How to be a good boss (1 Viewer)

[Jayrok]

Make sure that all meetings have free food and adequate air conditioning.

And on special occassions show everyone at the meeting how many shrimp you can fit in your mouth.

 

[Koya]

How do you make everyone on the team feel like they are headed towards a promotion - we all know that you can't promote everyone.

It is not your job to promote everyone.

It is your job to help your team and its individual members perform to their best ability and be most productive.

As such, you need to provide a PATH to promotion. An understanding - that is followed up upon - that good work will be rewarded. That it will be indeed a meritocracy, not politics or favorites.

That great work will enable people to better their careers if they want. But, on the flip side, it has to be earned, and those who perform poorly may not be in the right place / team for them.

 

[Abraham]

https://techstbooks.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/about-management/

Here is the post referenced above. Glad someone remembered it.

 

[Mr. Ected]

Call a meeting and randomly fire someone. After he cleans out his desk, laugh and then say, "I was just joking. But seriously, that's your last warning." Then walk away while whistling.

Sanford & Son, of course!!!

 

[Hilts]

Lots of folks don't want promotions. They want to feel appreciated and have some control over what they do even if they want to stay at their level.

 

[sublimeone]

1. Get your hands dirty: a lot of first time managers think managing is about putting your feet up on the desk and ordering your underlings around. They will hate you if they think you aren't willing to do what you are asking them to do. Especially at the beginning, be very hands-on. If you can show your team that you're a hard worker they will respect you and it will be much easier to lead them in the future.

Yeah, NO. You are the manager now, Manage. If you wanted to do the work, you should have turned down the management role. Give them the tools, guidance and support to do the job and stay the HELL out of their way if the work gets done on time & on budget.

2. Ask, don't tell people to do things: "Hey Bob, do you want to set up that server..." If he's a smart*** and says "no," say, "well do it anyway."

3. You are the manager. Don't apologize for it. If they think you don't have a pair, they will walk all over you.

4. If you need to discipline someone or talk to them about changing a behavior, do it in private.

5. Be aware of the vibe... if people are stressing... sometimes just saying, "Bob, is there one thing I can take off your plate right now that would make your day a little less stressful?" This means a lot to people.

6. Get rid of a**h**** as quickly as possible. They are a cancer and will destroy morale and drive you nuts. Number one identified of an ahole is disrespectful behavior to fellow employees and especially superiors.

See comment in bold above

I'm not suggesting you do their job for them. I'm saying be involved. Show them you work as hard as you are asking them to work.

Right,

As someone mentioned Colin. I took some tidbits from him.

Basically as a manager....do all the small tedious crap that gets in their way and prevents them from being great.

I was a restaurant a month ago and the service was great.

I saw the owner just walking around doing anything and everything to be accommodating.

Aside from small talk with some customers. He was cleaning a table that just opened up. Getting waters for the people who were just seated. Sees a party with a child being seated he comes over and brings a child seat etc...

He wasn't short staffed. There were plenty of servers but his presence was impressive.

To me, this is leading by example.

Some managers would think it would be beneath them to do such small tasks but being able to do everything you expect your workers to do shows them you get what it takes to do their job and are not just some guy in a suit barking orders.

Your example reminds me of something I witnessed about 5 or 6 years ago... Portillo's is a famous chain of restaurants in the Chicagoland area. I believe the sole owner of the chain was **** Portillo and he sold the business a year or so ago for over $1 billion. Along with Portillo's he also owned some breakfast restaurants called "Honeyjam Cafe"... there were only a few of them.

One Sunday morning I'm having breakfast at a newly opened Honeyham Cafe and there, directing traffic, wiping down tables, picking up crap off of the ground is **** Portillo. That is something that I will never forget.

Awesome

yea,

Really impressed me.

So many managers feel things are now beneath them with their title.

I don't usually get too dirty or hands on but last month my foreman was out with an injury. I was out helping with the forklift, cleaning up, organizing etc...

After a few jokes about me getting dirty and surprise looks that I knew how to operate a forklift after a few days they kept thanking me for helping out.

I have no doubt your team respects you for that. Your example reminds me of another story ... I started working at my uncle's business over the summer when I was 15. My dad also worked there and we would drive in together. He was a VP and I worked out in the warehouse. One day a shipment was set to go out but the truck never showed up. The shipping and receiving guys had already left for the day and then the truck arrives. There was nobody left in the building that could operate a forklift, so my dad hops on a lift and loads an entire semi trailer.

I was sitting there with the truck driver while my dad was working and the truck driver starts making comments about how I could learn a lot from my dad and how most guys in his position aren't humble enough to roll there sleeves up and do blue collar work and how I should be proud to have a dad like that etc... he was spot on.

 

[Chadstroma]

In the broad strokes...

Serve: Do what you can to make them successful- helping them become self-sufficient and growing in their roles to the point they can then do the same for others. Ask yourself what is it that they need to be successful and actively provide it (training, coaching, mentorship, direction, encouragement, communication, resources, supplies, etc).

Lead: Be mindful of encouraging people to want to go beyond the minimum and even beyond the highest expectations. Of course, easier said than done. The 'how' on doing this is an art form that some are better at than others but all can improve if you try. Spend time to develop yourself.

Manage: If all else fails and you have done all you can to help someone be successful (or helped them move to a role that suits them better) and for whatever reason they are not being successful then always be willing to manage them to the minimum expecations and eventually out of their role. My view though is that if you are successful in the first two this will be a rare circumstance.

 

[cstu]

How do you make everyone on the team feel like they are headed towards a promotion - we all know that you can't promote everyone.

Make sure that's what they really want, first. Not all meaningful job change happens vertically up an org chart.

And focus on any new skills they're developing. I openly talk about adding things to my employees' resumes with them all the time. That way, they know what they're learning is important to their career even if it means they don't just get moved up a spot in the same organization or company.

Exactly - figure out what motivates each person. Some people are motivated by promotions, some want to be respected within their current position, and others are motivated simply by money and job security.

 

[Ramblin Wreck]

I don't agree that you can't be friends with your staff. Its an office - not the Army or a 1960s football team. You don't have to be a #### to be a boss. If you are - that's your failure.

Just be very clear with what you want accomplished. But also be cognizant of your employees' needs. And have fun - make it an enjoyable place to work. You don't need to change your personality just because you are the boss.

This.

And don't sweat the small stuff like if a guy spends a few extra minutes on the internet. If he does good work then who cares if he ##### around sometimes.

 

[BowieMercs]

I don't agree that you can't be friends with your staff. Its an office - not the Army or a 1960s football team. You don't have to be a #### to be a boss. If you are - that's your failure.

Just be very clear with what you want accomplished. But also be cognizant of your employees' needs. And have fun - make it an enjoyable place to work. You don't need to change your personality just because you are the boss.

This.

And don't sweat the small stuff like if a guy spends a few extra minutes on the internet. If he does good work then who cares if he ##### around sometimes.

+1

If the work is getting done & there isn't anyone else who needs a hand, who cares how he spends idle time as long at has no negative effect on other staff or customers?

 

[El Floppo]

Let them hate you. As long as they fear you.

this sounds like my wife.

 

[Riversco]

I don't think there is a clear answer. It depends on

1. What type of job it is ( repetitive gruntwork? Or do they have to think on the fly as rules constantly change? )

2. Are you allowed to hire and fire? If you can hire and replace people, you can go get quality workers which makes your job easier.

3. What is the culture of the team you are inheriting? An example is when Jim Harbaugh took over the 49ers. He was following Mike Singletary and he remarked that there were zero divas ( Singletary got rid of all of those ) on the team he inherited which influenced how he coached them.

 

[gmbacm]

https://techstbooks.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/about-management/

Here is the post referenced above. Glad someone remembered it.

 

[Sand]

Oh, and do. Not. Hold. Status. Meetings.

If you're having a meeting where one person is speaking (lying) about where they are at with various projects, the other four are wondering WTF am I sitting here wasting time when I have tons of #### to do. Gant charts are the stupidest thing ever invented.

And when 16 of them are hopelessly late guess who gets the guillotine?

Lots of good advice here, but this one is BS. If everyone is lying about status there needs to be some private asschewing done after said meetings.

 

[cstu]

https://techstbooks.wordpress.com/2013/09/18/about-management/

Here is the post referenced above. Glad someone remembered it.

Awesome motivation:

No one deserves a raise – ever. If your compensation plan provides for bonuses/commissions that are tied to expected performance than that is enough. As my friend Rick (VP at a multi-billion $ company) tells his reports: “Your raise becomes effective as soon as you do.”

 

[BobbyLayne]

Oh, and do. Not. Hold. Status. Meetings.

If you're having a meeting where one person is speaking (lying) about where they are at with various projects, the other four are wondering WTF am I sitting here wasting time when I have tons of #### to do. Gant charts are the stupidest thing ever invented.

And when 16 of them are hopelessly late guess who gets the guillotine?

Lots of good advice here, but this one is BS. If everyone is lying about status there needs to be some private asschewing done after said meetings.

Status meetings are bull####. They accomplish nothing except to interrupt prodictivity. Skip one and you'll have missed nothing. Cancel it and it has zero impact.

Managers who schedule group status meetings are clueless morons.

The lying part? Seriously? Have you ever attended a meeting in your life? I put in parenthetically because it's not universal (that wasn't clear?) but without question it happens all the time. In every status meeting the objective is to say just enough to move on to the next project or to the next person. Lies of omission are common - you're not going to shoot yourself in the foot. And it's possible the person running the meeting will drill down to make sure all the facts are being covered but it's less likely - you have X number of people to hear from in XX minutes. The dynamic of 1-on-1s is completely different. Drilling deeper & problem solving & strategizing is happening all the time - you're actually trying to help that subordinate do their job better. Whereas the group status meeting is the incompetent managers CYA exercise in futility. "Oh, I know exactly where everybody is at in their workflow because we discussed it in a meeting."

http://asserttrue.blogspot.com/2013/11/meetings-are-bull####.html?m=1

 

[Ned]

Oh, and do. Not. Hold. Status. Meetings.

If you're having a meeting where one person is speaking (lying) about where they are at with various projects, the other four are wondering WTF am I sitting here wasting time when I have tons of #### to do. Gant charts are the stupidest thing ever invented.

And when 16 of them are hopelessly late guess who gets the guillotine?

Lots of good advice here, but this one is BS. If everyone is lying about status there needs to be some private asschewing done after said meetings.

Status meetings are bull####. They accomplish nothing except to interrupt prodictivity. Skip one and you'll have missed nothing. Cancel it and it has zero impact.

Managers who schedule group status meetings are clueless morons.

The lying part? Seriously? Have you ever attended a meeting in your life? I put in parenthetically because it's not universal (that wasn't clear?) but without question it happens all the time. In every status meeting the objective is to say just enough to move on to the next project or to the next person. Lies of omission are common - you're not going to shoot yourself in the foot. And it's possible the person running the meeting will drill down to make sure all the facts are being covered but it's less likely - you have X number of people to hear from in XX minutes. The dynamic of 1-on-1s is completely different. Drilling deeper & problem solving & strategizing is happening all the time - you're actually trying to help that subordinate do their job better. Whereas the group status meeting is the incompetent managers CYA exercise in futility. "Oh, I know exactly where everybody is at in their workflow because we discussed it in a meeting."

http://asserttrue.blogspot.com/2013/11/meetings-are-bull####.html?m=1

I think you guys might be talking past each other.

Is Sand working on projects where multiple team members are working on the same project? Status meetings are a good thing for those situations.

Is Bobby Lane working independently on a project that nobody else on the team cares about? Yeah, status meetings suck balls there.

 

[BobbyLayne]

Oh, and do. Not. Hold. Status. Meetings.

If you're having a meeting where one person is speaking (lying) about where they are at with various projects, the other four are wondering WTF am I sitting here wasting time when I have tons of #### to do. Gant charts are the stupidest thing ever invented.

And when 16 of them are hopelessly late guess who gets the guillotine?

Lots of good advice here, but this one is BS. If everyone is lying about status there needs to be some private asschewing done after said meetings.

Status meetings are bull####. They accomplish nothing except to interrupt prodictivity. Skip one and you'll have missed nothing. Cancel it and it has zero impact.

Managers who schedule group status meetings are clueless morons.

The lying part? Seriously? Have you ever attended a meeting in your life? I put in parenthetically because it's not universal (that wasn't clear?) but without question it happens all the time. In every status meeting the objective is to say just enough to move on to the next project or to the next person. Lies of omission are common - you're not going to shoot yourself in the foot. And it's possible the person running the meeting will drill down to make sure all the facts are being covered but it's less likely - you have X number of people to hear from in XX minutes. The dynamic of 1-on-1s is completely different. Drilling deeper & problem solving & strategizing is happening all the time - you're actually trying to help that subordinate do their job better. Whereas the group status meeting is the incompetent managers CYA exercise in futility. "Oh, I know exactly where everybody is at in their workflow because we discussed it in a meeting."

http://asserttrue.blogspot.com/2013/11/meetings-are-bull####.html?m=1

I think you guys might be talking past each other.

Is Sand working on projects where multiple team members are working on the same project? Status meetings are a good thing for those situations.

Is Bobby Lane working independently on a project that nobody else on the team cares about? Yeah, status meetings suck balls there.

Yeah, I'm not advocating one on one meetings are the only way to go. For my current situation I have monthly one on ones but it's a small group. Ten years ago (different company) I had 32 people in my department but only met with the four managers.

We ditched our weekly Executive Meeting two years ago and haven't missed a beat. The way our CRM is designed I can check the status of anything by pulling down a report. I don't need to sit in a meeting to see how an install is progressing or what the sales pipeline looks like or how effective the Call Center is operating.

Meetings are the worst.

 

[Abraham]

I can't remember if it's at Google or Amazon or zappos, but some company has a policy that if you want to have a scheduled meeting you have to provide a 2 page summary of meeting including an agenda to all participants at least three business days ahead of the meeting. Otherwise, you can't have a meeting. As a result, there are very few meetings.

I also know that many Google conference rooms don't feature chairs so that everyone has to stand. They also have huge clocks on the wall so that everyone in attendance remains aware of how much time is passing during the meeting.

My last company was very meeting heavy but not in a good way. Every morning, sales leadership would go around the room and ask each person one at a time what their commit was for the day, the week, and the month...even though we had done the exact same thing the day before. We did this at 8:30am, which is quite literally the best time of the day for salespeople to be on the phone.

 

[Sweet J]

Don't befriend your employees. Lead by example. Go to bat for them when necessary. Give them the tools and autonomy to succeed for themselves. Don't be afraid to coach them when they under-perform, but also give kudos where and when they're due.

These seem like simple platitudes but pretty much everything you need to engender respect and loyalty is in there.

This. Also, never blame employees for mistakes that come out of your office, even when the mistake was, in fact, the employees (filed under "go to bad for them when necessary," above.). This is your office, and the buck stops with you. Stated another way: when good things happen, give the credit to employees, and when bad things happen take the hit like a boss.

Don't micromanage. If you have nothing to do and the office is running smoothly, let that sh^t keep running smoothly. It means your team (and by extension you) are doing a good job. Resist the temptation to get involved just because you don't have anything immediate to do.

Be kind. Be friendly. When you need to correct someone or modify behavior, do it alone.

If you ever get confused by what kind of decision to make, think to yourself "am I being a stand-up guy?" The answer to that will help you go one way or another.

 

[Grace Under Pressure]

My boss throws me under the bus every day so he can look more effective/smarter to his boss. Typical meeting will be "alright, we are gathered here for x reason, now I will turn it over to 'employee' to provide an update". If things are going well on the project, he says the update. If it's not going well, he turns it over to the employee to discuss. Schedules like 5 or 6 meetings per day, often times will schedule a meeting to take place in an hour or less from the current time. Terrible cya guy. Nice guy, but not that competent, and quick to blame/point fingers. I'll be let go eventually, and all of the things I did "wrong" will be the reason. Terrible culture.

 

[[icon]]

Give all the credit.
Take all the blame.
Stay on top of things but don't micromanage.
Challenge your employees that want to be challenged.
Reward performance
Punch people in the face randomly

 

[cstu]

My boss throws me under the bus every day so he can look more effective/smarter to his boss. Typical meeting will be "alright, we are gathered here for x reason, now I will turn it over to 'employee' to provide an update". If things are going well on the project, he says the update. If it's not going well, he turns it over to the employee to discuss. Schedules like 5 or 6 meetings per day, often times will schedule a meeting to take place in an hour or less from the current time. Terrible cya guy. Nice guy, but not that competent, and quick to blame/point fingers. I'll be let go eventually, and all of the things I did "wrong" will be the reason. Terrible culture.

Common tactic from the incompetent. Like many in his position he feels lucky to be there and is afraid of somewhere better/smarter taking his job.

 

[cstu]

Is Sand working on projects where multiple team members are working on the same project? Status meetings are a good thing for those situations.

Is there a reason why status updates can't be made via email and/or be posted on the server?