For the most part, developing successful managerial skills requires an understanding of two primary realms: the work atmosphere, an integral part of “the system” and the people who work within the system, your employees.

Managerial skill of making the system

Face it. If you are going to manage successfully, you are going to have to realize that your primary responsibility is creating a work system conducive to success; the ultimate judge of success in this case is your company’s sustained profitability. Every business exists to be profitable.

Hence, maintaining the big picture is the manager’s responsibility–and a huge responsibility it is, for the workers work in that system. It is not their responsibility, per se, to create a better system, except in their particular department or field. The term system here refers to the work atmosphere, including the entire set of business operations.

Particularly, managers should be concerned about issues like: do your workers operate in a system conducive to their continued success; do they have the materials they need to complete their assigned tasks; do they have the proper focus; have they been properly trained to use the equipment and/or machinery their jobs require; do they even adequately know what their tasks are? Any number of similar questions may be inserted here. The point is that you, as the manager, are responsible for this system. To reiterate, managers create the system; workers operate within that system.

Attn: Managers–workers are people too!

When everyone is in the trenches, it is easy for managers to forget one simple yet important fact about their workers: they are humans not machines. People have needs and desires; they have strengths and weaknesses. And, like you, Mr. Manager, they are not perfect. Fortunately, also like you, they are capable of learning and improvement–as always, self-improvement is preferable.

At any given time, workers, employees, associates, or whatever your particular organization chooses to call it’s core workforce, have any number of responsibilities that their particular positions require. This group of responsibilities is what defines their purpose for being in your employ. They aren’t paid to look at the big picture; they quite often don’t even have enough time to focus on their own responsibilities, let alone worry about how the entire business is running. But this is fine; this is why they have been hired. They complete their assigned tasks so you don‘t have to, freeing you up to work on making the business operate optimally and achieve greater success.

Welcome to the principle called division of labor, which has freed our society from the tedious task of eeking survival out of the dirt

Keeping these two basic concepts in mind, below you will find some best practices for tailoring your set of successful managerial skills:

Be proactive. Don’t wait until you have a problem or until a problem is completely out of hand to correct it. And, when you do correct a problem, do it in such a way that it will not resurface!

Never act on less than the facts! Contrary to what many people believe, perception is not reality. Simply, managers are neither omniscient [all-knowing], nor are they capable of knowing what they have not observed–or observed the results of! Every effort must be made to collect concrete data and facts, or to see the physical results of workers’ and managers‘ efforts. Nothing happens in a vacuum; no action is without reason or consequence. It is your responsibility as a manager to reconstruct events based on factual evidence. Be quick to observe before passing judgment. The best advice here is: find out first!

Never sacrifice quality to quantity.  Constant managerial pressure is the enemy of quality work and product. We can call this the “Are you done yet” syndrome. Think about it. When a worker is constantly being hassled and reminded that he or she must get a certain number of products, tasks, or services done in a certain amount of time, he or she will quite naturally begin to think in terms of quantity and will, of necessity, let the quality of the work suffer. This pressure promotes fear of failure, a detriment to efficient work.

Learn to communicate on multiple levels.  It is easy to forget the fact that someone else may not have the extensive background in a particular subject that you have. Do not assume that workers have made the same mental connections you have. Do not assume they think the way you do. Basically, no one will transfer information unless you teach them to transfer it. In other words, show them what you mean and how you want them to grasp and use it.

Avoid adversarial relationships at all costs!  Managers beware, antagonizing or embarrassing underachieving workers in front of their coworkers or other managers will only breed an atmosphere of resentment. Frustrated and angry, disgruntled workers throw quality and the best interest of the company out the window. Successful managers are leaders, not dictators. Put another way, workers who know that management has their best interest in mind feel better about their jobs and it will be reflected in the quality of their work.

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