Manager Plus

My Top 10 Management Extensions

Dear <<First Name>>,   
Reading Time: 2 mins 00 secs (on the nose!)

Here's a short reminder of some of the things that will take your daily management to the next level.

I'd expect an experienced manager to be doing most of these. But, for a new manager, here are a set of possible progressions to strengthen your practice. And, for experienced managers, here's a chance to check out whether you are performing at the level you truly want.

Here then, are my top 10 management extensions.

Initiative

You have some measure of authority - though I shan't assume I know how much. What will you do with it? You have the role because someone believes you can and you should take the initiative to get stuff done without asking permission. Someone believes in you. Do you?

Relationships

Relationships are tricky. Once friends: now subordinates. Once bosses: now colleagues. The problems come when we let relationships drift. Instead, take time to review your key relationships and decide how you want to develop them. Are they exactly as you would wish them to be? If not, start changing them.

Council

Find yourself an informal council of counselors. A small group of people whose advice you can trust. You don't have to think they will be right all the time (because they won't be). You just have to find people with different and informed perspectives, whose motives you trust. Use them to help you with tough calls.

Experiment

Never assume that yesterday's optimum is also today's. Try out different role allocations, new procedures, and crazy ideas. Invite your team to innovate and be creative. Then set up limited experiments to test out these ideas.

Increment

The reason to experiment is to find ways to make incremental improvements. Can you finish every day (or, as a minimum, every week) with something tangibly better than it was at the start?

Delegation

You don't delegate enough. More delegation means more time for strategic thinking, relationship crafting, and incremental improvements. I don't care how much stuff you delegate... what else?

Ownership

When anything goes wrong within your team's scope of responsibility... Own it. It's yours. Whenever your team has any kind of success, remember that all you did is facilitate it. The success was theirs. This isn't about grudging 'not really me' apologies of humble-bragging. It's about TRUE humility.

Conversations

The biggest changes come from the toughest conversations. If there is a one-word role description for a general-purpose manager, it's 'conversations'. That's the way we learn what needs to be done, figure out how to do it, and get things done. Seek out the most difficult conversations... and immerse yourself in them.

Squeezing

Squeeze your admin tasks into the bare minimum time it takes to get them done. They don't waste time, but nor do they add value. My estimate is 5%. If you are spending more than 5% of your time (2 hours in a 40-hour week) on admin, you need to cull some tasks and make the rest more efficient. Automate!

Look-ahead

What will you need to be thinking about tomorrow, next week, in a month, next year, in 3, 5, and 10 years' time? Learn what you need to learn, to stay ahead. </unsubtle_link>