4 Essential New Manager Skills to Overcome Obstacles

Of course you want to succeed as a new manager. You can just see your star rising in the organization. But be aware that there are some obstacles in your way as you ascend the corporate staircase. 

Being forewarned is being forearmed. Know that the abilities that brought you this far are not the skills that will carry you forward as a manager. You will need to change your whole mindset. You were most likely recognized for your hard work and your technical acuity. Hard work is something that will translate well when you become a manager. But, while technical ability is important, it is no longer as important as making sure that your team succeeds. You need to develop leadership and managerial skills that will help you support your team in a way that they can perform at their peak and reach their targets. 

Based upon new manager training best practices, here are the essential and fundamental management skills you need to “make it” as a new manager:

• Effective communication
You are the one to whom the team members look for direction and inspiration. Be very clear about what you expect of each one of them according to their job role and make sure you hold them accountable. Support them when they ask for guidance, answer their questions openly and honestly, provide the resources they need to get their job done, and match their strengths as much as possible to the job at hand.  Focus more on inquiry than advocacy.  Make sure that you truly understand where people are coming from before trying to influence them.

For example, we recently had a new Operations Director who found that a long-term client was unwilling to pay for a previously agreed-upon rate increase for their union workers.  Frustrated by the change, the new Director launched into telling the client that they had already agreed to the rate increase and why it needed to happen.  The meeting ended poorly and without resolution.  After reflecting upon the conversation, the Director reached out to the client to understand why the previously agreed-upon rate increase was such a concern.  He learned that the client had just lost a key account and was laying off 10% of their workforce.  The client could not stomach a rate increase in the face of laying off their own people.  A better understanding allowed the Director to reach a compromise with his client in a way that made sense to both parties.  Listening and inquiring really paid off.

• A touch of humility
Your new team does not expect you to be an expert at first. Don’t try to be something you are not. Ask for and accept feedback and advice from those who may have more or different experience than you do. As you show that you are willing to learn from others, your team members will follow your example. The result is a learning environment where trust and respect reign and continuous improvement is valued.

• Empathy
Mistakes will happen…you will make them too. Try to adopt the attitude that mistakes are opportunities to learn how to do things better the next time. Find out what went wrong and, without placing blame, try to find the teachable moment. Your understanding and support will earn you the allegiance of your team members…and that is of inestimable value.

• Appreciation
Stay close to your team so you know when they have performed above expectations. This is a chance for you to show how much you appreciate their extra effort and performance. Meaningful appreciation from a manager helps to keep employees engaged and striving to do better.

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/new-supervisor-new-manager-training/

3 Coaching Essentials New Managers Need to Know to Inspire

We believe that leaders and managers are a primary factor behind both employee and organizational performance.

One of the most critical skills for new managers is the ability to encourage their team to perform at their peak and to use their skills collaboratively toward reaching common goals. In other words, one of the most critical skills for new managers to improve team performance is the ability to be an effective coach.

John Wooden, famous basketball coach at UCLA, said that “a coach is someone who can give correction without causing resentment.”  We think it means a bit more than that. We think it means lighting the way for a person to become the best version of themselves in a way that makes sense for them, the team and the organization as a whole.

Here is what good coaching is NOT. It is not an excuse to tell people what to do.  Instead, good coaches work on helping their team members learn how to do things better. A batting coach can point out some of the specifics that make hits more likely…the correct stance, the right grip, how to anticipate a pitcher’s throw, etc. But the best coaches support the batter as he finds his own rhythm and timing. They typically focus on a player’s strengths, rather than their weaknesses.  We believe that leaders who help people play to their strengths, rather than try to improve inherent weaknesses, are more likely to create a high performance environment.

Here are three essential tips from new manager training on how to coach your team more effectively:

1. Emphasize the how, not the what.
If you aim to grow your team members toward ever higher levels of performance and commitment, encourage an attitude that values learning and accepts reasonable risks. Mistakes will be made, but this is your chance to have teachable moments, guide reflection on what went wrong, and identify lessons learned. Ask your team members how they would proceed next time. 

2. Focus on real-time on-the-job experience.
The majority of coaching should be done on the job, not in the classroom. The best learning opportunities occur in the moment in real life experiences. If you are coaching a new salesperson, for example, accompany them on sales calls. Then let them debrief the experience themselves. You may have some advice to add, but a skillfully guided self-assessment can teach more than you can while developing stronger levels of self-awareness.

3. Learn as a group.
Bring your team together on a regular basis, not just for administrative purposes but for learning. Are you a sales team? Talk about what works and what doesn’t in winning, engaging and serving clients. Role play the most critical scenarios and discuss them afterward. If you are a customer service team, talk about different ways to handle the most frequent service scenarios and the most difficult customers. Ask lots of questions that push the group to think about different approaches and the associated benefits to them, the customer and the organization as a whole. What best practices make sense for your unique business strategy and organizational culture? See how many they come up with on their own…without your having to tell them. This is learning at its most efficient and effective.

Remember, effective leaders and managers help to positively shape the ways in which their direct reports approach their work and interact with each other.

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/new-supervisor-new-manager-training/

The Simple Secret to Creating High Performing Teams

Every new manager would love to know how to build a high performance team. Especially if you inherit a team that has been struggling, the best way to show you deserved the recent promotion is to show significant improvement in the productivity of your newly assigned team. 

There may have been some clues as to how to accomplish this in your new manager training, but here is the simple secret to high performance: build on strengths. Determine what your individual team members are good at and then see that their job roles match their core strengths. Not only will they be happier doing what they do well, but they will also be more effective.

To figure out what your direct reports do best, meet with them individually and ask the following questions:

1. What are you doing when you feel strong and able? Are you designing, analyzing, presenting, coaching, implementing, selling, leading or following? All of these skills are needed on high functioning teams. Make it easy for people to play to their strengths.

2. What skills and competencies have you relied upon in your career that brought you this far?

3. What lack of skills in others do you find most exasperating?

4. Growing up, was there something you could do that others could not? What made you stand out from the rest?

The answers to these questions will help you and your worker identify basic core strengths. If you can, dig deeper for their one-of-a-kind talents. Matching those to strategic needs will really give your team a boost. What are the problems that need fixing? Do you have a candidate fixer? What strong arms are hiding under that casual jacket?

You may not uncover a true genius, but if you find your team member’s exceptional ability and leverage it as often as possible, performance and employee engagement should dramatically increase. Basically you are looking for a person who is very good at doing something, defining that “something” and then pairing them with a problem that their “something” can solve. Voila…an engaged team that performs at its peak!

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/new-supervisor-new-manager-training/

5 Ways New Managers Can Keep Their Employees Happy

One of the greatest sources of angst for new managers is whether or not their team will “like” them. What they should tell you in new manager training is that the best managers are great not because they win popularity contests but because they know how to keep their teams happy to come to work and be productive.

 What do the best managers do that poor managers do not? We know that much turnover is caused by people’s unhappiness with their direct boss. So it matters a lot that managers, especially new managers, know how to keep their employees highly engaged in their work.

Our two decades of work with our managers and their teams have led us to the following five recommendations for managing others so they thrive, not simply stay and survive:

1. Recognize extraordinary effort and results.
Make sure you show your appreciation for work that is over and above expectations. Your recognition should match the accomplishment and the individual who earned the kudos. For some, a simple pat on the back is sufficient; others may prefer more public acknowledgement or a more tangible reward like a bonus or day off.

2. Show you truly care.
Take time with individual employees so that you get to know them on both a personal and professional level. Understand what motivates them on the job and what interests they have off the job. Show that you care about your employees beyond how productive they are. And don’t overwork them. Only increase their workload if you find a way to compensate them meaningfully.

3. Maintain performance standards.
Set and make very clear your performance expectations for each job role. And then hold each employee accountable. If you hold on to sub-standard performers, you will quickly lose your top talent. By all means, try to support employees who need it but, if they do not measure up after a reasonable time and effort, find them another role…perhaps elsewhere.

4. Always honor your commitments.
Set the example you want your employees to follow of doing what you say you are going to do. Do not promise what you cannot deliver. It will be noticed and, if you lack integrity, your employees will soon follow suit.

5. Build and develop talent.
Start by hiring the right talent for the job and then find ways to develop and challenge them. High performers want to grow and they do best when they can follow their strengths and their passions. Find out what they are good at and what they like to do. Simply play to their strengths and then offer them opportunities to stretch creatively and intellectually. Give them specific and timely feedback on a regular basis so they can monitor their own growth. This is the way to nurture top talent and harness the energy of a high performing, successful team.

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/new-supervisor-new-manager-training/

5 Simple Steps to Success as a New Manager

Just so you know from the start, this is not about all the management skills you need to succeed as a new manager. Those you will get from a comprehensive new manager training program. Instead, this article deals with how you can set yourself up to succeed from the point of view of integrating well with the team…individually, collectively and culturally. Of course, becoming a true member of your new team will have a huge impact on how well you are accepted and trusted as a leader so, in many ways, it IS about succeeding as a new manager…not the hard skills but the personal interaction, soft skills side.

1. Be authentic. 
Don’t try to be someone you are not or try to over-impress. To build strong relationships you need to engender trust. Trying to fake a personality will raise suspicion. Your new team members will likely see right through your act and find you ingenuous. Besides it takes a lot of energy to wear a mask that does not fit your true self.

2. Learn who is on your team.
Get to know the individuals you will be working with. What are their talents and interests, both at work and at home? You can’t be everyone’s “friend” but you can show an active, sincere interest in what motivates them and what they like to do. It will give you important insight and allow you to be a better coach in the future. By observing how the team works together, you will also soon learn who wields the most influence on the team. Who are the natural leaders and what is the glue that keeps the team together?

3. Contribute thoughtfully.
Chances are the team has worked together for a while. Observe the existing dynamics and experience the current processes before making suggestions for change. Ask plenty of questions about why things are done a certain way.  Your interest in and respect for the status quo will make future course corrections more readily accepted.

4. Be respectful of the team’s accomplishments.
It may be tempting to point out all the things they are doing wrong. But, of course, that is not the way to win friends and influence people. Insert your ideas for change wisely. Earn the right to be followed before you exercise your new found authority.

5. Always do what you say you will do.
As much as you might want to change the world quickly, don’t take on more than you can realistically accomplish. Small bites at a time are more impressive than too big a bite that you can’t swallow. Under promise and over deliver is a great motto for new managers.  Hold yourself as accountable as you hold your team.

Be patient as you join this new team. The better you all work together, the better the work results. And team results are the measure of your success as a new manager.

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/new-supervisor-new-manager-training/

Two Guidelines to Succeed as a New Manager

New manager training can give you all sorts of helpful advice on how to succeed as a new manager. Soak up all you can. But when you’re feeling overwhelmed and as if there is just too much to learn all at once, we have a couple of guidelines that will keep you on track to be the best manager you can be as you earn your stripes and gain real-time experience. The two tips?

1. Be available to your staff.
2. Be consistent.

If this sounds oversimplified, here is the “rest of the story.”

Thanks to Google’s efforts to beef up the skills of their managers, we have some data on what really matters. Google was convinced that the better the managers, the better the workflow and employee engagement. They determined that a study of how to improve the performance of their managers would be not only worthwhile but actually essential to the future of their business.

Google used multiple reports at their disposal, including the wording from employee nominations for best managers, performance reviews and surveys. Then they looked for repeated phrases which would begin to define the qualities of those managers who were most admired and, they hoped, most effective. The result was a list of 8 characteristics of top managers.

Surprisingly, the results were not leading edge or even unfamiliar. The habits of top managers were similar to what we in the management training field have always proposed: caring about and for your employees, providing development opportunities, setting clear expectations and team goals, etc. But what was interesting was what did NOT matter so much. Keep in mind that Google is one of the world leaders in high tech. What did not matter so much to employees as they rated the effectiveness of their managers was their manager’s technical expertise. What DID matter were the soft skills of their managers.

Google’s in-depth study of management helps us all put teeth into defining best practices for new and experienced managers alike. Employees want to be heard. They want a manager who listens and who cares. They want to be able to share their ideas, opinions and concerns. They want a manager who can give them constructive feedback and coach them to improved performance. Employees also want to be treated fairly and consistently. They want a manager who does not play favorites, whose ethics drive decisions, who establishes standards for performance and holds everyone accountable, and who appreciates the contributions of all team members.

So, to begin your life as a new manager, start right: lend an ear and follow through on what you say.

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/new-supervisor-new-manager-training/

How to Give Feedback So That It Is Well Received

One of the most important skills taught in new manager training is how to give feedback effectively. There are tips on being specific and timely, straightforward and supportive. These are important to be sure. But they skip over a step that is critical. As in the cartoon above, no feedback will be really heard if the recipient is not open to hearing it.

Ready to Give Effective Feedback
Before you approach your employee with corrective or constructive feedback, make sure that your intention is to help not to criticize. As a manager, your role is to support your employees as they try to improve their performance. Even if you are disappointed in an employee’s behavior, check your upset and angry feelings at the door. 

Once your emotions are under control, ask for permission to give feedback. 

Ready to Receive Effective Feedback
If the employee is not ready, ask about a better time to talk about the behavior you observed. There is nothing to be gained by giving feedback when your employee is unwilling to receive it. For feedback to be effective, the recipient needs to hear and understand it and then absorb and reflect upon what they might have done differently.

For feedback to make a difference in behavior and performance, it cannot go “in one ear and out the other.”  Make sure that your direct report is ready and willing to actively process, interpret and comprehend what you have to say.

Learn more at: http://www.lsaglobal.com/new-supervisor-new-manager-training/