September 10, 2006

Smart Managers

I am sure everyone has had a chance to meet at least one bad manager. This is a person who has no talent or interest to manage people effectively in such a way that they are satisfied with their work. On the other hand, not everyone had a chance to work with a good manager.
I happen to know one good manager. On his example I will try to explain how complicated is to manage people and their needs.
The person I am talking about has the following qualities:
  • Sensitivity to people’s emotions and changes of mood
  • Good intuition to influence people in a positive way
  • Intelligence – so he gains respect of smart people easily
  • Openness – so people can talk to him as soon as some problem arises
  • Good communication skills
  • Energy and will to manage people and spread good atmosphere
  • And what’s most important: invests a lot of time to improve team dynamics
All things mentioned above are very useful and help motivate most individuals in the team. The results are visible on everyday basis. So what’s the problem?
Looking from my perspective, I was very satisfied and thought all other team members are more or less of the same opinion. When I had a few private talks with some of them, I learned that they had problems with some management techniques used and also some problems with other employees. No one was at the point of leaving the company but the situation was far worse then I expected. I realized that the equation of satisfied team has so many variables that no matter what efforts you invest in your team satisfaction – it’s not enough.

Now, if you have a lousy manager, what can you expect?

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