasonable, and firm ways of resolving problems every time they arise. ‘Soft power’ and immediate action are key.
Staying calm will improve employee and client morale. And if you’re the person keeping cool, everyone will respect your grace, style, and honesty.
Be Nice.
There I said it. I know everyone (including me, above) harps on being direct and firm as a manager. But this doesn’t preclude good, old-fashioned kind-heartedness. Yes it’s a dog-eat-dog world. Yes people will take advantage of you if you let them. But if you set proper expectations and know your own boundaries as a business/salesperson, you’ll have plenty room to be nice to the people you work with.
And by nice I mean: treat people how you want to be treated! Don’t take advantage of anyone’s time. Don’t improperly record your hours or unnecessarily pad out your estimates. And don’t, under any circumstances, misrepresent the services you’re able to provide.
Then (if you have time and want to be really awesome), over-deliver. You can even manufacture over-delivery by being very disciplined at setting proper expectations. Say you’ll have it in by noon next day, for example, and see if you can get it in by 10.
The Bottomline.
Managing people in a business setting is a lot like leading or being part of a sports team. Following the basic wisdom we all learned in little league while being very adult-like in your approach to getting things done is a sure-fire way to making your clients, employees, and co-workers happy.
And we all know that happier people are better to work with and more equipped to solve problems that really need to be solved.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Though much of management is common sense, it has a lot to do with discipline and attitude. Keep it coming.
Hi Hasnain,
Yes, I completely agree that so much of good management has to do with common sense. Building strong, professional relationships with co-workers and peers is key.
Thanks for your thoughts!
Cheers, Tiffani
Well said Tiffani. Proper team management to include all of the points you listed IS vital to the well rounded health of a successful and happy team.
As a PM, I know it can get hard to manage all of the tasks, requests & questions that get thrown your way, but I agree with your point of staying focused and working on personal management skills. Constantly something to work on and work towards - Time efficiency and effectiveness!
Thanks for the encouraging and helpful words. Just what I needed today.
R.